Niacin – Organik

I’ve always tried very hard to be a fan of ELP (that’s “Emerson, Lake and Palmer” to those of you who may not know), because (in my opinion) you have to try to be a fan of ELP. I really want to like them. I so admire what they were trying to do, and of course they were amazing musicians. But the truth is there was just something missing in their sound.

Now I don’t have to try so hard to like ELP, because I’ve found NIACIN.

Organik is the latest release from the virtuoso jazz-rock trio Niacin, featuring the legendary bassist Billy Sheehan, with John Novello on keyboards (predominantly B-3), and Dennis Chambers on drums. Organik accomplishes successfully what ELP was trying to do and then takes it five steps further with some of the most over-the-top technical gymnastics that we’ve ever heard. A warning to the disciples of the “Less is more” school: this might not be for you. These guys obviously believe that MORE is more, and in the case of Organik, they are right. If you like your music with a lot of notes (and I mean A LOT), you will love Niacin. And if you wanted to like ELP, but you just couldn’t, Organik may be the album you’ve been waiting for.