Jazz/funk/fusion title by Lenny, originally released in 1978. 11 tracks. 2002.
CD Reviews
Sci-fi progressive/jazz/funk/fusion? Works for me...
Squire Jaco | Buffalo, NY USA | 01/16/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"You can say that the theme of this album is corny and dated, or that the song "Universal Love" is out-of-place and cheesy here, or that funk and progressive don't mix. But this is a very enjoyable, well-played, well-composed album despite the hurdles it faced. Lenny White plays excellent drums (and some synthesizers) all over this album, along with Don Blackman (vocals, keyboards), Alex Blake (bass), and Nick Moroch and Jeff Sigman (guitars). This is mostly progressive rock/jazz fusion (a la "Romantic Warrior"), with some funk thrown in on the side. Despite the less-than-desirable production sound, I still find this to be a very exciting, interesting and unique cd from a talented drummer and songwriter. If you're a fan of Romantic Warrior-era Return To Forever, this cd is essential.
I value interesting music that is played and recorded well. This cd's rating was based on:
Music quality = 8.3/10; Performance = 9/10; Production = 7/10; CD length = 8/10.
Overall score weighted on my proprietary scale = 8.2 ("4 stars")
"
Better than nothing
Squire Jaco | 03/06/2003
(2 out of 5 stars)
"This is a terrible reproduction. The sound quality is awful. The CD I made from the capture of my scratchy old vinyl is better than this. Sound is muddy. Mid-range is totally missing and the high end is not far behind. If all you want is drums (and I mean drums, because the cymbols don't show up for much) then this is it.Too bad, because this is a great album. Deserves better treatment than this. A remaster would be good."
Fantastic Drumming
Drummer in Cincinnati | Cincinnati, OH USA | 08/17/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Lenny White ranks among the top drummers in the business. This 70's release is a great showcase for his skill. All the pieces are linked together in a kind of story that takes place as the 'pirates' rocket through space. The cover art illustrates each piece in a "graphic novel" or comic book type panel.
The music is jazz rock fusion, providing a lot or room for some amazing grooves and unbelievably fast sweeps across the drum kit ("as in Assault"). "Prelude" creates an ethereal the atmosphere and sets up tension leading into "Pursuit". A few of the tunes are dated now by arrangements that feature "Return to Forever" type instrumentation and sections of sappy 70's disco style 'woo-woo-woo' and dooby-dooby-doo-blah' lyrics. But the tracks travel through a wide range of moods and music settings and once they get away from the lyrics, the tightly punctuated pieces are great to listen to.
Personal favorites: Pursuit (except disco lyric section), The Great Pyramid, a short jazz piece called "Remembering", "Stew, Cabbage & Galactic Beans", "Heavy Metal Monster", the amazing "Assault", and the final track "Climax: Theme for the Astral Pirates"."
Not What I Suspected!
Andre S. Grindle | Brewer Maine | 03/06/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"'Lenny White's Adventures Of Astral Pirates' is the drummer's fourth solo album and I was very skeptical right from the start.My first Lenny White CD purchase was 'Streamline' and that's probably my favorite of all his albums,and between CD's and vinyl I have most of them,including this one.I am not a huge fan of White's early solo albums-he spends a great deal of time imitating Billy Cobham's spastic fusion drumming style and fills every available space with his instrumentation-much as he also did with Return To Forever.So on 'Astral Pirates' his drumming is very loud,but at the same time is more controlled and explores the sci-fi theme of this music.And the louder numbers are also saddled with simple funk numbers that came to full flower on the next outing.Not only that but this is probably his better crafted material thus far,even the fusion pieces.The presence of more vocals on this album gives White's music a sense of individuality that it didn't tend to have earlier when he was trying to imitate the styles of other fusion drummers instead of working on being his own musician.So in the end I have a vinyl LP copy of this album (not the Wounded Bird CD issue spoken of) but an album is an album and for all interested I strongly suggest that for a good introduction to early Lenny White you should pick this up-it's a great sampler from his fusion side rather then his funk side.For that I suggest 'Streamline'."
Slamming heavy metal funk.
Langmick | East Lansing, MI United States | 11/01/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I searched all over the place for this recording after hearing part of a song on public radio and finally found a crackly dub from an LP and I was glad I had been persistent because there is some of the best drumming, jazz, rock or otherwise, on this recording. Lenny sounds great and very creative with a deep rich sound that betters Billy Cobham's drum corps drumset tuning. There is very syncopated, punchy jazz-funk and there is heavy, heavy metallic rock with lightning fast drumset playing on this disc. Highly recommended for anyone serious about playing drums or interested in how experimental recorded music was in the early 70's. Lenny always has a different way of playing fills and creating beats and he really shines in those regards on this disc as well as writing some interesting melodies."
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1