Search - Eddie Jobson, Zinc :: The Green Album

Eddie, what are you doing now?

youngchool choe | San Francisco | 02/06/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Since the great U.K. has been my favorite band (and the group of my favorite musicians in each instrument), I have been collecting most of solo efforts by the members (Bruford, Earthwork, IOU, Asia, Quango...). I think Bill Bruford has been building most impressive carrier among them. On the contrary, It's a shame that Eddie Jobson released only a couple of solo efforts so far but both of them are great. Overall, this album may not be that exciting as U.K. albums are but still it's... yeah simply I love this. Particularly, I enjoy the title 'the resident' and 'easy for you to say' very much. The latter is haunting. Music from outerworld? Even I like the name of band 'Zinc' (well, you all know John Wetton named his band Asia starting with 'A'. Funny, what happened?). He even designed the logo on the album jacket, did a little bit of dancing(?) in fancy green outfits, played with a drummer with plastic cymbal for a video clip. Actually he looked cool in the video. And I think he vocal fits music(electronical prog rock) perfectly. But the project was not successful. Why? As Allan Holdsworth said, Eddie was a 'extremely talented musician' and the 80s didn't require that. Too bad. He also released 'theme of secret' album later. Again this album is not exciting like any of U.K. release but it was a solo project with synclavier. Just like I believe Steven King has a additional sense, I think Eddie has one too. Ethereal but pretty accessible. GET IT if you like U.K. ! And Eddie? The Nash bridges theme was cool but you can do something much better, what's going on with the 'Legacy' project????? I am ready to buy anything from you, just release whatever you got!
PS> Also check his stint with Curved air (aircut album; metamorphosis) and Roxy music (Siren album; She sells). Great stuffs."

A bit dated, a step back from U.K., but still a pretty good

Squire Jaco | Buffalo, NY USA | 01/09/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Eddie Jobson's keyboard and violin work on the U.K. albums was jaw-droppingly awesome, so I was naturally seeking out something more from him, without venturing back into his side work with Zappa, Curved Air, Jethro Tull or Roxy Music. While his chops are still on fine display here on his first solo studio album, one sees a little different side of Jobson here than with U.K.



According to outside sources, this "Eddie Jobson - Zinc" album was originally meant to be titled "The Green Album" and credited to the band name Zinc. Probably a good move by the record company to "mess things up", as Jobson is clearly the star here, and no one else is a name player besides Gentle Giant's Gary Green (hmmmm...Green....) who only plays on the final two tracks. Three other guitarists split the axe duties, two guys share bass duties, and a Michael Barsimanto plays some decent - but fairly 1980's-sounding - drums.



The music itself? Well, the "Transporter" bookends to the album are short, spacey instrumentals. The rest of the album alternates between prog/synth-pop songs (in an Alan Parsons sort of style) and almost "new age" instrumentals, roughly tied together by sub-par lyrics that regularly reinforce the Green theme. I view tracks 4, 5 & 6 as a sort of "new age suite", as the songs have similar coloring (unintended pun) and blend into each other. Favorite songs include "Resident", "Turn It Over", "Green Face" and "Through The Glass", as they sound more like solid prog/pop to me.



Jobson does all of the vocals; a cross between Jon Anderson and whoever sang "Eye In The Sky" for Alan Parsons Project. I like them well enough. I wish he would have featured the violin more on this album, but his keyboard playing is top-notch (with passing nods to U.K. in a few spots). Certainly enough to enjoy here, and I still spin it on occasion. With so little recorded output from this virtuoso, you really should try to find this cd (or even a nice vinyl copy on eBay).



I'm still not quite sure why he focused on the color green so much. And isn't the element zinc blue in color?....



I value interesting music that is played and recorded well. This cd's rating was based on:

Music quality = 7.1/10; Performance = 9/10; Production = 8/10; CD length = 7/10.

Overall score weighted on my proprietary scale = 7.7 ("3-1/2 stars")



"

Not dead yet

Greg Watkins | 03/02/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I do not know where "Nach" from Mexico got his information in year 2001, but Eddie's website, last dated jan/2005, gives me the impression that his, Ed's, untimely demise has not yet occured. I have all of his solo stuff, the UK stuff, and the Roxy Music stuff and agree that his talent is A+ caliber. If you google his name, you will be able to find a link to his website, currently under construction(3/2/2005). The picture indicates that he is probably healthy and having a better time than I am having now."