Fretwork - Jackie McAuley

Advantages: 9 art rock classics
Disadvantages: er, the cover?

...of this record. Low rumbling bass opens the great piece "In The Flat Field", "I get bored, I get bored, in the flat field", howls the vocals, with more guitars again more edgier than The Edge himself. A great outro to this, echoing guitars over great fretwork Another outstanding track "God In An Alcove" - driven along by David J and alternating between light/heavy sections, before the closing "..silllllyyyyy aaaaaa", did anybody mention Led Zeppelin? They did this kind of thing. The thrash of "Dive" is a little bit of a disappointment, but this is only compared to what's gone before. You should be dancing around the bedroom by now!! Things slow right down with "Spy In The Cab", another dramatic piece with stop/start sections and good lyrics. Funk comes in with "Small Talk Stinks", a bouncy little number but not quite as good... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: an all time experience
Disadvantages: you may be a bit embarassed due to its outdated nature

...and sound is controlled by the priests of syrinx(great titles in here for trekkie types) but the magic is in the guitar! the layering of fretwork upon chord upon warp sound...this album forced me to adjust my top 3 guitarists of all time list, so you know what that means. before this album I never understood the reason for the metal screechie voices of bands like guns n roses and even maiden, but here...it all makes sense. The priests could only sound this way. Drums! for all lovers of speed drummers, this rocks! the drum rolls are so fast and the rhythm , well if i wasnt knackered I'd just have to rock it out! After the thrill of the intro, the first track begins the journey of the character within this album finding a guitar. You can begin to think beyond the sound to imaginethis experience...to find the first 'ancient miracle' of musical sound... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Catchy as hell
Disadvantages: Not their best production quality

...This is a high-octane blast onto the music scene by one of the most promising metal bands to emerge from Britain for years. Already an underground sensation among power metal fans, it features all the songs featured on their internet-downloadable demo (then called 'Dragonheart') plus a few more strong additions. To dub this band simply 'power metal' however would be an injustice. The band's sound features qualities of death/black metal (listen to those drums!) no doubt due to guitarists Sam Totman and Herman Lee's previous project 'Demoniac' (check them out!). If you're a guitarist, and you're into shred and fancy fretwork, you'll love this. Some of Herman's solo's are mind-boggling in speed and accuracy, not to overlook Sam's often underrated complimentary more melodic approach, with lots of tapping and unusual sounds, reminiscent... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful