UK band ABBFINOOSTY were active in the 1980’s and 90’s, and managed to release two albums before breaking up. “Out of Abbfinoosty Comes the Storm” was the second and last of these, and was released through the now dormant progressive rock oriented label Cyclops Records in 1996.
I understand that this album really isn’t an album that can be attributed to the band Abbfinoosty. It was planned and created as a solo album by Asif Ali, while the label apparently tried to tie it up to his former band Abbfinoosty. Hence the somewhat creative title of the album on the cover art, while the spine of the CD reads this as a production by the band “Out of Abbfinoosty” called “The Storm”. It is, in essence though, a solo album. But as the greater majority of retailers will sort this production under the Abbfinoosty moniker, due to reasons stated, I will not add to the confusion by attributing this album to Asif Ali as a solo artist other than in the description given here.
What we do have is an album that is by and large somewhat confusing. Creative for sure, but a creativity one might describe as being too free and uncontrolled, and arguably also suffering from a mix of too much enthusiasm and lacking quality control. As an album experience this one is a bit all over the place in most aspects, with moments of brilliance appearing in otherwise murky material, some really fine standalone creations, a few compositions that can’t be described in any other way as clunkers as far as I’m concerned and many songs that are, well, pleasant enough.
Blues based hard rock, typical 90’s synth pop, melancholic Floydian tinged creations and some rather typical mainstream rock ballads are the main ingredients of this CD, some executed much better than the others. Some of the more keyboard dominated creations suffer a lot from keyboards and synths with that dreadful clinical 90’s sound to them, those who recall that era will know what I’m talking about when they come across those creations. But other creations, like the brilliant cosmic and Floydian landscapes of Interstellar, use the same kind of instruments in an altogether more interesting manner. This track in particular is the moment where this album shines the brightest too, where the talents and creativity of Asif comes into full bloom.
Much of the remaining material suffers from various kinds of weak aspects, or at least contains sounds and atmospheres with much more of a niche and narrow appeal. Asif’s vocals is among those, he does have a fine voice actually but I get the impression that he by sheer enthusiasm is carried away too often, relinquishing the fine voice control needed to make the vocals an elevating rather than detrimental aspect of a song. This is especially the case in the songs that demands a strong vocalist to maintain tension, the ballads as well as some of the songs with more of a sparse arrangement. The attempt to create a menacing mood on Cyberspace among the tracks of the latter category.
As an album experience, “Out of Abbfinoosty Comes the Storm” is just about as confusing as the chosen title of this CD. It is creative and eclectic, but with many features of either a detrimental nature or a more distinct niche appeal, it isn’t eclectic in a good way. A production worth checking out by those who tend to enjoy an album where creativity is given free reign at the cost of quality, and especially those who find joy in uncovering the good bits from an album that for most will be a roller-coaster ride kind of experience.
My rating: 54/100
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Track list:
When the Sun Explodes; Interstellar; Cyberspace; Saddest Girl; Love Like This; Churchyard; Hawk; Hell or High Water; Dream; Soul Catcher; You’ll Never Make It
