Miler72
This album found Klaus Doldinger ditching the old lineup, so effectively a brand new Passport. This album is a mixed bag, there's a couple of numbers that throw me over the edge, and several experiments that are untypically Passport I really enjoy. A couple of them venture into that dreaded lite-fusion, especially "Louisiana", in fact it borders on smooth jazz. There are some songs on here that remind me a whole lot of instrumental Alan Parsons Project, particularly "Sky Blue" and "Loco-Motive". Given I often enjoyed many of the instrumental stuff of the Alan Parsons Project, I found these songs very enjoyable. I wouldn't be surprised if Klaus Doldinger got a hold of I Robot and decided to record music in the style of that album's instrumental stuff. "Reng Ding Dang Dong" really blows me away, a really strange, unusual electronic experiment that really sounds like nothing I have ever heard from Passport! Strange spacy synthesizers and a cool rhythm to go with it. I was surprised how much of this album I enjoyed, even if a couple of songs are cringe worthy. Much of the Latin influence of Iguacu is gone here, some of the songs here, as mentioned, leans towards the instrumental Alan Parsons Project side of things, one electronic piece, couple that sounds like classic Passport, and a couple of more lightweight numbers. By the way, Ataraxia and Sky Blue are the same release. For some strange reason, Atlantic Records in the States felt it would be better titled Sky Blue, while the international release is called Ataraxia. At least they both bear the same cover and tracklistings.
Of course, albums like Looking Thru and Cross-Collateral are their best albums, this is still worth having for the better material included here.
