Album Review - Zack Uidl "Insomnia"

Zack Uidl’s solo album, Insomnia, is a show stopper for anyone into progressive music and a high level of musicianship. Oh yes, there is also a truck load of shredding. The record is a mind bending aural assault that is simultaneously pleasing and terrifying.

The entire album is essentially one song, broken into 8 tracks, perhaps for easier navigation to the listener’s favourite part, or maybe it's a map of Zack's own experience suffering from insomnia. My favourite track is the near-on 15 minute epic “The Crossing”. Crazy time signatures, brutal rhythm guitar, razor sharp leads, chilling melodic break-downs and insane harmony sections, it’s all there, and it’s all great.

Zack is well known as an instructor and for his instructional material, however, he is fast becoming just as well known for his astonishing technical prowess as well and Insomnia is a great show case of his playing skills and melodic ideas.

I hear a strong Dream Theater influence in the heavier songs, though not so much the Petrucci style solos, but rather the rhythmic stabs, climaxes and crescendos.

I’m not going to break the album down track by track, because it’s meant to be listened to as a whole.

The track listing is as follows:

1 Insomnia
2 The Crossing
3 Reverie-The Aspiration
4 Disillusion Theory
5 Reverie- Seize The Accolade
6 Turmoil
7 Reverie-Reminiscence
8 Collapse Of The Depraved

The 3 tracks called Reverie serve as mellow and contemplative transitions between the heavier feel of “The Crossing”, “Disillusion Theory” and “Turmoil” (where Zack’s playing really comes alive) while the last track “Collapse Of The Depraved” revisits and completes the musical themes introduced in the opening track “Insomnia”.

This is an excellent one-man album, and a fantasic debut for Zack as a solo artist. I have listened to the album a lot and I'm sure I will continue to do so.

Zack has also recently received his new 8 string guitar through his Conklin guitar endorsement, which should yield some interesting results, so watch this space.

http://www.zackuidl.com/

www.myspace.com/zackuidl

Album Review - Nick Layton "Storming the Castle"

Nick Layton is a professional guitarist, composer and teacher living in Washington State. He has worked in a variety of professional music settings including teaching private and group lessons, as well as having been the Music Coordinator at both Chorus church in Southern California and Discovery church in Oregon.
Layton has also released a major instructional course called: Phrasing Concepts for Rock Lead Guitar Soloing-- a powerful new instructional course for guitarists who want to learn highly effective soloing concepts to help better express themselves.

In addition, Nick has co-authored the E-Book “The Next Step: Serious Improvement for the Developing Guitarist.” This book is for guitarists who want to learn to play better, faster, technically more efficient, and much more.

Nick has an endorsement with AMT Electronics and he is currently using the DT-2 Distortion Station.

Inspired by the great artists and virtuoso guitarists of the late 70's and 80's, including Yngwie Malmsteen, Vinnie Moore, George Lynch , Michael Schenker, John Sykes, Dio, Queensryche, Savatage, TNT, Dream Theater, etc; Nick became obsessed with the guitar in 1987 and never looked back.

Layton's musical education includes advanced studies with virtuoso Tom Hess in his Music Careers Mentoring program as well as private studies with recording artists/virtuosos James Byrd, Slav Simanic and Howard Hart.

Nick graduated from George Fox University in 1998.

Lets dive in:

The opening track “Storming the Castle” is a hard rock track with an interesting opening melody based on the Japanese pentatonic scale. Nick says that the title of the song was inspired by a scene from the movie “The Chronicles of Narnia”, where a storming charge is lead by the Lion character, Aslan. Nicks solo’s are blazing right off the bat.

The second track “Fire” is one of two vocal tracks on the album. Both the lyrics and the vocal lines were contributed by Dave Cardwell. The song has a chilled out intro incorporating wind and chime sound effects. The rest of the song is all about the driving rhythm guitars and some great phrasing in the solo.

Track three, “Valiant One”, sees the influence that Nick draws from Yngwie Malmsteen. Nick is by no means a Yngwie clone, though he does have a good grip on his neo-classical styling’s.

“Daybreak” is based around the G# minor 9 chord. It’s extremely melodic and shows a hint of Vinnie Moore with a massive slice of Nick Layton. The solo is full of incredible ideas, probably my favourite on the album.

On to the fifth track “Snake Charmer”. Well, with a name like that, you’re expecting something with a Middle Eastern flavour and Nick’s Phrygian Dominant ideas deliver.

