His playing is very relaxed, as is the playing of his bandmates, this music treads the fine line of blues and jazz, not unlike what many had become accustomed to during the 70's, when many fusion bands were adopting some blues, funk and jazz to set the foundation for solo spots by the bandmembers. This cd has a real retro feel to it, every instrument is raw and unadulterated, right down to the Rhodes, jazz drumming, smooth bass playing, and Langella's Eric Gale sounding guitar tone. Typically my tastes in fusion run more towards the intense, fast, and technical, Langellas' The Other Side hints at a very different style, if not a different era of music. Content to simply set down some fairly cliched rhythmic backdrops, he allows the band the freedom to comp over these settings with a lot of free flowing improvisations, the cd has a genuine live feel.

The Other Side is not an earthshaking recording, but a very nice tribute to the days of 'cool' jazz, when the feel of blues, the shuffle of jazz, and the sounds of rock were melting together to define a new music in the making. If your tastes in fusion are geared towards the bluesier side of the guitar, say in the mode of: Eric Gale, Mike Stern, John Scofield, or even some of Scott Henderson's solo material, you should consider giving this a try.