Album #11 from The Tangent brings some healthy stability with all band members returning (and longtime artist Ed Unitsky even getting a credit as part of the band!) for Auto Reconnaissance. It’s a divisive record for a lot of fans, especially those who cling to traditional descriptors of what constitutes “prog” or “prog rock,” but I counter-argue that the fact that the band on this album stretch way beyond those clichéd (but oh so sweet) tenants of the form is the very nature of “progressive rock” – you just may not like the forms Tillison and Co. are experimenting with, That’s fine, I do – and that’s why this album works really well for me, especially as a broad diversion between their previous killer album and the one that comes next, which was my introduction to the band.

But we’re not quite there yet, so let’s see what cooking here.

But first, the dilemma of sequence: CD or vinyl? Due to having both a 15 and 28 minute track on the album, the time limitation of vinyl necessitated some sequence changes to make it all fit (rather than simply throw a track on the CD alone like Proxy did). For the record, I’m going to follow the CD sequence, as to my ears sonically we’re at a point where the differences in sound are little between the two formats.

Either way, Auto Reconnaissance kicks off with the sublime “Life on Hold” and Jonas Reingold bringing a simply nasty funk rhythm. Tillison evokes the spirit of Tom Jones and other emotive singers in his signature delivery about constantly reaching for more information, yearning to know more and getting so invested you lose yourself in the process. It’s funk, it’s pop, it has a killer chorus with layered vocals and the solos are extra tasty. Not sure what folks are complaining about – I especially love Tillison’s keyboard runs against Reingold’s all over the map bass playing. It’s a great fun opening track, just long enough to whet your appetite for the rest of the record.

“Jinxed in Jersey” is the first big piece at almost 16 minutes long. It’s a typical Andy Tillison autobiographical narrative set to music, this time about getting into adventures as he tries to see NewYork only to realize he’s on the other side of the bay in New Jersey. It’s in eight parts, and starts in an easy slow R&B funk, great organ and keyboards accentuating Luke Machin’s jazzy playing and some lyrical interjections from Theo Travis. It segues into an episode with a police officer, and besides laughing at Tillison’s hilarious NY accent as he “plays” the cop it’s a family straight piece musically, keeping the original theme and carrying it into the third section where things suddenly burst into a rock stomp. It becomes Travis’s world, some great flute and sax blending into electronic drums and we’re suddenly in this weird jazz/hip-hop funk world where Tillison meets some artists and is offered weed. I can definitely see why folks re just eager to get back to the prog, but man, are they just completely missing the music going on in the background? Because it’s great. We’ll be in some smooth jazz that suddenly morphs into a Frank Zappa lick before settling back down. And like Zappa Tillison is interested in any noise or sound that can be folded into his own conceptual continuity.

And it was literally in writing that sentence just now I realized that’s exactly what Tillison’s been doing all this time. He’s using his music to build this enormous tapestry that is a musical life. Just like Zappa.

And just like Zappa the music zigs and zags, this time into a metal instrumental subtitled New Jersey Transit Authority. This whole section is incredible, piano and metal solos and jazz all squashed together with Machin just ripping alongside Tillison. Not wanting to be left out, Steve Robert’s drums sound fantastic, perfectly recorded and set in the mix so every cymbal hit rings out and his impeccable timekeeping framing everything. Morseso than the massive epic to come it’s “Jinxed in Jersey” that feels like the signature Tangent track for Auto Reconnaissance.

A couple of short ones to bridge the mother tracks. “Under Your Spell” is a legit modern pop ballad, and if pop music actually sounded like this I’d probably still be checking out radio. Another (surprise) Theo Travis standout, although I really like Andy’s singing here. Is this where folks have problems? I can’t pretend to understand how others -really, any – thinks, but often I get the impression that “open-minded” listeners are a lot less open-minded than they believe themselves to be. “The Tower of Babel” is another kind of pop gem, especially in the bridge section where the guitars come in and Tillison exclaims “I’m just a human, can I ask the same of you?” It’s interesting to hear the same lyrical themes again and again from Tillison, but put into next contexts as he and the rest of the band continue to broaden their sonic palette.

And so we come to the almost half hour that makes up “Lie Back (And Think of England)”. It’s a beautiful sad and angry rumination on Tillison’s homeland, one that’s far from starry-eyed, or at least is aware of that starry-eyed tendency, especially in the light of Brexit and its dogged hold on its country’s populace. The music is dark, ominous, and man…some of the licks just getting tossed in the background are gold. Roberts continue to stealthily push the various styles of the song together in a frame that works, and his choices are nothing less than perfect. The son reaches through so many genres, hitting straight up funk, jazz fusion, and everything in between. Lyrically Tillison moves from anxiety over Brexit to anxiety over climate change, to the role of the US under the leadership of a certain crotch-grabbing villain and his influence on England. But there’s also some AMAZING solos, so much so they’re labeled as specific sections, such as my favorite toward the end subtitled Frantic Synth Solo with Fast Drumming and Zappa Influenced Vibraphones. In fact, the Zappa influence is huge here – Machin’s solo about halfway in could be ripped straight out of Zappa’s ’84 tour. Admittedly it’s a lot to get through (and maybe one instance where the vinyl reigns, since it divides the song between two sides), but it’s a fantastic track with tons of buried surprises awaiting discovery.

Closing off the album is “The Midas Touch” (we’re leaving off the bonus track “Proxima”) which’ okay…it’s funky disco. Your mileage is going to vary but honestly? I love it.

Is it the best way to end Auto Reconnaissance?

That I’m not sure, but it’s a lovely way to end this review.