The other vocal track “Deceiver” sees all lyrics and vocals delivered superbly by Dave Cardwell again, as well as a guest solo by Paul Tauterouff. Nick says that Chris Oliva of Savatage came through as an influence on this track.

Track seven “B and Me” is dedicated to Nick’s friend Barb who always encouraged Nick to pursue a career in music. The song is very uplifting (well, to my ears at least) and Nick’s unique musical voice comes through strongly in this track.

“Tears of Gethsemane” is probably one of the most emotionally charged instrumental songs I’ve heard in a long while. According to Nick, the song follows the biblical account of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion.

The sombre feel of the previous track is completely lifted by the ninth track “Alive Again”. Nick commented that he really likes the way the outro melody and improvised solo came out.

The final track “Palm 91” is different to all the other tracks in that there are no drum or bass lines, just a little synth. Nick explained that the biblical passage of the same name had helped him through some tough times in his personal life. A great ending to an album full of Nick Layton Signature licks.

Nick’s ability to express himself on his two Carvin DC’s is something that not many guitarists ever acquire. In short, he’s a great player and I’m sure you’ll like his music. 9/10.

Pre-Orders of the CD directly from Nick, made before July 21st will get FREE shipping. Pre-ordered CD's will ship no later than July 22nd, one full week before the official release date.In addition all pre-orders may request a free copy of the 16 track compilation album Chronicles: City of Sound.

As of 29 July, Storming the Castle, will be available at outlets such as CD Baby, I-Tunes, Guitar Nine, and several others in both hard copy and digital download versions.

London International Music Show Part 1

Hi All,

The 12-15th of June was all lined up to be a high point of the year for musos, and gear addicts in particular, with the London International Music Show taking place at Excel in Dockland's.

LiMS is in fact an amalgam of previous music trade fairs focusing individually on guitars, drums and music tech, so the question was... was it really bigger, or did it just have more stuff that I didn't want to look at?

Well the answer to that questions was simple, it 'felt' smaller than last year's Guitar Show and for some odd reason, no doubt to do with local councils, you couldn't even buy anything priced above £25! This latter fact had some types looking like extras from a Sam Raimi film...wandering round looking but not touching with credit cards hanging uselessly in their hairy hands. Eeek!

In these days of the on-line retailer it did make me wonder whether the show was there to further encourage people to ignore their local guitar shop in favour of the faceless .com. We'll all regret it when it's too late!

Another odd side-effect of the 'sales ban' was that there seemed to be far fewer people actually trying gear out than last year - was this for fear of wanting to buy something and being told 'guitar denied!' in true Wayne's World style? Maybe, but surely it doesn't help the industry does it?

But the LiMS is not just about the gear, it's about performances too and Shredders...we were well catered for! I was there on the Saturday which meant Jamie Humphries, Dave Kilminster and the outstanding Guthrie Govan set the stage on fire as a Cornford Amplifiers endorsee billed 'C3'. We were later treated to the incredible and legendary Billy Sheehan doing crazy things on a bass further assisted by Mr Govan.

A real chemistry showed through with these two and the mouth watering prospect of a future collaboration between Sheehan and Govan was left hanging in the air! I've got my fingers crossed!

If that wasn't enough, next up was a man well known to Shred Academy...Paul Gilbert. Paul is of course responsible for more shredders taking to the strings than any other guitarist as a result of his terrifying teaching videos and outstanding recording career with Racer X, Mr Big and his solo work. Paul played a jaw dropping clinic style set with backing tracks and you could hear people breaking their own fingers in disgust! Strangely he didn't join former band mate Sheehan on stage...

Phil Hilborne hit the stage next but I've seen Phil before, and he's a real entertaining guitarist with top chops, but there was only so much time in one day, so I hopped out awaiting the headliner...

Yngwie J. Malmsteen!

What is there left to say about this guy? His influence is everywhere and his playing grossly underrated in my opinion. I particularly love his interpretation of classic rock and blues style solos that most people never hear - check out his version of Carry On My Wayward son for example - amazing!

So the opportunity to see the legend was top of my 'not to miss' list. BUT...

The organisation had been a mess...all the timings were well over an hour out of sync by the end of the day (perhaps they had a drummer organising it LOL) and people were drifitng out early (nothing to do with the price of parking, beer or food..RIGHT!), so Yngwie exploded on to stage to a half empty auditorium. To make matters worse, his tone was awful!

