Fractals ~ England

Fractals. 1986 Surface

Fractals were an obscure fusion band from the Oxford area who released this one album, and even today, almost nothing is known about them. What we do know is the rhythm section is none other than the same duo that performed on Red, one of my all-time favorite instrumental 80s prog albums. However, without the fiery guitar of Dennis Fitzgibbons or the fascinating New Wave sounding synthesizers, the rhythm section is left to support a rather mundane instrumental jazz fusion album. The sound is purely 1986 with warm bass tones and extremely lightweight amplified guitar. The album has absolutely zero edge. The compositions are a mix of the trite and the complex, and if there were some rock elements added, the album most assuredly would have been better received by the underground. But as it stands, this one is strictly for middle 80s fusion heads. File under average.

Priority: none

11/9/15 (new entry)

AC's notes: "Obscure little instrumental jazz-rock/fusion offering from the lean years of the genre. The main hook here is that the rhythm section consists of Jerry Soffe and Frank Hockney, formerly of cult favorites Red. Like other releases of its ilk from the mid 80s, there is no attempt whatsoever to hide its all-digital "modernness" (ironically now much more dated than the earlier analog tones), but if you can get past that it's actually a solid album. Sedate jazzy pieces alternate with more driving, progressive-minded tunes, which keeps things interesting. Hard to track down, as it seems this was only distributed in their local Oxford area during the band's relatively brief existence, but worth a look for hardcore genre fans."