Patrick Adams and his
Cloud One followed their self-titled album on P&P with
Funky Disco Tracks of Cloud One on Queen Constance, another label run by
Adams and Peter Brown. Though it only has five tracks, it can definitely qualify as a full-length since three of them exceed ten minutes in length.
Adams' synthesizer is at its most unhinged throughout; while much of his work features creative lines and patterns that carry and accentuate the song, they often dominate here, swooping and careening to and fro and having so much presence that one could possibly lose track of the groove and fall into some alternate dimension of squiggle-swirls. The first side, consisting of "Jump, Jump, Jump" and "Funky Track," is basically one 20-minute song chopped in half. On the flip, the first two songs feature more of a thrust and take the same approach, splitting a 17-minute-long stretch to make it all easier to swallow. These two songs aren't quite as out there as the A-side. The relatively brief "Happy Music" is more traditionally song-based, closing out an album that, while decent, doesn't come close to matching the greatness of the debut. The synthesizers on this album are just as wild as they are on any
Emerson, Lake & Palmer or
Yes record, but it's all done in the name of funk, not wank. [This album has been included in its entirety on both The Best of Cloud One and The Very Best of Cloud One.] ~ Andy Kellman