Cody Carpenter ~ Force Of Nature

 

The second release from Cody Carpenter brings delight & glee to those who love instrumental progressive rock. This falls right in line with Jeff Beck, but with keyboards. Being the son of Adrienne Barbeau & John Carpenter, it should be no surprise that Cody played the theme to the Halloween movie back in 1978. He has done many movie soundtracks, but, only 2 solo albums of his own of this sort. If you’re a fan of Jeff Beck, you will surely like this. The first track starts off very strong, then starts floating around between soft & strong songs. Along with Cody, is, Jimmy Haslip & John Konesky on tracks, but, most of this album is Cody on his own. I give this 4 out of 5 Music Guru stars.

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Marty Friedman ~ One Bad M.F. Live

 

 

This album is one bad M.F. (Shut your mouth), which should be listened to while doing heavy sets of exercise or anything else that you enjoy while expending energy. Marty Friedman, being the guitarist of Megadeath until 2001, until he left for Japan, where he made a different type of music, now he comes back with this live album filled with great riffs & some great lead guitar as well. There is a song called “Ripped Melody” that he plays parts of QUEEN  & BOSTON songs. The lead guitar on BOSTON, you might think that you’re listening to Tom Sholz.

Jordan Ziff on guitars (both rythym & lead), Kiyoshi on bass & Chargeeee on drums fill in on the rythym section to make this really stand out. I give this 4 out of 5 Music Guru stars. What do you think of this album?

Oz Noy’s Booga Looga Loo

 

Jazz is something you’re going to either love or just not care about. I like jazz. This is something new for Oz Noy as he is usually a heavy shred kind of guitar player. He decided to put out a jazz album with some R&B & even some pop. You can still hear the distortion pedals & effect pedals playing in the music, but there are some nice passages that float through this album. This album reminds me a lot of some of the King Crimson stuff that I’ve listened to. The piano & keyboard parts are wonderfully carried out. Boogaloo Fever seems to stick out as THE TRACK on this album for me. There is 1 song with vocals which is a cover of the Beatles “Eight Days A Week”. This version is a bit different, at least with the solos. There is also a cover of the Beach Boys “God Only Knows”, which happens to be one of my favorite Beach Boys songs. This one is instrumental. Very nicely done. “I Got A Woman” brings in the horn section. If you’re gonna play jazz, you need some horns. Oz Noy, Dave Weckl, & Jimmy Haslip & some other friends as well, make up Oz Noy’s Booga Looga Loo. I give this 4 out of 5 Music Guru stars.

Humble Pie ~ Joint Effort

 

This all new 2019 release of Humble Pie was originally released previously as “Running With The Pack”, which is why I thought that I had heard these tracks before, but apparently not a new album, but an album of lost tapes which did not get released at the time they were recorded. Both albums were recorded in 1974 – 1975. I don’t know if this version was re-mastered, but, “Joint Effort” did sound a bit cleaner than “Running With The Pack”. The band did dis-band shortly after this album. There are pluses & minuses to this album, but, if you’re a Humble Pie fan, you’ll enjoy this. This was the post Peter Frampton version of the band with Dave Clempson taking Peter Frampton’s place. Steve Marriott on guitars & vocals, Greg Ridley on bass, & Jerry Shirley on drums make up the rest of Humble Pie. The opening song “Think”, a cover of James Brown’s (not written by James Brown), is a funky version of the song, which is not to my liking, but, the rest of the album seems to bring the PIE sound back into the fold. There is a cover of the Beatles “Rain”, which was to my liking. A bit more raw than the Beatles song, but, it did appeal to me. I give this 3.5 out of 5 Music Guru stars.

Lance King ~ ReProgram

 

The new album from Lance King (Pyromaze, Avian, Balance of Power, Gemini) brings you his second solo album. His fiorst album was great. This one is even better. The album starts you off strong with a quick pace heart thumping song called “ReProgram”, which is the title track. The second track, “Pointing Fingers” starts off with a pretty, melodic line, on the keyboard, then goes right back into pumping up the volume. “Technology” is really very bass heavy and that may get the technology part of the song across strongly. After a long jam in the beginning of “Reaction Formation” the song goes into a beautiful song that to me, would make a great second single. “Limitless”, the first single of the album is another great song, but I liked “Reaction Formation” much more. “Wide Open” has a comfortable feeling  as you listen to it. “Chaotica”, while not a bad song, to me, is probably the weakest song on the album. Another possible hit could be “Spell Of Domestication”, but that would be an album oriented track. Another single ends the album. “A Mind At War”, again starts off with a beautiful keyboard part and continues with a wonderful melodic lyrical line that flows throughout the song. The band is on fire and Lance’s voice is right on par. I give this 4 out of 5 Music Guru stars only because on certain songs, the bass is too much in the mix. Everything else is superb.

Dearling ~ Silver & Gold

I can start this review off by telling you that Rachel Amidei has a great talent for writing music & picking the right musicians to sing & play music with her. Most of the music is about affairs of the heart, but, it is upbeat & not written to bring you down. Dave Preston’s vocals are very nice, as are Rachel’s. Guitars (Dave Preston & Danny Burton) is sweet while the Bass (Noah Matthews) & Drums (Joel Matthews) keep the rhythm exactly where it belongs. It is a perfect blend. I only wish that I had more than 4 songs to listen to. I give this 5 out 5 Music Guru stars.

Neal Morse Band ~ The Great Adventure

 

Let me start off by saying that Neal Morse is a creative genius. His musical skill, his vocal skill, his production skill are all at 100%. Add to that, the mixture of his band-mates, Mike Portnoy, Randy George, Eric Gillette & Bill Hubauer, who are all within that same bracket with Neal. This album, The Great Adventure, is a concept album, following along the same line as his last album “The Similitude Of A Dream”. This album seems to take over where that album stops. There is a little bit too much of repetition, but, with the fact that it is a concept album, or as Pete Townshend may call it a “Rock Opera” , maybe not. I didn’t find it was too repetitious, but, I’ve heard others that say that. There was certainly repetition with “Tommy”, and we know how much of a great album that is. I really do like this album & the fact that Mike, Eric, Bill & Neal all sing lead, while even including Randy in a speaking part, makes this album even a little more special…especially when they harmonize. This is a gem & should be listened to. I give this 5 out of 5 Music Guru stars.