Hailing from Illinois, Project 814 mixes progressive in the vein of Kansas with heavy doses of straight-ahead rock and roll in the vein of Blue Cheer and Grand Funk Railroad. If those seem like incongruous elements, it’s not as odd as it seems. In fact, “Declassified” goes down much more smoothly than you might think. It helps that bassist Jon Pomplin writes some accessible songs (“X,” “The Demon Within”) and that Mark Summers plays some ripping, easy-to-swallow guitar that calls to mind the likes of Frank Marino and a less effect-laden Alex Lifeson.

Lyrically, the band focuses on the ills of the world (alcoholism in “X,” the sometimes convoluted aims of war, “Courage, Honor, Glory” and media manipulation in “Cathode Ray Reflections”), raging for order along the way, proving that the idealism at the heart of songs by the likes of Grand Funk Railroad and Kansas is still alive, well and living in the heart of the country. Still, “Declassified” is hardly for the faint of heart, there’s enough deep-down boogie to keep your soul from getting bogged down in the social heaviness of it and enough lyrical substance to warrant further study.

The high point of the record (from many perspectives) may be the disc’s second instrumental, “Episode 69 (Don’t Go In There),” disco-y/latin beat with fiery, gut-ripping soloing from Mark Summers and groovtastic bass lines from Pomplin. It’s a song that, in all, suggests that this band is even more diverse musically than you might expect and, also, a potent live animal.

Review by Jedd Beaudoin
September 04, 2003