II

II was the album where Kingston Wall most successfully merged their hard rock, progressive, psychedelic, and Middle Eastern sounds. Much of this owes to the bandmembers' instrumental interplay, which is given freer rein and allowed to stretch out more than on their other two albums. Ranging from the soaring guitar (acoustic and electric) and violin piece "Istwan" to the Zeppelin-esque blues of "And It's All Happening" and "Shine on Me," to the high octane jamming of "Palekastro," the stylistic palette is varied. Unfortunately, this variation also accounts for the one downright bad song, "Love Tonight" (think "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?"-era Rod Stewart or bad Scorpions). On the other hand, Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" is actually a somewhat successful merging of disco and hard rock. The reissue bonus disc is composed of "Between the Trees" and "She's So Fine," originally from the "We Cannot Move" single, plus a live track, "Can't Get Through." ~ Rob Caldwell