Jazz Rock Standard

Almost a masterpiece, but definitely a classic. Some fans might be put off with the vocals of Patrick Simmons(Doobie Brothers) or Alex Ligertwood(Brian Auger/Santana), but if you like them like I do, you're in for a treat. Not much to add here other than it's very similar to their masterpiece What If with a few vocal tracks. Apparently they were looking for a more commercial audience(probably the record label). Nothing really commercial here other than Turn It Up, but there's enough instrumental chops to save it from the dumpster. Great song! Industry Standard is the 2nd album one should purchase along with DREGS OF THE EARTH. Either one would be a great for your collection.

“These songs were written to be performed by anyone,” veteran folk-pop giant James Taylor tells Apple Music of his covers collection of 14 American standards—called, naturally, American Standard (and not to be confused with the popular toilet brand of the same name). These evergreen tunes, including “My Blue Heaven,” “Ol’ Man River,” and “Pennies From Heaven,” are rarely associated with any particular artist, making them ripe for constant reinvention, which was the songwriters’ intention all along. “The songwriting was all there was in the era that these songs were written, because they would be sheet music—they'd be part of a musical, and who knew who was going to be cast singing these parts. All you had to carry a song was the melody, the lyric, and the changes.”

‘Buntús Rince’ translates from Irish as ‘basic rhythms’, and this new compilation explores how Irish musicians were influenced by strands of different genres of music from around the world, merging them to create their own unique sounds. The compilation features some of the most innovative and talented figures in the history of Irish music and includes rare Irish jazz, fusion and folk outliers from the 1970s and early 1980s from musicians relatively unknown outside of Ireland.

This album is notable for several reasons. It was the last album before a big hiatus. The first and only studio album with Mark O'Connor on violin. The second and last using the abbreviated band name The Dregs. Steve Howe, guesting on a track. And last but least, the first Dregs album to have vocal pieces. One from Santana band at the time, Alex Ligertwood. Patrick Simmons, of Doobie Brothers fame, provides vocals for the second vocal piece. All in all, Industry Standard is one of the band's strongest albums, although it plays more like a Steve Morse solo record than any other Dregs release.