Profit feels more like a Ty Tabor solo record than on the first three projects.

Profit
The Jelly Jam
Music Theories Recordings
12/46:07

Profit is the fourth album by supergroup The Jelly Jam. Comprised of Ty Tabor (King’s X), John Myung (Dream Theater, and Rod Morgenstein (Dixie Dregs, Winger), they are best known for making shorter, crunchier versions of progressive rock. “Care” opens the disc, and sonically, is more like previous works than any other track. It deals with relationship issues: “You say that I don’t care…I don’t think I could care more than I do.”

“Memphis” recalls King’s X’s “Lost in Germany” thematically, and the protagonist wants nothing more than to get out: “I got to get away.”  “Stop” portrays the need for something new to happen, whether in a relationship or in the strife in the world: “We can change if we stop.”

Musically, Profit feels more like a Ty Tabor solo record than on the first three projects. He has always written most of the lyrics, and relies on a few of his standard metaphors (“Fallen” contains the phrase “frozen wind”).  There just doesn’t seem to be enough for Myung and Morgenstein to do here, which is regrettable. For that reason alone, Profit, while there is nothing wrong with it, falls short of its predecessors.

Brian A. Smith