Before recorded as his debut offering for ., he worked on a funky, jazz-pop-vocal project called in North Hollywood over a three-month period in late 1985 and early 1986. While co-producers and felt satisfied, boss was less enthusiastic. It was ultimately shelved and the tapes languished for 30 years. performed some of its tunes live, and later, trumpet parts from the sessions were grafted onto "Fantasy" and "High Speed Chase" for the posthumously released . is almost thoroughly reinvented from its original tapes with full cooperation from the estate. It was guided by ' nephew and drummer , who played on the original sessions. The bookend tracks "Rubberband of Life" featuring (it was penned for 's voice), and a remixed version of the title track (featuring a stellar guitar break), were previously released on a limited five-track EP. They are easily the set's high points. ' trumpet playing is engaged and tasteful throughout. He delivers funky vamps, tight fills, and sometimes meaty solos -- check his beguiling embellishments on "So Emotional," a fine soul ballad featuring vocalist . On the punky funk of "Give It Up," he's mixed far above the band, and the -cum- -inspired jam is much better for it. "Paradise" -- a funky calypso number complete with the sound of synthed steel drums -- finds him trilling against layers of percussion punctuated by swampy basslines and acoustic and electric lead guitar as 's vocal cascades in from the margins. The angular funk of "This Is It" (inspired by ) is all vamp; ' trumpet sounds stilted as it's casually slotted between layered synths and unimaginative guitar solos. Another highlight is "Maze," which features and saxophonist . Its knotty head and drop-funk basslines (actual and keyboard) meld the best musical traits of ' post-retirement bands alongside the inspiration of . "Carnival Time" is a mashup of fusion and smooth jazz punctuated by Latin percussion. It possesses a lovely harmonic sense, but it's marred by overly compressed production. "See I See" smokes. Co-written by keyboardist , it's easily recognizable as the kind of swaggering funk was playing live at the time. The long "Echoes in Time/The Wrinkle" atmospherically features on keyboards, with playing distorted, jagged vamps supplemented by tasty fills from his horn. It sets up "Rubberband" as the smoking closer. Snippets of ' speaking voice are woven in throughout, but it feels gimmicky. Despite some truly weighty grooves and a few hip tunes, comes off sounding unfocused and somewhat flabby due to 's and ' overproduction. To be fair, no one at the label pretended that was even close to "finished," but the producers' attempts at rendering it "modern" sometimes sound overwrought and generic. ~ Thom Jurek