from The Local Record Round-Up Winter 1997-98

"Despite the fact that this is only a demo, it's a pretty ballsy move. O'Reilly is a bass player, and this debut cassette contains lots of it. In fact, there's only one full band arrangement and a couple of vocals. He opens with 'The Chaos of Law', which is OK but recorded very quietly. He turns up for 'Gabrielle', a good move since this is both powerful and very pretty. 'Bass Opus #1', which the author describes as 'Chris Squire goes New Age', certainly fits that description. O'Reilly's performance exhibits both the preciseness and the savagery of which the former Yes bassist is capable, but the overall feel is that of quiet space. (Though the notes don't say so, I'm guessing this is played on a five string.) O'Reilly claims that 'Finn O'Doul' is an Irish folk tale he made up, and he sings it in a quasi-brogue. The vocal doesn't work all that well, but - like the project in general - it's audacious. 'Static' is the non-solo tune on which O'Reilly plays bass, wah-pedal keyboard, clavet, 'a couple of pots and pans and car keys' while Seth Warner adds acoustic guitar and snare drum. The most important thing about 'Static' is that it points to O'Reilly's compositional talent. If he has other songs this good, he has, as they say in the National Football League, tremendous upside. The tape ends with John Entwistle's 'Boris the Spider', a natural choice for a bass player and a good note on which to conclude. The plan is to remix these songs with several others and release them next spring on CD. The result will be the kind of work musicians love to dissect for its musical elements but I think it will have popular appeal as well." Bennie Green, FACE Magazine