Collaboration Element are an instrumental progressive rock band with music drawing from a mix of influences ranging from Liquid Tension Experiment, Dream Theater, Spock's Beard, Dixie Dregs, to a little bit of Yanni and Elton John.

There is over 60 minutes worth of music on this cd. The song titles are Sensory Overload, Quintessence, Watch The Sky, Critical Mass, Time, Laodicea, Manual Override, Trinity

The core band consists of guitarist Greg Jones and drummer Jason McIntosh.

However the cd also has bass guitar and keyboards. The musicianship on this cd is excellent, guitarist Greg Jones plays just the right combination of blazing leads tempered with melodic phrasing. His lead playing sounds like a mix between John Petrucci and Eric Johnson. Drummer Jason McIntosh plays with an excellent sense of dynamics as well as masterfully playing altering time signatures throughout the music.

But if this cd only contained great musicianship it wouldn't be the masterpiece that it is. What stands out is the songwriting. The music is complex yet melodic. The band has managed to incorporate creativity virtuosity complexity as well as melodic hooks and great dramatic shifts all into one complete package.

The cd opens with 'Sensory Overload', a song that grabs the listener's attention by the throat with it's pedal to the metal tempo and blazing guitar riffs. Later, as if to keep the listener from literally being overload with it's energy, the song takes a surprising shift into more traditional jazz territory before heading into a heavy half beat rock riff.

'Quintessence' has a couple of melodic themes that are repeated throughout in enough variation to keep the listener's attention. That's one thing that I love about this band. The band does a great job of incorporating themes in every song. This is the type of music that you can listen to 100's of times and still hear new things. 'Quintessence' sounds like it uses a lot of contrasting modes, going from a Phyrgian mode riff to a dorian or mixolydian mode melody.

'Watch The Sky' is probably the strongest piece on this cd. This upbeat tune takes the listener everywhere from a great opening straight rock riff that the band twisted with a changing time signature. This song regularly returns to a very mellow melodic interlude woven in as one of it's theme. The middle section is very very reminiscent of Kansas with it's guitar and organ riffs. The pulls off some unison riffs in this song that have to be heard to be believed. The outro of this piece is the centrepiece, as the dynamics start out very low. And build to a peak with a very strong guitar lead that is one example of how the guitarist is able to both incorporate melody and musicianship into his playing.

'Critical Mass' is a brilliant piece, timing in at about 10 minutes. This song has some great 5/4 and 7/8 riffs in it, a great jazz piano lead, an unbelievable middle section, ending with a more unbelievable unison lead.

'Time' is written more like a ballad, very strong in dynamics, and melody. This piece, unlike most of the other songs, stays in 4/4 time signature. This piece,s strong melody is very powerful.

'Laodicea' weaves at least a couple of themes throughout. Another strong song with dense instrumentation and displays of great musicianship.

'Manual Override' features a rock riff played in some very odd time signatures. This riff is it's centrepiece but in the middle of this tune, there is a fantastic melody that the band forges. This one has a great guitar solo played over some interesting chord progressions.

'Trinity', timing in at 13 minutes is written in three movements. The first movement reminds me of Elton+John or Yanni with it's heavy piano melodies. However, there's plenty of rock in this movement to keep the rock fan satisfied. The unison guitar and synth leads are a highlight. The middle section is a surprise as it shifts to a very ethereal synth section. The third section, goes into a great guitar Forgan riff that once again reminds me of Kansas. There is a melodic theme that the band incorporates into the third movement that was repeated in the first movement. It took me several listens before I picked up on it as it is used quite subtly.

This cd is a masterpiece!.

My only criticism is the drum mix. The drum tone sounds just a little weak. But nevertheless, the cd has a great mix.

Collaboration Experiment Website: http://www.geocities.com/collaboration_element/main.htm

The cd is available on www.gregjonesmusic.com