• Where did this Rullian character come from, who the hell does he think he is, where has he been, and why haven't we more heard of him until now?
• Steve Vai's "Flex-able" and Joe Satriani's "Surfing With Aliens" give birth.
• Hot and sweaty sex on a guitar.
• An absolute joy to listen to.
• A guitarist that has fun blindly doodling across fretboards and styles, but seems entirely confident at what will end up on the DAT tape.
• The guitarist of the decade crawls in from the underground.

And in all seriousness, this is the finest guitar album I have heard in years. And the irony of it is that Raoul Raioa slapped this CD together as a bunch of music that vocalists just couldn't use or follow. The result is a mixed salad of world music and American rock influences converging as one of the most unexpected, but most entertaining guitar albums I have ever heard. There is not one note on this disc that I cringe at or draw a yawn from. The first couple tracks had me captured.

Raioa admits in the liner-notes that the music offered here would not have been so successful if it were not from all his friend musicians that contributed their portions. The amount of talent crammed onto this one piece of plastic is almost unnerving. And proceeds from the sale of this CD go to charity, the Redlands Humane Society in California.

Maybe it's the fact that most of the seventeen songs on this album are shorter than your average guitar opus. Maybe it's the diverse world mix of music, from Caribbean to jazz to blues to swing to metal to balladry (the appropriately titled "The Big Soft" and "When Angels Get Their Wings"). Maybe it's the fact that I was not expecting this music from this far out of the blue. And maybe it's because this album manages to be a guitar showcase and a melodic joyride at the same time. I mean, this guy is having fun here! He's not trying to shred his way into your respect. He is simply playing some damn enjoyable music, and smartly.

Whatever the reason for this CD to sound as great as it does to my ears, if you enjoy instrumental guitar albums at all, then this is the next addition to your collection. And yes, this CD is appropriately available from Guitar9.com's vast collection of guitar albums. Now, let's here what he can do in a full band (with vocals), soon!