Damn… I’m so blown away! What a marvelous record! The info sheet promises something phenomenal, but they are also often that phenomenal off the mark. Not in the case of BIGELF. Every single word proclaims truth and I actually could have just copied the sheet in its entirety.
However, the fourth album of the L.A. rockers is entitled Cheat The Gallows, already a nice wordplay, and is a brightly colored circus: crazy, insane, way-out, psychedelic, intoxicating, epic, bizarre, raving, racy, rocking, demonical and most of all deeply rooted in the late 60’s/early 70’s. David Bowie comes to mind at his Space Oddity times (No Parachute), Jethro Tull without flute, Supertramp (Hydra), even Arcturus, back in a time warp. Other references kick off with the almighty Beatles; go via Sabbath (Hydra), Pink Floyd (The Evils Of Rock & Roll), Zappa, T-Rex, Uriah Heep up to Kravitz. Yesss, it is an utmost insane mix, but also an awesome one! All these influences ain’t spread on them all, no way! You can find them all in one and this in all of them ;) Ludicrous Hammond organ trips (Race Within Time), sax, clarinets, trumpets, hurdy-gurdy, strings and whatever might be included too, added by an incredible voice, progressive, dense, intensive and complex song structures, never ever predictable, grandiose solo work and distinct riffing. There are many twists and turns in one song that you might get mislead to at least three other ones. Surprise, surprise, it’s still the same one ;) Losing control seems to be intended. Heh. Cheat The Gallows makes you breathless! AND… it is such tremendous pleasure to listen to this record. Cheat The Gallows is the sun in your heart and the demon on your shoulder ;) BIGELF create an own anarchistic universe, brimming with overwhelming and colored creativity. It’s truly unbelievable!
Needless to say that you cannot point out a single song. They are all great, every one a hit, a smasher, a hymn, a song for eternity. This masterpiece gets closed with the 11 minutes running monolith entitled Counting Sheep, a piece of excessive progressive rock ;) This album is a MUST-HAVE for every musical freethinker. I for myself kneel down!