I know we say it's all in the fingers, but if your amp sounds rough and the FOH sound is poor there's nothing really you can do even if you're YJM. It looked as if Yng was playing through a DSL, but it sounded like a cheap combo out front. To top this he was playing along to backing tracks in a very 'OK where's the cheque?' sort of way, hilariously shouting 'Track 1, 2, 3, 4 etc' to the sound engineer between numbers! Great...by the time I heard Yngwie bark out the order 'Track 5' I'd had enough and went back to try out more gear. I'm sorry but I'd rather keep good memories of Yngwie than this performance. I'm certain his live tour next month with a real band will see him back to majestic form...let's hope so!

Sunday had a performance from Joe Satriani that I couldn't make, so tell us all about that if you were there.

I'll be back with LiMS Part 2 to share some of my thoughts on the gear I tried out...yum, yum!

Now stop wasting time on the net and go and shred!

Shred Bloggs

Hello from Shred Bloggs!

Hi Shred Academy Alumni,

My name is Pete (aka Northerngit) but for the purposes of this, and because it's fun, I've decided to call myself Shred Bloggs!

So what are you likely to expect from the blog? Well, as most of you lot, I'm just an ordinary guitarist who enjoys listening to shred and trying to crank up the metronome myself. I have a particular leaning towards jazzy/fusion type stuff (in fact I love Jazz anyway) but also technical metal and Seven string antics (i.e. Nevermore as opposed to Korn if you get my drift).

I'm going to be covering a wide range of topics, mainly to do with the people of shred, the gear we use, or would LOVE to use, reviews of gigs and recordings, fun things that I'm doing with guitar design and bands and any old nonsense that pops into my head.

So if you want to hear about something in particular, get me to review your latest opus or simply wind me up on a Shred related subject (and no...Lily Allen's 'performance' at Glastonbury isn't shred!) then leave a message.

Let's take this up a few more Bpm!

Cheers

Shred Bloggs

Roo interview – The Frenchman is back to talk about his gear and recording his album

Here is the Roo interview part 2. He’s been up to a lot and had gained some nice endorsements. This dude is going places…


What tips can you give beginner and intermediate guitarists who are trying to become highly advanced players in minimal time?

Sure, hehe, purchase my DVD!
Well, start to analyse the other guitar player’s style. Transcribe some of their solos and you will get even closer to their technique.

I suggest practicing on an acoustic guitar because the strings are heavier and you don't focus on the effects. Practice with a metronome. Buy a decent one, with volume control otherwise it drives you crazy, hehe.

Remember to play standing up, using your strap, because in a real situation nobody performs on a chair, at least in rock music...

Don’t be fooled by expensive gear, especially if you don’t have specific use for it.
Focus first on getting the most out of yourself. Find a good guitar instructor, someone that is established and is a model for you, who will push you.



What gear do you use and (more importantly) why?

For amps, I rather like cabinets/head or combos than racks systems. Mostly because I get lost with all the possibilities of too many elements put together. I have been very impressed by Mesa-Boogie amps, especially their amazing clean sounds and warm distortions, they do anything you want. Today I play a PowerBall Engl (amp head with cabinet) it sounds just perfect for metal.

I like different kinds of guitars of course. My main guitar is a Carvin DC127. I like the neck thru, the very light swamp ash body, and the ebony fingerboard. The neck scale length is 25' which fits my fingers well. I'd like to own more Carvin guitars, my dream would be to work with them, visiting the San Diego factory. There's something about this brand that appeals...

I don’t play with floating bridges anymore, it takes to long to tune the guitar, and it’s hell changing strings. I can also switch easily to drop D tuning with a fixed bridge.

I love to try different pickups, I played with many brands (actives and passives) and they all have something special. Basically, I like to have a single coil in the neck position and humbuckers for the bridge. I already tried 5 different bridge pickups in the same guitar!

To conclude, I'd say that the sad truth is that gear is more the reflection of budget than a matter of pure personal taste. It's always a compromise.

As for strings, I’m endorsed by Elixir Strings and I use them exclusively. I’m also endorsed by Brossard Picks which I like very much.


What are you trying to achieve compositionally?

As a guitarist, I really try to achieve a good crossroad between something technically respectable, yet melodic and original enough. I try to mix different styles I like such as country/blue grass with heavy tones, funky grooves and aggressive BlackMetal riffs.

