hese days completely instrumental albums are becoming more of a rarity, though not an unwelcome rarity. Reid is a guitar virtuoso who hails from Gilbert, AZ and offers up eight originals and one cover, mostly performed with bass and drum accompaniment. The fact that the lone cover, "Aftershock," was penned by Steve Morse underscores Reid's confidence in his playing; for any musician to cover an instrumental by a legend is, to say the least, daring.
The disc opens rapidly with "Kingsport", styled sort of in the same vein as Eric Johnson's "Cliffs Of Dover", with a dominant, melodic riff driving the song. Throughout the album, there is a very good tone on the guitars, backed by extremely solid production. At times the playing reaches into late 1960s/early 1970s Zappa instrumental work ("Hot Rats", "Grand Wazoo", et al). "Lot 49", with its stops and starts, is a good example of this, as is "The Dark Page" (which leans more toward Zappa's "Apostrophe" album).
The acoustic track "The Dying Tree" is a very beautiful piece that shows strong technique. This also shows that Reid's playing is equally effective when he's rocking out or when he's playing more gently.
The best tracks are those where Reid features the guitar front and center, as he shows an adeptness both for writing riffs and playing melodies. The album's weaker moments occur when Reid plays more spacy tracks with a guitar synthesizer. These songs tend to lack the bite, but there's a lot to be said for adding some variety to the disc.
Reid also provides an extensive list of the equipment used, though it's not stated as to what guitars he plays on which songs.
All in all a very solid album.
hese days completely instrumental albums are becoming more of a rarity, though not an unwelcome rarity. Reid is a guitar virtuoso who hails from Gilbert, AZ and offers up eight originals and one cover, mostly performed with bass and drum accompaniment. The fact that the lone cover, "Aftershock," was penned by Steve Morse underscores Reid's confidence in his playing; for any musician to cover an instrumental by a legend is, to say the least, daring.