Dregs "Industry Standard"

Dregs "Industry Standard"

album cover

Dregs
Industry Standard
The Story
Reviewer Daniel Gioffre at the All Music Guide wrote, "Although they dropped the "Dixie" from their name in 1981, "Industry Standard" is still basically what one would expect from the Dixie Dregs. It also proved to be the band's last album before they disbanded, with fans having to wait ten years for a reunion and a new record. This incarnation of the band is actually the strongest one musician-wise, with master fiddler Mark O'Connor (in his lone appearance as a Dreg) making strong solo and ensemble statements. By this point, Steve Morse's compositional acumen had reached the level of complexity and polyphony that he would mine in his solo work throughout the '80s and '90s, and the sound of the band is more streamlined than ever before. Gone from "Industry Standard" are many of the Mahavishnu-isms that were so present in the band's work from the 1970s. The interplay between the guitarist and drummer Rod Morgenstein is particularly stunning, as in Morse's cathartic solo in "Conversation Piece." All in all, "Industry Standard" is one of the band's strongest albums, although it plays more like a Steve Morse solo record than any other Dregs release."
The Music
04:23 Assembly Line Instrumental
03:35 Crank It Up Vocal
03:39 Chips Ahoy Instrumental
03:59 Bloodsucking Leeches Instrumental
02:26 Up In The Air Instrumental
03:39 Ridin' High Vocal
03:58 Where's Dixie? Instrumental
06:13 Conversation Piece Instrumental
05:34 Vitamin Q Instrumental
The Artists
Steve Morse Guitars, Production
T. Lavitz Keyboards
Mark O'Connor Violin
Rod Morgenstein Drums
Andy West Bass
Steve Howe Guitar on Track 5
Patrick Simmons Vocals on Track 6
Alex Ligertwood Vocals on Track 2
Eddy Offord Production, Engineering
Chuck Allen Engineering
Velma Offord Den Mother
George Marino Mastering
Daved Levitan Design
Tom Hill Inner Sleeve Photography
Recorded and mixed at the Eddy Offord Studio, Atlanta, GA, from November of 1981 to January of 1982.

Mastered at Sterling Sound, NYC.