MAX WEBSTER – Mutiny Up My Sleeve (Rock Candy Remastered)

The early, essential albums by Canadian rockers MAX WEBSTER have been remastered by Rock Candy Records, and as requested by many of you, here’s “Mutiny Up My Sleeve”, their third LP co-produced by Terry Brown (Rush), and once again it showcased the band in particularly nimble form; the progressive arrangements dovetail neatly, with hard hitting riffs and much spectacular lead guitar work by Kim Mitchell.

The Max machine keeps ascending further into the bright blue with this cooler, darker, and mellower release, fashioned sorta like a dry Martini intravenous.
There are a bunch of classic Max Webster tracks to be found on this album, including the full throttle of both ‘The Party’ and ‘Lip Service’, the mellow ‘Astonish Me’ and the jewel in the crown impact of ‘Waterline’. However, if you really want to experience Max Webster basking in the full glow of perfection then look no further than ‘Beyond The Moon’, a magnificent progressive rock mash-up that will haunt you forever.

With respect to the more aggressive, hard rockin’ cuts, ‘The Party’ finds the band in free-form, progressive heaven yet arena-ready, while ‘Lip Service’ rides a jagged funk edge through to its bluesy Fripp-riffed finale.
Both hoser anthems became concert favorites as Max traversed Canada and let squeal its laughing gases into every nook, cranny and tiny mining town of the band’s vast, empty homeland.

Of the mellower material, ‘Astonish Me’ is the most heartening, small and jewel-like with Watkinson’s Freddie Mercury-poignant piano stylings leading the star search and wish list.
Overall, call this another fine but disturbed and slightly hostile Max project, one that finds the band perhaps a bit too self-aware of its oddity yet comfortable with it, never alienating their strange fanbase, Kim and troupe offering up what can only be seen as an integral piece of the band’s moonscaped psyche-caressing fuzzy wuzzy puzzle.

The Max Webster catalogue (and to a lesser extent, the solo Kim Mitchell discography) has been well overdue for a remastering. The original CD’s edition are thin and tinny. Rock Candy did a fantastic remaster of their albums with better sound, big and ‘spacey’.
Highly Recommended

You’ve seen it first at 0dayrox

01 – Lip Service
02 – Astonish Me
03 – Let Your Man Fly
04 – Water Me Down
05 – Distressed
06 – The Party
07 – Waterline
08 – Hawaii
09 – Beyond The Moon

Kim Mitchell – Guitars, Vocals
Dave Myles – Bass Guitar
Terry Watkinson – Keyboards, Vocals
Gary McCracken – Drums, Percussion

BUY IT !
store.musicmagpie.co.uk/products/mutiny-up-my-sleeve