Agent Cooper - Beginner's Mind (2005) FLAC

Beginner's Mind, the sophomore release from Atlanta, Georgia-based Agent Cooper, was six years in the making. It's a whirlwind ride through a string of styles and influences that saw it's genesis during the recording of the first Agent Cooper record in 1998. In the years that followed, singer/songwriter Doug Busbee wrote, and the band recorded and re-recorded, almost two complete albums worth of material; the best of that material became Beginner's Mind.

On Beginner's MInd, Agent Cooper has managed to balance catchy hooks with blazing chops. It's an album the most hardcore prog'er _and_ his girlfriend will enjoy.

The opening track, "East Indian Sun", combines old-school symphonic prog with Asian flavors. "Shallow Disease" and "in the Bottle", two of the more straight-ahead rock cuts, draw their influences from early Kansas and Rush. "Timing Crucial", a multi-metered (but somehow still groovin') tale of the plight of a lone caterpillar trying to cross the road, could've been lifted straight off of a King Crimson album. Then there's "The Heat," a virtuosic tour-de-force showing off the talents of bassist Delson, keyboardist Frampton, and (on this track) drummer Robinson. The album ends showing the softer side of Agent Cooper with a Kate Bush-influenced ballad called "You Know".