***** When Gravity Fails by Neil Zaza – Like Many Musicians, Zaza Is a Nobody That Deserves More

If Zaza was born a little earlier, so that he fit in right in the time when music was getting to be put on higher quality formats, back in the early kingship Joe Satriani, or even the kingship of Jeff Beck, and also Eric Clapton ruled, Zaza would have been a somebody. However, as Zaza pursues his career there is practically an infinite wall of good progressive music on record, such that there is no demand for someone like Neil Zaza, and that is a real shame because he is a tremendous musician.

I will admit there are a few that are better than Zaza, and that there could be some improvement of this album. However, I’m on Zaza’s side. I want to see him succeed. I won’t say that he is as good as Joe Satriani, but Joe Satriani is only as good as his background music, and I will say this; Satriani often plays to terrible background music. Zaza on the other hand solos to well crafted songs, where his part is central, but it fits in with the music and it doesn’t sound like there is someone who wants to be God who makes sure that no musician in the band challenges his power.

Zaza is at his best when he is playing thoughtfully, trying to craft excellent songs, and this album is chock full of them. I highly recommend this album!

**** Freedom to Fly by Tony MacAlpine – Great Album from a Guitarist that was Virtually Unrecognized

Tony MacAlpine is one the great success stories of the guitar virtuoso movement.  He made his way to the top the hard way, by releasing album after album of solid great music, even when largely going unnoticed, except for a few small elite listeners.  His story has been a story of determination.  This is one of those albums that helped MacAlpine prove himself, and if you listen to his music, you’ll know that at every stage of his game, he has been better than his white skinned “virtuoso” peers that have raked in the big bucks.

I picked up on Tony MacAlpine around the year 2000 when he joined up with Planet X.  By then, Tony MacAlpine had already released several great albums, the best of which is probably Maximum Security.  I got to know Planet X, because I was a fan of their previous keyboardist, Derek Sherinian, whom I should also say has put out many outstanding solo albums.

***** Maximum Security by Tony MacAlpine - Possibly the Best Shred Album Ever

Move over Joe Satriani.  There is someone who has fewer fans than you and is far more gifted.  Maximum Security is one of Tony MacAlpine’s better albums, and it is far better than anything the far more popular Satch has released.  What makes this album so awesome is the control MacAlpine exhibits over his guitar playing.  He isn’t just playing the notes; he is feeling the notes, such that the subtleties of this album that make it so awesome are probably measured better with microns rather than the larger unit of measurement, the millimeter.  This is a achieved because Maximum Security has a lot of bends and whammy bar work that is exceptionally tonally precise.  If you know anything about music, then you know that there can be more than 12 tones before reaching an octave.  For example, one can bend a note a quarter of a note, which is different than a quarter note of time.  What I am referring to his a quarter of a tone, not a quarter note, which refers to the length of time that the note plays for in notation.  The subtleties of this album probably make such that it would be impossible to tab it or use musical notation to describe the song unless one has heard one of the songs on this album first.  Sit back and listen, and stop guess exactly how much MacAlpine bent the note, and just appreciate the tremendous song writing and virtuosity on this album, which is great from start to finish.

Review of Greg Howe- Introspection. Greg Howe’s Best *****

Hey kids! Get this album. Then say, excuse me teacher, “You said it had to be jazz or classical in order to be good music. Greg Howe is perhaps the greatest guitarist ever, and this is my favorite album that he has.