I also use a lot of finger-pickings with distortion, I’m a bit into Michael Lee Firkins, and open strings of course.

Today I practice some 8 fingers tapping and some jazz phrasing but it's quite new for me so it doesn’t influence my playing in compositions yet.

Rhythm is important as well. I want people to be able to beat their foot to my music. It took me years to realize that compositions must be songs first. If it's guitar oriented, there must be enough melody to catch a non-shred listener’s attention. It's always tempting to play technical and fast in order to impress but it's also very rewarding to touch people who don’t listen to the same stuff that you do. Basically when I compose I tend to take as much of each genre I like until it becomes something of my own.


What parts of your playing reflects your personality and self expression most accurately?

Wow, man that is the question, hehe. Well, we're also working on this idea with the graphic designer who works on my album cover. The visual identity must reflect the music...

I told him that I see myself as a funny guy, who is enigmatic and somehow dark... I guess I’m a complex person.

It would be pretentious to say that I can express all my personality on my guitar. Everyday, I learn something new at guitar. It's a process in perpetual motion you know...

Today, I see my playing as a mishmash of techniques and styles that adapt themselves to the musical context. In my compositions, I don’t enjoy playing minor natural & harmonic minor scales in an overly emotional musical context. Maybe I don’t feel comfortable baring my deepest feelings in a sad song. I prefer a bluesy legato phrasing with a syncopated feel, cutting a groovy guitar theme with a weird riff or arpeggio. Something happy…but a bit scary. So I will use diminished scales (that you hear commonly in classical and neo-classical for instance), more in order to create tension at some point, rather than having a genuine neoclassical feel. I try to surprise myself. I sometimes use minor tonalities in my guitar lessons but it's different then. I could say, my song "Double Trouble", as modest as it is, reflects my personality somehow. (Watch the video demo on my myspace profile.)


Talk about the process of recording your album. Are there any
tips and trick that you could pass on? How did you choose the other
instrumentalists (if you did)?

Oh it's me who need tips. It's new for me to work on a solo, instrumental, rock guitar project. Of course it's the same process as with a band, except I handle most of it myself. So basically it will be the drummer and I for the studio work. I had some difficulties with the line up. People sometimes burnout and can't handle more than a few rehearsals, then give up. I lost some time like this. I will record in a professional recording studio. There's a possibility that the drums will be recorded and mixed in a different place.

I wrote and pre-recorded all the instrument parts at home. We'll just have to sit down and do our best. Some people record themselves but I don’t have the money and the knowledge for a home studio. I rather like to leave this task to people who know their job. I also have a lot of admiration for sound engineers. It's always a learning experience to watch them working.

I can only advise people to know their material very well. Prepare a list of the gear. Adjust the intonation of your guitar, or bring it to a luthier for a neck and fret job. Remove the strings two days before recording, not the same day that you’re going into the studio because the guitar will go out of tune a lot. I also recommend writing down the guitar leads note for note to prevent last minute improvisation, which can put pressure on you. Anyway after 10-15 hours of recording, your ears are exhausted and they lose clarity. Then there's the risk of recording something you feel great about at first, but then it totally sucks on mixing day.


That's it. Thanks for the interview.
http://wwww.rooguitar.com
http://wwww.myspace.com/rooguitar
http://wwww.youtube.com/rooguitar
http://www.elixirstrings.com
http://www.brossardpicks.com

Album Review - Thoughts Betrayed "Recollection"

Thoughts Betrayed is heavily influenced by such luminaries as Nevermore, Dream Theater, Symphony X, and Outworld. Core members Dave Cardwell (vocals, guitars) and Zack Uidl (guitars) formed Thoughts Betrayed in the summer of 2007 and set to work on what would become their self-released debut album “Recollection”, a thundering, bone crushing album with laser precise guitar work, complex rhythms and strong melodic sensibility.
Dave did all the vocals, rhythm guitars, bass programming, production and mastering, while both Zack and Dave programmed the drums and keys, and shared guitar solo duties.
Lookout for tour dates for the summer of 2008 as well as a music video.

Let’s look at the tracks:

Disorder
After 5 seconds, you’re deep into super-technical European-style power metal terrain. Dave’s vocals are incredible, he has a broad range and his vocal vibrato is spot-on. The solo’s from both Dave and Zack are as terrifying as can be expected, but the scariest part of the song is the second half of the intro melody which Dave wrote for keys but Zack decided to play on guitar instead!

