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Music : Bees + Flowers + Things
Rating:  -
who is joy rose and where has she been hiding. everybody loves the sunshine is the bomb. talk about a nice cd. to bad the smooth jazz station here in las vegas never played this song on the radio, with all due respect to roy ayers this song was much better, though mary j blidge did it gorgeous also. track 2 everyday is also very smoothing and of course maysa on here makes me smile. glad i bought this one also, buy it folks and get your smile on, trust me
Rating:  -
The album starts with song titled "Everybody Loves The Sunshine". That's 100% true. Everyone rates Incognito's "Adventures in Black Sunshine" as the top class and it will be difficult for the band to surpass The Adventure's great musical and commercial success.
"Bees + Flowers + Things" may be targeted at a narrower group of Incognito fans than any of their previous albums. Because of the style chosen for the album: relaxed, tranquil, unhurried summer music. Newcomers to Incognito may feel it to be too mediocre and they may find it appropriate to better start with another Incognito's album, for instance "Adventures in Black Sunshine". For the Incognito fans "Bee + Flowers + Things" may present a difficult load on ear as the initial expectation to hear the Incognito's original style will not match the reality. I stopped playing the CD half way during first listening session. The next day I tried "BFT" again, as background music. And I stopped the CD less than half way through it. The marketers call it "post-purchase dissonance". There will be moments when you expect to finally hear "that deep-low solid boom" and it does not happen... It took me courage to load the CD in my player in two days and... enjoy the album.
The music is very delicate. There are points I found to be of possible importance to enjoy this album. (i) It does not work as background music and requires attention of the listener because the idea is in the detail. (ii) It is more comfortable to listen to this CD at somewhat lower than average loudness level as jumping above breaks the intimacy of music. (iii) The music is better played at the twilight as the song collection does not fit daytime. You may find it different from my experience and that will be fair enough.
As to the repertoire, I would include a couple of more songs a-la "Summer In The City" to pour more energy in music. Anyway the vocals are powerful enough in themselves to deliver that energy. I also found that starting listening to the CD from track 8 "Crave" and then moving to the beginning to track 1 is a good way to set the mood and enjoy the music. You may wish to try this.
The arrangements are perfect. They are subtle and all about the details - this is why the album requires full listener's attention to understand the music.
A star in my rating is eaten by the sound engineering. It could have been better. Such delicate music is about a detail. The sound quality does not deliver that final "dzing" to appreciate the micro-details of wonderful human voice and perfect instrumental play. With a better sound mastering the album would be a top notch for those who is about understanding music.
Rating: -
The album starts with song titled "Everybody Loves The Sunshine". That's 100% true. Everyone rates Incognito's "Adventures in Black Sunshine" as the top class and it will be difficult for the band to surpass The Adventure's great musical and commercial success.
"Bees + Flowers + Things" may be targeted at a narrower group of Incognito fans than any of their previous albums. Because of the style chosen for the album: relaxed, tranquil, unhurried summer music. Newcomers to Incognito may feel it to be too mediocre and they may find it appropriate to better start with another Incognito's album, for instance "Adventures in Black Sunshine". For the Incognito fans "Bee + Flowers + Things" may present a difficult load on ear as the initial expectation to hear the Incognito's original style will not match the reality. I stopped playing the CD half way during first listening session. The next day I tried "BFT" again, as background music. And I stopped the CD less than half way through it. The marketers call it "post-purchase dissonance". There will be moments when you expect to finally hear "that deep-low solid boom" and it does not happen... It took me courage to load the CD in my player in two days and... enjoy the album.
The music is very delicate. There are points I found to be of possible importance to enjoy this album. (i) It does not work as background music and requires attention of the listener because the idea is in the detail. (ii) It is more comfortable to listen to this CD at somewhat lower than average loudness level as jumping above breaks the intimacy of music. (iii) The music is better played at the twilight as the song collection does not fit daytime. You may find it different from my experience and that will be fair enough.
As to the repertoire, I would include a couple of more songs a-la "Summer In The City" to pour more energy in music. Anyway the vocals are powerful enough in themselves to deliver that energy. I also found that starting listening to the CD from track 8 "Crave" and then moving to the beginning to track 1 is a good way to set the mood and enjoy the music. You may wish to try this.
The arrangements are perfect. They are subtle and all about the details - this is why the album requires full listener's attention to understand the music.
A star in my rating is eaten by the sound engineering. It could have been better. Such delicate music is about a detail. The sound quality does not deliver that final "dzing" to appreciate the micro-details of wonderful human voice and perfect instrumental play. With a better sound mastering the album would be a top notch for those who is about understanding the music.
Rating: -
Incognito can do no wrong in my book. The music, band, production, vocalists, and arrangements have all been top-notch since their 1981 debut, resulting in some truly remarkable albums and mind-blowing songs along the way.
During that time, the group have racked up a wealth of uptempo hits, club favorites, and jams. While much of their fan base appreciates all sides of this multi-faceted organization, many Cog-heads look for that "good time" music on every new release ... and will ultimately be disappointed with this latest set, at least at first.
BTF has NO uptempo numbers. All the songs are acoustic or slow to very slow. They are perfect for a romantic evening, winding down, etc. But the people that are looking for something to which they can shake what their mama gave 'em will be starving for a remix album of these tunes (which would actually be a great idea). Think of it as Merlot rather than espresso, and you've got the vibe. Rich, dark and exotic, but mellowing rather than energizing.
BTF is a brief but solid album that well may be the only one of its type that the band will ever release, and for that it's special. And again, the execution is passionate -- yet virtually flawless in execution. Very few bands can pull that off once, let alone album after album, after album. Among other strong remakes, their take on "That's The Way Of The World" may be the best ever, second only to Earth Wind and Fire's brilliant original.
I applaud Incognito for delving fully into their mellow and softer side. Rump-shakers: be assured that Bluey is cooking up something hot for you. Take a breather and give BTF a chance.
Rating:  -
I love Incognito and the usual suspects are all here: great performances and amazing vintage sounds married to Steely Dan quality production. This album was supposed to be a change for them and I totally applaud their choice to try to mix it up. Unfortunately, the album just doesn't have the burn of other Incognito albums, leading to an overall so-so performance for them. The covers of their own material---some of their best material, like "Still a Friend of Mine"---just never seem to make it off the runway for me. Other tracks where they're covering other people actually work better. Tin Man and, especially, That's the Way of the World groove. On That's the Way of the World Incognito manages to channel EWF in their heyday (no small feat and I bet they're one of the few bands who could manage it given the vocal talent they have) and sound like they're having an amazing time doing it. In short, it might grow on me so I'm not writing it off right yet, but I don't anticipate this would be anything like 11, 100 Degrees and Rising, Adventures in Black Sunshine, or No Time Like the Future in terms of rotation on my player.
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THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT! 
