Safety in Numbers

Editorial Reviews
Washington Post
"With a slightly avant-garde sound and creative production, Cartel offers a refreshing new look at music."

FakeDIY
"Washington’s latest upcoming melodious rock act is reason to believe."

Album Description
Safety in Numbers is the debut offering from Cartel, a band from Washington, DC. The sound ranges from the drumbeat dominated and soaring "Fleets" to the pulsing "Free" and "At Night." Influence from Doves, Elbow, and U2 come through, but Cartel is definitely cultivating their own unique sound: a sound to look out for. The EP was recorded and mixed by Jason Caddell (Dismemberment Plan).

Safety in Numbers

Tracks:

Believe The Lie
Rocker
Liquid
Words
Nemo
Women, Wine and Song
Intentions Clear
End of the Road
Passing
Ocean Billy
The Weight Around

Customer Reviews:

I LOVE THIS BAND.......2007-07-16

From the first instant I heard "Nemo" playing on Kansas State's Wildcat radio, I couldn't get enough of Umphrey's. Saftey in Numbers is simply the best album I've heard in a long time. Each song is original and the Jam monitor somehow does not quite fit them. It's like listening to that awesome college band that you don't remember the name of but MAN were they good and you met this girl and she was BEAUTIFUL and the beer was everywhere and EVERYONE was having a good time. Its that feeling. Free, clean, well-written, well-produced, fun, engaging, and different everytime you listen to it. The bridges flow into melody so clearly, the rhymes aren't cliched, and its enough of a Jam album to be different but not stiffled by 25 minute interludes of Phishdom. Absolutely great.

Some Good Some Not.......2007-04-17

Do 3 or 4 really good songs make a good album, not this time. I don't know if the other songs were weak or they all needed more of the same style from song to song. The Bottom Half(their newest)is much stronger.

Excellent!.......2007-03-09

I don't know why some people do not give this band more credit. WOW! This album I have been hooked to since it arrived at my door. I have just gotten back into the jamband scene recently and these guys impress me. Their live stuff I hear is even more amazing, but SIN's is definitely a work of art in the studio. Very creative riffs with very tight drumming! Some songs remind me of Yes (Words) or that progressive rock sound. I can only imagine what the album "The Bottom Half" is going to be like. I've definitely pre-ordered that.

So much more than a jam band.......2006-11-13

At a time when great music is seldom heard on commercial radio and music fans have to discover it through the Internet, live shows, and listening to public or college radio, Umphrey's McGee's Safety in Numbers is a true gem. Previously, I had only known the band as the opening act for the Dave Matthews Band's 2006 summer tour. I purchased this on a whim and was pleasantly surprised with what I heard. Although Umphrey's McGee is classified as a jam band, they offer so much more than other bands of that genre as they combine elements of jazz, metal, folk, country, and progressive rock to create a sound that is truly their own. Furthermore, the band prove to be excellent songwriters as the more immediate tracks never get dull and the more experimental songs grow on you with each listen.

Every track here is a winner. "Believe The Lie" starts out as a fast paced rocker before becoming reflective during the choruses. Despite its title, "Rocker" is very melancholy and the strings provide a lot of color. "Liquid" and "Words" are both very progressive as the former's vocals recall the Alan Parsons Project while the latter recalls late-80's Yes before becoming very dreamlike. "Nemo" is the hardest track with its staccato rhythms and wild guitar leads. "Women Wine and Song", which guests Huey Lewis on harmonica, is the most immediate track and easily the most upbeat. "Intentions Clear" remains my favorite song on the album due to its memorable hooks and the excellent interplay between the guitars and saxophone. The folky "End of the Road" is very cool and the harmonica at the end is a nice touch. "Passing" is very personal and somber while the awesome "Ocean Billy" bounces between its repetitive raging riff and its atmospheric verses. "The Weight Around" is a great acoustic track with excellent harmonies that ends the album. In closing, I'm glad that I purchased Safety in Numbers and based on the reviews I have read here on Amazon, I'm going to pick up their other albums too. Highly recommended.

