Craig Hamilton’s Favored Eclectic Mix of Guitar Heavy Albums in Time for Holiday Shopping

Kings of Damnation Era by Black Label Society           20^th Century Masters by B.B. King

Prime Cuts by Shadow Gallery                                     Alive in America by Steely Dan

Full House by Wes Mongomery                                    Live at Yoshi’s by Pat Martino

Tribute by Ozzy Osbourne                                Birds of Fire by the Mahavishnu Orchestra

The Perfect Element by Pain of Salvation                       the Best of Santan by Santana

Coda by Led Zeppelin                                                   Parallax by Greg Howe

School Days by Stanley Clarke                                   Maximum Security by Tony MacAlpine

Greatest Hits of the 20^th Century by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones

Now by Lenny Breau                                                      It Is What It Is by Mike Stern

Departure by Gary Burton & Friends                              Another Lifetime by Simon Philips

Self-titled by Niacin                                                   Then Best of Chick Corea (Blue Note)

…And Justice for All by Metallica                                   Ride the Lightning by Metallica

Fear of the Dark by Iron Maiden                                  7^th Son of a 7^th Son by Iron Maiden

Secrets by Allan Holdsworth                                          Metal Fatigue by Allan Holdsworth

Virtuoso 2 by Joe Pass                                                   Virtuoso 3 by Joe3 Pass

Fire Garden by Steve Vai                                                Sex and Religion by Steve Vai

The Abbey Road EP by the Red Hot Chili Peppers

The Uplift MOFO Party Plan by the Red Hot Chili Peppers

Rust in Peace by Megadeth                                        United Abominations by Megadeth

Into the Electric Castle by Ayreon                                    The Human Equation by Ayreon

III Sides to Every Story by Extreme                                 II Pornograffitti by Extreme

Outbreak by Dennis Chambers                                        Uncle Moe’s Space Ranch

Poets and Madmen by Savatage                                      Handful of Rain by Savatage

Works for Me by John Scofield                                      Up All Night by John Scofield

The Divine Wings of Tragedy by Symphony X                 The Odyssey by Symphony X

Twilight in Olympus by Symphony X

Ten by Pearl Jam                                                              Yield by Pearl Jam

No Code by Pearl Jam

Bill Frisell, Dave Holland, Elvin Jones                                Blues Dream by Bill Frisell

Live by Bill Frisell

Greatest Hits by Queensryche                                            Empire by Queensryche

Here in the Now Frontier by Queensryche

Stardust We Are by the Flower Kings                                Retropolis by the Flower Kings

Back In the World of Adventures by the Flower Kings

Space Revolver by the Flower Kings                           The Rainmaker by the Flower Kings

In Absentia by Porcupine Tree                                     Lightbulb Sun by Porcupine Tree

Deadwing by Porcupine Tree                                    Grace for Drowning by Steven Wilson

Islands by King Crimson                                       Lark’s Tongues In Aspic by King Crimson

Red by King Crimson                                             The Power to Believe by King Crimson

In the Wake of Poseidon by King Crimson

In the Court of the Crimson King by King Crimson

Secret Story by Pat Metheny                                               99 00 by the Pat Metheny Trio

Speaking of Now by the Pat Metheny Group         Imaginary Day by the Pat Metheny Group

I Can See Your House from Here by John Scofield & Pat Metheny

Question and Answer by Pat Metheny, Dave Holland, Roy Haynes

Like Minds by Chick Corea, Gary Burton, Pat Metheny, Roy Haynes, Dave Holland

What If by the Dixie Dregs                                         Dregs of Earth by the Dixie Dregs

Industry Standard by the Dixie Dregs                              Full Circle by the Dixie Dregs

Free Fall by the Dixie Dregs                                       Unsung Heroes by the Dixie Dregs

Coast to Coast by Steve Morse                                   High Tension Wires by Steve Morse

The Raven That Refused to Sing by Steven Wilson

Black Clouds and Silver Linings by Dream Theater         Train of Thought by Dream Theater

A Dramatic Turn of Events by Dream Theater                  Dream Theater by Dream Theater

Metropolis PT.2: Scenes from a Memory                    Falling into Infinity by Dream Theater

Octavarium by Dream Theater                                                Awake by Dream Theater

4 Degrees of Radio Edits by Dream Theater                  Systematic Chaos by Dream Theater

When Dream and Day Unite by Dream Theater               Notes on a Dream by Jordan Rudess
Score disc 1 by Dream Theater                                 Suspended Animation by John Petrucci 

***** Fire Garden by Steve Vai – Highly Recommended Progressive Rock Soul Music

What separates Steve Vai from the other leading brands are that able to shred faster than him is that he is better able to put his soul into his music.  I realize that I am invoking supernatural powers to suggest Steve Vai is just a better musician than the competition.  I am a spiritual person and I hope that is okay with my audience.  If you don’t believe in Steve Vai’s supernatural powers, I suggest seeing him live.  He puts on a good show, and you will see progressive rock soul music looks like.

