Greg Howe by Greg Howe *****

Too Good to Gain Him a Following?

It is nothing but a mystery to me that with this album Greg Howe did not gain much of a following.  It makes me want to cry foul!  This album, and just about every album Greg Howe has put out is just as good as anything Joe Satriani has ever put out, and in my opinion actually better.  There are definitely a lot of notes on this album, but it is not just an album for musicians.  It’s catchy.  This album is definitely a different style that what he put out in his later work, but it is every bit as good.  Perhaps, racism was the reason he never got as popular as some of the other guitar virtuoso, but that is water over the dam.  This album established Greg Howe as being among the best in the world on guitar, no arguments are possible to be made to that claim.  He has toured with Michael Jackson, and though Michael Jackson is not my favorite artist, at the time, he could have afforded any guitarist that he wanted, and he chose Greg Howe.  Who is Greg Howe?  People that know their good guitar albums know that he is among the 5 best today.  People that don’t know guitar have probably never heard of him.  My favorite of his albums is Introspection.  Introspection has more of a jazz fusion sound, while this, his first effort is more rockin’ in the Joe Satriani style though his signature style is instantly recognizable from any guitarist I know of.  By the time I have recommended the Red Hot Chili Peppers to someone who likes sophisticated music, he would have probably already written me off before I could tell him just how good, and sophisticated Greg Howe is!