Short and to the point..........2006-11-07

According to some of the reviews on this album already this should not be the first Umphrey's album you should listen to. Well I could not find any other Umphrey's album at my local music store so I gave it a chance since I have been curious about this band for a while. All I have to say about this album is it is captivating, from the opening riff on the first track to the last note played on the final song, I couldnt drag myself away from the album. I just got this three days ago and has been on repeat (along with m. wards new album). I can see where people say they sound like phish but honestly so does any other band out there in the "jam band" category, just listen to raq(their new album the vocalist sounds like he is trying to emmulate treys voice) but the same thing was also said for phish when they were at the height of their popularity, people claimed they sound like they are trying to be the dead. My point is to just give it a chance you will probably like it especially if you have heard their previous material and if you like the "jam band" type music you will probably like it as well.

Average customer rating:

Remasters Please!!
Two of the Best Albums You Have Probably Never Heard
Crack the Sky ..Classy Rock
4.5 stars - Crack The Sky's reign of excellence continues
yessss

Animal Notes/Safety in Numbers
Crack the Sky
Manufacturer: Lifesong
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Crack the Sky
White Music
Alive and Kickin Ass
From the Greenhouse
Cut

ASIN: B00004OCFH
Release Date: 2000-02-29

Tracks:

We Want Mine
Animal Skins
Wet Teenager
Maybe I Can Fool Everybody
Rangers At Midnight
Virgin...No
Invaders From Mars
Play On
Nuclear Apathy
Long Nights
Flashlight
Lighten Up McGraw
Give Myself To You
A Night On The Town (With Snow White)
Safety In Numbers

Customer Reviews:

Remasters Please!!.......2006-12-20

Being a long-time CTS fan, I was hoping these two albums would get the deluxe remaster treatment, but no dice. I've wanted them on cd for so long, and the price was right...so I gave in. As I suspected, this is a barebones reissue: no liner notes,partial reproducton (at best) of the lp's original artwork, no lyrics and last but not least, low volume in the mastering. Obviously this was done some time ago but there still could have been more attention given to a better finished product. It goes without saying the music is SUPERB. and SAFETY IN NUMBERS shows how great this band was, even without John Palumbo. A good remaster would have rated 5 stars, but..This will just have to do until something better comes along(IF it does).

Two of the Best Albums You Have Probably Never Heard.......2006-09-09

This CD is actually two albums in one -- "Animal Notes" and "Safety in Numbers", and is one of the best items you will find on eMusic. Download quickly or you may lose your chance.

Animal notes, the first eight songs on this double package is worth the price of admission, but I am going to focus on the final seven songs, which make up almost all of the original Safety in Numbers. More on the "almost all" in just a moment.

Safety in Numbers is CTS's finest album, and one of the best albums most people have never heard. If there were any justice in the world, these guys and Porcupine tree would be two of the most popular bands of all time, but we all know musical justice is in short supply.

I first encountered Safety in Numbers in the late 70s. A cousin had it playing on his 8-track player. After a couple of listens I had to have the album. I bought it in Vinyl; the record was scratched, so I took it back for a refund, as it was the store's only copy. I could not find another copy of the record. Fortunately I had kept a back-up on tape (with the scratch) and it became one of my favorite albums. Finally, I was able to buy this double CD a few years ago. and I had to get it as an import for about $18 or $19. I was happy to pay it.

You can hear some Beatles influence in Safety in Numbers -- particularly in "Flashlight" in the mellow interlude in about the middle of the song. This little snippet is so luscious, it could have been expanded into its own song, and it would have been a great one.

The two best tracks on Safety in Numbers may be the first and last, "Nuclear Apathy" -- the partly mellow, part hard / Prog symphony of a song that begins the album -- and the title track, a very well-produced, all stops pulled out social commentary track that I just can't get tired of. In between these masterpieces, are several more songs, each varied and able to stand on its own. Probably the most different from the rest is "A night on the Town (with Snow White)", which I might call progressive doo-wop with amazing, ironic, even humorous lyrics. Don't let my label turn you off of that song. It is a gem, and worth coming back to again and again and sharing with friends.

My one complaint is that the people who put this together did not include a short little track called (I believe) "Prelude to Safety in Numbers" , a strange and short little preview of "safety in Numbers"; this odd little piece was originally at the end of side 1 of the vinyl release. Oh well.

This is a wonderful package and worth buying and keeping and going back to again and again.

Crack the Sky ..Classy Rock.......2006-06-06

A great 70's group, still playable today.. slip this one on with other discs at a party..have everyone asking who is that?With all the previous reveiws I woun't get into all the tracks and details, some great listening stuff here.. seen them live in the late seventies they do have a very classy delivery.. I have always enjoyed them through the years, hope you do too...

4.5 stars - Crack The Sky's reign of excellence continues.......2005-07-02

Animal Notes (1976.) Crack The Sky's second album.
Safety In Numbers (1977.) Crack The Sky's third album.

One of the most underrated classic rock groups of all time was Crack The Sky. In the seventies, progressive rock reached a pinnacle it had never reached before and would never again reach. Unfortunately, many of the bands of this era were overlooked in favor of more commercially-successful groups of a similar styling. Crack The Sky is one of these long-forgotten prog rock acts of the seventies. The band's musc has been all but forgotten, by all but a small group of music fans. In recent years, the band's material was released on CD, in the form of twofer albums! Read on for the twofer of Animal Notes and Safety In Numbers, the group's second and third albums from 1976 and 1977, respectively.

The first of the two albums featured on this release is the group's sophomore effort, 1976's Animal Notes. This is one of the band's most unfairly bashed and overlooked albums. Since the band's first album set the bar pretty high, many fans don't give the second album enough of a chance - and it's definitely a bit more of aquired taste than their first album. But anyone who gives it a chance should grow to agree that it's a great album. The opening track, We Want Mine, is a catchy rocker that fuses rock with a plethora of musical styles. It's definitely one of the band's best songs and one of the most widely-praised ones present. Next up comes Animal Skins, the most different-sounding song on the album. Here the band uses sitars and goes for a middle-eastern sound. The end result is actually quite good. It gets followed up by Wet Teenager, a straight-up rocker you'd have to be a fool not to like - even if you're not a fan of the band. The semi-ballad, Maybe I Can Fool Everybody (Tonight) comes next, and it proves to be another one of the more popular and excellent songs featured on the album. A seven-minute-plus tune, Rangers At Midnight, comes immediately thereafter. This is a piano-heavy pop rocker that beautifully epitomizes what the band stood for musically. It's definitely one of their best tunes. Next up we have the classic rocker, Virgin... No. This cool little rocker is the tale of a boy who misses the younger days in his life. Witkowski's guitar playing is top-notch as usual. In Invaders From Mars, the piano is the primary instrument. Paired up with the rest of the band's instrumentation, you've got one hell of a song on your hands. Closing things out of the band's sophomore release is Play On. Essentially, it's a melodic, Beatles-esque ballad with plenty of acoustic instrumentation. And there you have it. Animal Notes is a great album that deserves more credit than it gets.

And then we get to 1977's Safety In Numbers, the band's third album. This is where original frontman John Palumbo left the band (although he DID write plenty of the material present on the album.) Surprisingly, his departure does NOT hurt the overall quality of the band! Kicking off the third album is Nuclear Apathy, one of the greatest songs the band ever recorded. The first two minutes are slow and soft, but it explodes into a straight-up rocker right after that! As the eight-minute-plus track progresses, there are plenty of musical style changes, and this keeps things interesting all the while. We get more of the straight-up, seventies-style rock on the album with the second track, Flashlight. No Crack The Sky album would be complete without a melodic ballad, and we get one in the form of Long Nights. It's definitely one of the band's best songs of that styling. Following it is the short instrumental Prelude To Safety In Numbers (for some unknown reason, though, the twofer DOES NOT have this piece of music.) It's a very short instrumental, but in that one short minute, the band shows off their musical abilities beautifully. Lighten Up McGraw and Give Myself To You are more of the classic seventies-style rockers we know and love the band for. While the former is more of a straight-up rocker, the latter leans more toward the prog rock trend the band displayed many a time. One of my personal favorite songs on the album is the underrated gem A Night On The Town (With Snow White.) This is a melodic, poppy rocker that sticks in your head long after you're done listening to it. It should have been more popular. Closing out album number three is the title track. A lengthy acoustic and melodic masterpiece, this song makes for the perfect closing piece to the album. Once again the band served up a solid release - even without Palumbo at the helm.

