Safety in Numbers - Umphrey's McGee

Umphrey's McGee planned to have a pleasant, furtive start to 2005 by spending the early winter months in the studio crafting a record. Fate had other ideas, and sent spirits plummeting when a close friend of the band was killed by a drunk driver while taking a cab from Umphrey's New Years show to a post-party at the keyboardist's house. Add a souring relationship and ugly break up to the emotional tumult and you have enough drama to pen a season of the OC.

It also inspired the band to pull together, finding safety in numbers, and record their best studio work to date, a record that captures the emotions that fueled recording, and begions to develop a studio personality for the band. Too many jambands get lost in the studio, trying to capture the essence of their live show, or unable to distill ten minute songs to concise and meaningful selections. That's not the case with this release. There are concise layered arrangements, an effective use of guest and supporting musicians, a few longer compositions, and an energy that is quintessentially Umphrey's.

What other band would open a record with the lines "Let this become memory / The worst is yet to come!". The joke is quickly washed away by the intense and strained piece, “Believe the Lie”. This song is one of a few on the album which were composed by assembling sections of the band's improvisations and honing them into complete songs. It is also one of the weaker cuts on the record, but most effectively sets the tone for the album. The song introduces one of the more interesting motifs of this release. The contrasting voices of Brendan Bayliss and Jake Cinninger are used to capture despair and hope, respectively. The hope may not be real, but it seems better than the ocean of pain. Alternating verses and songs help to balance the albums sound and feel.

The album begins to roll with the quieter "Rocker" which couples the loss of life to the end of a relationship. The dualism is explored throughout the album, but only after Cinninger ads some introspective levity with his Beatlesesque "Liquid". It's the same song as Ali Babba's Tahini's "Liquid in My Head", but is treated much differently with Umphrey's. It's a great song by it self, and is an excellent respite before the epic center piece "Words". It's a brooding sectional song that features a Zepplinesque build to an incredible instrumental, and vocal peak. This is the band's most epic composition since Divisions.

"Nemo", and "Women Wine and Song" belong on the radio. They have excellent hooks, and a genuine economy of composition. The latter also features Huey Lewis on backing vocals and harmonica. It's a honky-tonk Jake tune which serves as an homage to Little Feat, a respite, and contrasting opinion to the heavy undercurrents of the albums material.

Jazz Saxophonist Joshua Redman guests on "Intentions Clear", trading licks with Jake Cinninger, and blowing ripples and waves of fractional notes while Brendan Bayliss wails in his own, heavy hearted way. If Frank Zappa had written a serious musical version of Romeo and Juliet, this would be Romeo's final soliloquy.

"End of the Road" is a pleasant acoustic instrumental, which serves nicely to connect some melodic ideas from early selections and better exhibit the harmonica styings of Huey Lewis.

The final suite of songs are among the albums finest. "Passing" features incredible four part harmonies amidst pulsing prog rock. "Ocean Billy" presents a thoughtful re-interpretation of a concert staple, born of improv, into a masterpiece of studio rock showcasing drummer Kris Meyers. The re-envisioning of it's opening build is a bit controversial on fan sites, but the nay-sayers miss the boat on the possibilities of the studio. The album closes with the acoustic "The Weight Around" which provides some thematic closure, and ends with a pair of lines, which when take out of context are just as delightfully self deprecating as the cd's opening couplet.

"Safety in Numbers" is by far Umphrey's best studio album, and one of the best albums I purchased this year. This won't be the band's master piece. It shows too much unrealized promise.

Rating: 4/5
Top Track: Words
Reason to Buy: You've alway's wondered what would happen if Pink Floyd and Led Zepplin had a baby.
Reasons Not to Buy this Album: You'd like to strike because the lucky bastards who pre-ordered the limited Vinyl release scored a studio version of Divisons. Divisions!