Customer Reviews
fascinating experiment - By: mattjoplin, 04 Apr 2008 
The late 80s was a pretty great time for avant-garde guitar playing, with the likes of Vernon Reid, Reeves Gabrels, Dave Fiuczynski, Stevie Salas, Sonny Sharrock & Bill Frisell laying down some seriously mind-bending tones. Cloud About Mercury definitely puts David Tornin the same league, supported by an avant-rock supergroup of Bill Bruford, Mark Isham & Tony Levin. Unfortunately, both Bruford & Levin sound somewhat listless here, the star of the show undoubtedly being Torn's blistering leads. And, man, can he make a racket. Jazz critics had a field day lambasting his shredding & Frisell-like ambient textures, but his playing shouldn't be judged by 'jazz' standards. In fact, this is a very uncharacteristic ECM album, being much more in-your-facein its mixing & playing than most of the label's output.
Put simply, some of Torn's playing is ludicrously over-the-top but very enjoyable. He certainly makes guitar sounds that have never been heard before, & that includes the warped stylings of Adrian Belew & Allan Holdsworth (though both are apparently big influences on Torn). The opening gambit featuring a thrilling duel between Torn & Bruford is almost worth the price of the album alone, though one should approach the rest with caution: only serious guitar-heads need apply.
Its not King Crimson - By: Ken Grew, 01 Feb 2008 
The previous reviewer Martin Harley has done a great review, to which I cant add much more. I was (& still am) a Crimson fan, & Bruford & Levin are telepathic, so I tried this album many years ago. Its nothing like the Crims but it is SO interesting. Torns guitar is not like anyone else I had heard at the time, although other are now perhaps influenced by it (try Eivind Aarset). Apparently Mr Torn is an electronics wizard. The description of being a sonicist I think is spot-on, there is so much sound here that it envelopes the listener.
It is one of my favourite all-time albums. Love it. If you like this, try the subsequent Bruford Levin Extremities (BLUE) where all 4 musicians reappear playing similarly brilliant music.
Very Modern Jazz-Rock for guitar, drum, trumpet & bass fans - By: Martin Harley, 23 Jan 2005 This is the album that got me into listening to Jazzin the first place. Having been brought up on guitar rock music such as Kiss & Neil Young, then graduating onto Rush & Yes, I was used to listening to the complexity of prog-rock. The free-wheeling improvisation of Jazz music & the lack of a verse/chorous/solo structure was completely alien to me backin 1988 when I first heard this album.
What hooked me was the guitar work of David Torn, who sounds very unlike many guitarists you'll have ever heard. The tremolo arm on his guitar is constantlyin use, so there's barely a note played 'straight' anywhere & almost no power chords either - its all picking & soloing. The nearest thing I can liken it to is how Yes guitarist Steve Hose plays throughout the album "Going for the One". Torn solos across the rhythym section; that is, he veers off away from what the bassist & drummer are playingin a way no rock-guitarist would, yet it is fascinating to listen to. In time, I learned to appreciate what was going onin the background & eventually 'tuned' my earsin to how jazz music sounds.
He's backed up by Bill Bruford (drums - ex Yes & King Crimson); Mark Isham (trumpet - ex Wyndam Hill artist) & Tony Levin (bass - also ex King Crimson) - all three virtuosos with a good ear for what each other is doing. This means that despite Torn's oblique soloing, they are able to keep playing a wonderful groove that he eventually comes back into - particularly Bruford, who's so busy on this album that I get the impression he must be short of breath after every track (although being Bruford, I suspect he's not got a hair out of place).
"Suyafhu Skin" & "Snapping the Hollow Reed" are beautiful & an easy introduction into the album, before the next 3 tracks go up-tempo & bring out some wonderful mayhem before slowing down again for the "Network of Sparks" pieces & a repriese of the opener called "Suyafhu Seal".
Sadly (in my opinion) David Torn departed from Jazz music after this, coming out with an attempt at chart-friendliness called "Door X" which was notable for his poor liner notes & his singing (average, not since repeated), then heading off into full-on experimentalism with digital technology & computers, giving us "What Means Solid, Traveller" & "Tripping Over God". None of them sound like this album, but I guess all artists must be allowed to change. By 2000, I saw himin an interview describe himself as a "...composer/sonicist..." rather than as a guitarist. But still, this remains one of my favourite Jazz albums of all time & deserves to be better known. Rock guitaristsin the mood for something a little different could do much worse than check this out. Solo albums by your favourite artists are one thing when they play the style of music you're used to, but if you want to hear Bruford & Levin crank out jazz music, then it's a delight. Mark Isham's solo albums are also worth checking out as well.
