eff Beck lives! I was hoping that was the case. Nowadays whenever I ask anyone if they have any Beck to trade, it ain't Jeff they come back with. But if JB is getting too old, Ray's in there, not just going the distance, but winning!
Like Brian May, he knows his guitar inside and out. This is the sort of player who makes us no-talent guitarists hate and admire his guts all in the same moment. You can imagine him picking up the guitar after 15 years of not bothering, and he's still super; he can play the latest songs easily, if he's heard them.
Take the incredible opener 'Ray's Stew' which has all the force of a rock band at a jazz festival. In fact, Ray's doing all this stuff by himself. Keyboards, bass, a drum machine. Don't know how he'd do it all live, but I like studio stuff better anyway. For just this reason. Ray gets it right, he can overdub to the point of Queen perfection. He knows what he wants, and just does it.
The only song that has words is 'Up On the Wire' which is nice enough. But after the songs surrounding it, you'll want to get back to just the music. His strong point. And strong it is.
I'd recommend this CD to anyone. It's too short - 37 minutes - but let's harp on the quality, not quantity. Up tempo piece of disc. Great.
eff Beck lives! I was hoping that was the case. Nowadays whenever I ask anyone if they have any Beck to trade, it ain't Jeff they come back with. But if JB is getting too old, Ray's in there, not just going the distance, but winning!