While I owned some of Vai’s music prior to when the Ultra Zone came out, the Ultra Zone is what got me into him.  I would imagine that Fire Garden would have captivated me just as much as the Ultra Zone had I experienced it first.  My first experience with Steve Vai was Sex and Religion, and when I was in high school, I thought that album was just terrible, but now I love it.  Sex and Religion has very little shredding and is about song craft, but not usual song craft.  It is more like song craft from planet q.  That album, Sex and Religion, actually turned me off to Steve Vai, and it wasn’t until one of my friends played Ultra Zone, c. 2,000, for me that I was hooked.

I wish I had got Fire Garden earlier.  It has been in my 100 disc changer for many years now.  It is a true favorite of mine, even to the extent that I would probably have a difficult time getting along with someone who wasn’t able to appreciate this album for its greatness, technicality aside.

Fire Garden - like every five star album should be - is superior quality music from start to finish, while at the same time providing a lot of music.  Vai has a lot to say on this one with his guitar, and if you get it, I don’t think that you have to be some sort of genius to appreciate this one.  IMHO this one has been good from start to finish year after year.  It didn’t require me to adjust my musical taste to appreciate it.  It wasn’t hard to get into.  It is a readily accessible work art.  What more can I say?

 

 

**** Live from Oz by Planet X – Calling All Planet X Junkies for a Poor Man’s Greatest Hits Package

There is some excellent improvisation on Live from Oz, but I was hoping for more.  The album is very good, except for the fact that it’s sound quality is slightly less than what we would expect from a studio album.  I don’t know how that could be changed.

I love that Virgil Donati’s drums are not triggered.

Planet X was created as a band that was created to “Strike fear into the hearts of musicians.”  I have to say that I think that they failed on that one, at least on the Live from Oz disc.  Derek Sherinian has a tremendously over inflated opinion of himself if he thinks Planet X is the best progressive rock act going.  While I would say this act is one of the better acts in music, the technicality of it is often reached by other artists, especially those who are also at the top of their discipline.  Also, I do believe that both Tony MacAlpine’s and Virgil Donati’s parts were better than Derek Sherinian’s.

One important issue I want to address here is whether or not someone should feel that he or she has a complete Planet X discography if he or she does not have Live from Oz.  At that one, I would say, if you don’t have this one, there is no reason to rush out to the store to get it.  Also, chances are the store might not have it, and additionally you may have to look pretty hard to find this one.  IMHO, in most instances, the studio versions are better than those on Live from Oz.  Live from Oz is for the Planet X junkie, and I won’t say that I wish I hadn’t bought it.  I happen to be a planet X junkie.  The price to buy the cd when I got it was well worth the price of admission for Live from Oz.

Lastly, Live from Oz can definitely serve as a type of poor man’s greatest hits for Planet X. 

***** Nil Reccuring by Porcupine Tree – Short, Sweet and Old Fashioned In a Good Way

Porcupine Tree is a very unique band.  They never really hopped on any trendy bandwagons, like it seems all bands do.  For example, Porcupine Tree is not a metal band, but more so than just plain old rock bands they do get heavy.   Also, praise the L-rd, there is no effin’ compressor pedal usage that I can detect on this album.

Steven Wilson understands the need for dynamics in music, and that though he sacrifices radio play for not using a compressor.  (Radios only want music that uses compression, which is an effect that takes all the dynamics out of songs, and it essentially cranks the volume to 10, but really how many times can someone listen to songs all cranked to 10, or whatever the maximum volume is and not get bored.)  Wilson has gained a fairly large following through quality music, like this disc, and not catering to any band wagon.  Frankly, I couldn’t name you another band that plays without compressors or triggered drums in the days of the newest technologies.  This is how music was made back in the day when Led Zeppelin and Hendrix ruled.  All other bands seemed to have cowered in fear of losing audience in favor of using the latest gadgets that end up as toys for toddlers to push a button and have a song come out, but not Porcupine Tree.  Porcupine Tree is old fashioned in a good way.

*** Chasing Time by Fates Warning – Don’t Like The First Few Tracks? That’s okay! Listen on.

Fates Warning has been ruminating around for decades as a lesser progressive rock/metal band.  In that sense, that are much like King’s X.  Today that means they could open for an arena rock bank, but that they probably aren’t popular to tour enough by themselves, especially not arenas. 

Chasing Time doesn’t really get moving until track 4.  Many of their riffs are atonal, and do not mix well with the vocals.  Frankly, sometimes  it sounds to me like their guitarist had no material ready for the album so he just steps on the distortion pedal and precedes to first thing that comes to mind, rather than crafting a song.  Later in their career, however, that changed.