Reign
This track is all about these guy’s prog-metal influences, with a nod towards Nevermore in the form of a brutal rhythm guitar assault, and a doffing of the hat to Symphony X in the form of a strong piano melody. Naturally, Dave’s guitar solo is mind blowing.

Recollection
More crushing rhythm guitar and accessible vocal melodies from Dave with blazing solo’s from both maestros after a wicked breakdown.

Long Days
I was almost thrown by the ambient intro to this track, but once the driving rhythm guitar section kicked in, I was back on planet TB. Dave’s vocal harmonies work really well on this track, and the breakdowns reminded me of Dream Theater.

Monument
Diving deep into Symphony X territory here, this tracks intro is my favourite part of the album. The rhythm guitar is also very Mike Romeo. Dave keeps the vocals mellow, but somehow haunting. Zack’s solo stays true to the vibe of the vocal melody, chilled.

Rite
With an interesting strings section on this track’s intro, the guys drop us smack-bang in the middle of the early thrash metal style power ballad. Then, about 2 minutes in, Dave comes out with a deathly snarl, very cool.

Retribution
The heaviest song on the album is all double kick-drumming and sinister riffage. Dave showcases his vocal abilities ranging from deathmetal growls to high pitched wails. Possibly 2 of the most ferocious solo’s ever recorded can be heard at around the 3 minute mark.

Fading Thoughts
This track, the most subdued on the album, is held together by a consistent piano melody, making for the perfect backdrop to a heartfelt vocal delivery from Dave and a stunning solo from Zack.

Vision
A trek into the dark realm of odd meter, this track is not really suitable for background music at your next dinner party. But if you’re interested in some intricate guitaring, this instrumental track is where it’s at.

Time
Another intense and complex rhythm, based on a dominant piano melody, allows dave to launch into a massive vocal ballad while Zack throws down the best, but not the fastest, solo on the album.

Passage
Possibly the most progressive song on the album in terms of form, this track cycles through many different sections without much repetition. The last solo section is in 7/8 time, and the vocal harmonies that follow it recall Lane Staley.

Life
The album finishes off with another rhythmically complex track. I liked the tone of Dave’s vocals on this track the most. It was a fitting end to the album as well.

A lot more influences than those mentioned above are prevalent, but I’m not going to talk about what’s in my record collection, or what might be in Dave and Zack’s. These 2 guys took what they know and love, and made it there own. All in all, a strong metal album. 8.5/10

Lindsey Boullt - Composition (Album Review)

INTRODUCTION

Now as many of you will know by now i'm not a huge fan of progressive
stuff but when Lindsey contacted me asking if I would do a review of his
album i jumped at the chance. It's a great way to achieve an indepth
opinion of an artist i might otherwise have never heard of.

ABOUT LINDSEY (taken from his website)

First picking up the guitar at 21 years old, Lindsey received his music
degree three and a half years later and then graduated with honors from
the Guitar Institute of Technology in Los Angeles at the age of 27. Now an
established guitarist, composer and instructor in San Francisco and
working with some of the finest players in the world, Lindsey teaches at
the renowned Guitar Institute and has just released the 10-song original
work, June 2007.

MUSICIANS

Joining Lindsey for this album is a wealth of talented musicians.

Lindsey Boullt - Guitars

Jerry Goodman - Violin

Derek Sherinian - Keyboards

Stu Hamm - Bass

Jon Herrera - Bass

Atma Anur - Drums

Sukhawat Ali Khan - Vocals

Jeremy Coulson - Drums

Mingo Lewis - Percussion

Peter Van Gelder - Sitar

TRACK BREAKDOWN

Page Revisited - A great introductory track. The track begins very
musically and has some interesting riffs and ideas. By midway through the
track it becomes evident that Lindsey has some chops! After a blistering
duel between guitar and keyboard the main themes and ideas of the song are
returned. A good introductory track that introduces us to lindsey's style.
Chasing The Whirling Dervish - This was quite a strange track, it had a
definite folk / oriental feel in several places throughout the song but
still maintained the feel of a progressive track. By the time the song was
half way through i think it was safe to say I knew what was coming
next...and i was right. A barrage of aggressive runs glued together to
form a solo. I must admit this wasnt one of my favourite solos from the
album. The highlight of this track for me was the string parts, they were
awesome and very filmic in some places.

