"I dropped this CD in a car with an Infinity stereo and Wow! I heard Sea Level years ago but it didn't sound near this good. The digital remastering of the original recordings really brings this music to life. For those of you who like complicated jazz rhythms you should check this out. I personally don't know of any other music like Sea Level. It has a touch of Allman Brothers with jazz like Sting used to use. For me now I have to buy the rest of the remastered recordings."
Rock/Jazz/Southern Soul masterpiece
Brad Kelly | Belle Mead, NJ USA | 03/05/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This album blew me away 24 years ago and still holds up strong. The arrangements and musicianship are stellar. Flawless playing."
Neglected in 1977. Neglected still.
Philip Bradshaw | toronto canada | 05/04/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"To me this sounds better than it ever has. I don't mean in an audiophile sense but, rather, in a purely musical one. These guys sure can play! I did buy three of their five recordings as they were released in the late seventies and early eighties. Obviously, as I bought more than one, I did enjoy the music all those years ago. As an older and, I hope, wiser person, I now appreciate better Sea Level's considerable talents.
On this record, as opposed to the later On the Edge, I prefer the instrumental jazz-rock-fusion cuts on side one (Rain in Spain, Tidal Wave) to the songs featuring vocals. The vocals are pretty ordinary - although the instrumental breaks in these songs are good. Side two starts of promisingly with Nothing Matters but the Fever and then continues with the excellent Chuck Leavell opus Grand Larceny. The Paul Simon penned Scarborough Fair features some cool and restrained piano work from Leavell. The album closes with the inoffensive but relatively nondescript instrumental Just a Good Feeling. There is, throughout the record, naturally, an element of The Allman Brothers.
Although this debut isn't their best, it remains an enjoyable Sea Level recording.
"
Excellent instrumentals
D. H. Socolov | Columbus, OH | 08/01/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Classic southern rock jazz cd. What prevents it from being a 5 star is the vocal numbers that aren't quite as good as the instrumental numbers. The performances and production are fine. The previous member's dismissal of the Dixie Dregs is short sighted and downright WRONG!! I dare anyone to go see Steve Morse from the now defunct Dregs, live, and tell me he's shallow!! Steve is one of the greatest guitarists around."