It's great that the band has finally reissued their work on CD - and even better that they chose to do twofers, but there's a huge flaw with this - MANY OF THE TWOFERS ARE MISSING TRACKS. For instance, this issue is lacking the Prelude To Safety In Numbers instrumental from the Safety In Numbers album. Hopefully if the band's material is issued again someday, these flaws will be corrected.

Crack The Sky proved beautifully with their second and third albums that they were one of the most excellent rock and roll bands of the seventies. It's such a shame they got overlooked in favor of so many other bands of the day who didn't have half as much talent. If you're a fan of seventies rock, progressive rock, classic rock, or you're just the kind of music fan who likes to try listening to new things, Crack The Sky will be right up your alley. Take my advice and start with their self-titled debut, and then move onto these two albums. Their first album is the most accessible, by far. These two are almost as good, but harder to get into. Final verdict? These are highly recommended albums.

yessss.......2002-06-22

One of my favourite alltime bands! Finally, the greatest album in CD format. I have the vinyl from 20 years ago...should have replaced it 15 years ago, but couldn't find it. Get the kids to listen to this, I bet they won't go back to the one-chord wonders of today.

Average customer rating:

Superb drumming & imagination

Safety in Numbers
David Van Tieghem
Manufacturer: Private Music
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Customer Reviews:

Superb drumming & imagination.......2004-05-13

This is a fine record. If you like the clean crisp sound of digital no-wave, this is for you. Tieghem has played with such luminaries as Laurie Anderson , Talking Heads and LOLO. It is moody drum music, with some genuinely beautiful "ballads". The programming and producing are world-class. You might as well buy it. It is hard to find though, but well worth your final finances. Get down.

Average customer rating:

Safety In Numbers-21st Century Redux

ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000TVFXM0

Product Description

Contains John Palumbo's new lead vocals, guitar and synthesizer performances recorded onto a digital transfer of the original multi-track of the Safety In Numbers and mixed anew. 10 tracks.3 bonus tracks included.

Average customer rating:

Safety in Numbers

Manufacturer: CBS Records - Australia
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000DL9X4K

Product Description

Tracks : 1. Escaping 2. Number One (Remember When We Danced All Night) 3. Only My Heart Calling 4. Give Me Some Credit 5. Guilty People 6. The Tide Keeps Rolling In 7. Your Love 8. Open Up 9. Slip On By 10. Deep Down 11. God Bless The Child

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Safety in Numbers
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ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Average customer rating:

One in a million
Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the Key of D
Safety in Numbers
Manufacturer: Triple Crown
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Release Date: 2004-06-08

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Customer Reviews:

One in a million.......2004-06-10

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!Your whole life would be devoid if you did not purchase this. Please indulge yourself in this exceptional collection. All I know is that Kris Flaherty has managed to blow my mind again with his creativity writing JUDAS. I'm not sure it can be done any better than that! Kris, you rule!

Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!.......2004-06-10

You have no idea what you're in for when listen to this art. I'm probably the most critical human when it comes to this music and I say, hell yeah!

This CD will make you wonder why you didn't buy the last one. Please, please do yourself a favor and listen to these talented musicians. It's not the type of thing you'd hear from Casey Casem, but that kicks ass! Judas rocks, of course written by Kris Flaherty . Kris, I love you, you rule.

Safety in Numbers
Average customer rating:
Safety in Numbers
Short Warning
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