Moving Panvishnu - This track showes a different element to Lindseys
playing, whilst the previous tracks were seemingly about the speed of the
solo i was much more impressed by the unusual melodies present in this
track. It begins with a strange melody line that sound like a cross
between Frank Zappa and Steve Vai. The guitar tone in this track is really
effective too and made me think of a theremin.Around two minuits into the song there is a guitar solo that makes excellent use of a wah pedal. I'm glad there are guitarists out there that
still know how to use a wah pedal properly and dont just rock it back and
forth repeatedly.At 2.43 comes one of the best melodies on the whole album, i only wish it
was longer. It really took me by surprise and sounded like something the
team behind Animusic would have come up with. As with the previous track,
some of the soloing doesnt fit with my personal tastes but it does fit
into the track very well.

Call For Peace - This track is in a similar style and sound to Moving
Panvishnu but introduces the first vocal lines to the album. The vocal is
quite haunting and stategically placed and well written even though it is
short. The main problem i'm having with this album is that no track really
stands out from the others, if i wasn't reading the track list as i go i
would have no way of telling where i am in the album. The songs are all
quite samey thus far and whilst Lindsey has obviously come up with a
succesful formula i hope he experiments with more styles later in the
album.

Bravo Davo De La Torre - This track started off really promising, it
sounded like something a bit different. The first meldoy line of the song
is great and sounded like something you would expect to hear from Satriani
or something from Petrucci's Suspended Animation album. This track is one
of the more melodic on the album and also one of my favourites, it shows
Lindsey's talent as a guitarist with some great licks and solos, but
ultimatly, this track is about the melody.

Aurora's Aura - From the first beat of this track i immediatly thought to
myself, Allan Holdsworth. About forty seconds into the track the music
changes enough to take away the Holdsworth feel and revert back to the
folk / eastern feel that is becoming very apparent in Lindsey's style.
Unless you are a huge prog / fusion fan this track is quite difficult to
listen to as it makes use of strange timings, odd beats, and unusual
soloing and scales that an ear not trained for fusion can have difficulty
understanding. This is a very technical composition and it is easy to
appreciate how hard it must have been playing this track, but it's not
really for me.

Grooving With Stu - This track is something different, and fun to listen
to. It combines elements of all kinds of musical styles including funk,
jazz, rock, blues and even elements of spanish gypsy and flamenco are
present. There are some great acoustic solos which are reminiscent of Al
Di Meola and it is in these solos where Lindsey's techinique can be truly
appreciated. It is a shame this track is only just over two minuites long.
Taste The Hate - Similarly to the previous track, Taste the Hate fuses and
combines some unusual styles together. The folk and eastern elements are
still there (including a brief sitar solo) but some of the lead playing
has a rock / Satriani type feel. It is one of the strangest tracks on the
album and has a very trippy feel behind it.

Farewell - This is more like it, super-cheesey, lighter-in-the-air, ballad
time. This is definitly reminiscent of Satriani and could almost be taken
from one of his albums. Some great melodies in this piece. At 1.50 into
the track the music takes a different shape that reminded me personally of
Holdsworth or Shawn Lane. This only lasts about thirty seconds and then
the main idea of the music returns. This track definitly shows Lindsey's
'softer' side without taking away his signature sound. My only problem
with this track was that perhaps some of the soloing could've been more
melodic but even so it did fit well with the music.

Cleopatra's Third Eye - Lindsey's love for unusual fusion is again present
in this final track by combining a funky, seventies cop show style bass
line, and some ballad like strings as well as squeezing in the odd bar of
unusual time meters. This track definitly reminds me of something but i
can't quite put my finger on it.

CONCLUSION

The album is very well mixed and produced and the sound is consistent
throughout. The playing cannot be faultered on the album as all of the
musicians sounded spot on.With a title such as Composition the album had a lot to live up to and in
my opinion it succeeded to be a composition and not a guitar album.
Lindsey uses the guitar as one of his tools but it is by no means the most
important instrument on the album which is a refreshing change. This
album, whilst it does have some enviable guitar parts, is definitly about
the music as a whole rather than about Lindsey's ego.

VERDICT

It would be unfair of me to rate this album as it became apparent it is
not my style of music. What i will say is that i enjoyed listening to the
album and the music was a refreshing change and although similarities can
be made with other artists it really is quite an original piece and one i
hope i will go back to again and again for inspiration.

Reviewed By Adam Ironside (Adji)

www.lindseyboullt.com