There is at least one group every festival where I ask myself, “What are they doing here?” Despite the hype that was given Pure Reason Revolution, I quickly deflated. Just basic drums and guitars, very muddled vocals, and some electronic whizzing in the background. No virtuosity to be found anywhere. I gave them three songs, and then ducked out to catch an early dinner at Sal’s.
[Opinionated Rant On] Q magazine might believe this group is a missing link between Floyd and the 21th century. But then, since the late seventies, mainstream rock has only degenerated and regressed, going from punk to hair metal to grunge, from bad to ugly to unlistenable. Mainstream rock isn’t so much dead as undead, that is in zombie-land. So, perhaps Pure Reason is a missing link between Floyd and the zombie-zone, along with nominally prog groups like Porcupine Tree and Radiohead, but it’s not my cup of tea at all. If I wanted to listen to this type of stuff, I’d go to a mainstream or alt fest.[/Opinionated Rant Off]
