With a little help from friends such as John Medeski, Cindy Blackman Santana, Robin Trower, Phil Manzanera and Uli John Roth, Jack Bruce shines on his first solo effort in a decade. The legendary bassist focuses on tight song construction, which allows intriguing changes in musical direction on the 10 tracks, rather than a confusing mess. He deftly moves from the gentle, calypso underpinning of “Candlelight” and the King Crimson prog-pyrotechnics of “Hidden Cities” to the beautifully melancholic “Don’t Look Now” and “Industrial Child.” Bridging the gap of his past triumphs to current achievements, Bruce subtly nods to his Cream days on “Fields Of Forever,” “Rusty Lady” and “Keep It Down.” While the catchy “No Surrender” may be intended as a defiant statement by the 70-year-old artist to end the album, unfortunately, it sounds pedestrian next to the earlier material—especially the fuzz-drenched “Drone,” which pushes him into new exciting territory.