I quickly learned that my initial assumptions about this band were misguided. First and foremost, Alien Guitar Abduction is not a band in the traditional guitar, bass, vocals, drums arrangement. As the brief liner notes attest, Stan Rose IS Alien Guitar Abduction. Stan Rose IS one man loaded for bear with only a guitar, amp and Axon guitar synthesizer to aid him.

Alien Guitar Abduction is space rock in all of it's psychedelic glory, but unlike the cock-guided power chords and swirling organ of the Hawkwind variety, Rose's fusion of jazz, blues, dance and metal is light years beyond the genre's late '60s inception. Rose plays mind-twisting riffs that sound as if they were composed in zero gravity; long, dissonant, angular melodies that seem to run for days without repeating a single note. When Stan isn't bending your ears with discordant counterpoint created from several guitar solos playing at once, he melts your face with elegant prog solos that seem to be lifted from Frank Zappa as much as Dream Theater. Incidentally, Stan took lessons with John Petrucci (guitar, Dream Theater).

If less-than-professional album art is an indication of poor musicianship, this disc tears down that stereotype. Viewing the album cover after listening, the cliche of books and their covers immediately springs to mind. Please don't judge the content of this album by its DIY facade.

Besides the album art, my only complaint about Bigfoot Lives! is the over-use of synthesized, digital drums. Stan Rose seems to brag about the fact that some of the drum tracks were created using his Axon guitar synthesizer. Guitar work of this caliber demands an organic drum kit. The music itself is too delicate to stand on the lackluster timbre of digital percussion. It is like displaying elegant crystal on a sheet of tinfoil. Booming acoustic drums would firmly support Rose's performance and give the compositions a much deserved bottom end.

In summary, if you like space rock, Buckethead, Danny Gatton, Sonny Sharrock, and a subdued feeling of weightlessness, Alien Guitar Abduction's Bigfoot Lives! is highly recommended.