Album of Last Friday

Big Swing Face, by Bruce Hornsby (2002): I like it when my favorite artists stretch out and explore new territory. I like Alex Lifeson's Victor solo project precisely because it doesn't sound a whole lot like Rush does ("Promise" excepted). Same with Marillion's This Strange Engine (which, oddly enough, has a Rush-esque track, "An Accidental Man"). Why do I mention this? 'cause Big Swing Face sounds like nothing else Bruce Hornsby did before or since. The piano's been plugged in* and the noise and the funk have been brought in. The results are uneven but, at times, brilliant. "The Chill" and "This Too Shall Pass" are classics.

* In the liner notes, Bruce notes that he "plays Baldwin pianos (but not much on this record)."