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This song was inspired by Phillip Toshio Sudo’s book of the same name. After reading his book Tobias learned to empty his mind and just play. This is the only song of its kind on the album, and sounds truly unique, which is probably due to the "harmonic drumming" technique that was used to play it. The single electric guitar track is accompanied by exquisite tabla drumming courtesy of National Guitar Workshop instructor, Guy Dedell.
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The opposite of unplugged! This is a scorching electric fusion tune featuring a real horn section and P-Funk alum Dennis Chambers on drums. Tobias wrote the tune with Dennis in mind and it features several short drum solos and lots of room for Dennis to stretch out, which he fully takes advantage of. There are two guitar solos. The first one steps from jazzy and clean to gritty blues, to full tilt rock all in the same solo. The next burns up the neck with long fast exotic scale runs and cool bends. There’s also a hot slap bass solo by Baltimore bass guru, Mike Dyson. The head is played by electric guitar mixed with the horn section, which features New York session ace, Alex Norris on trumpet.
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This tune features a very distinguished electric violinist by the name of Tom Ginsberg. Imagine a cross between Jimi Hendrix and John Luc Ponty. The tune also prominently features Tobias’s signature guitar slapping technique over some jazzy changes. The solo sections are in 12 bar cycles which navigate six key changes before repeating. Tobias enjoyed playing his scorching rock riffs over these changes while building intensity via jazzy scales and modes. Tom played a very long and inspired solo on the way out with Tobias comping behind him. They performed this section live in the studio bouncing off of each other and spurring each other on. Tom’s work is sublime. It’s a must hear.
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Tobias is very proud of this song, which also features P-Funk alum, Dennis Chambers on drums. Tobias plays the first head with full tilt distortion and an e-bow over a soaring groove. The tune gets progressively funkier, culminating in a talking slap guitar break which features his signature riffs. Then the same themes are restated in a softer mood, with crystal clear harmonics and a floating jazzy chord melody. There’s also a short but sweet rock solo midway through. Chambers does it right, peppering the song with awesome fills, his signature ghost notes, and a smooth groove.
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This fusion romp is full of surprises. Bassist, Mike Dyson shines through with a haunting, melodic line, and GIT alum, Glenn Riley, contributes smooth harmony and rhythm guitar. The rockin’ head is played, over clean altered chords. It’s a harmonized lead cranked through Mesa Boogie amps. Next, Tobias plays a crystal clean, compressed guitar solo that’s melodic and jazzy. The tune soon morphs into vintage phase shifter frenzy, and a hot slap guitar duel. Then it’s back to the head and out.
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This is a short mood piece, which sounds very dreamy and intense. It begins with a blistering funk slapped guitar intro. Six string bassist, Larry Coryell alum, Bill Foster, soon enters the fray with a slapped counterpoint line. An explosion of sound then morphs us into a Malmsteen-like shred fest that blazes away for a minute or two, and rambles off into a collage of sounds, including weird chords produced by drumming on the guitar neck with a ball point pen. Very cool and trippy.
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The tune starts with a tone poem, which suggests a machine, by overlapping riffs in different time signatures, which never quite gel, but are played so precisely that they sound mechanical. This cross-fades into a metallic 12 bar spy groove with vocals rendered by Steve Fahlsing and Kathi Hurwitz. The vocals are a trade off between a distorted, metallic male voice, and a smooth, sexy female voice. The lyrics are racy and weird, suggesting an existential relationship between sex and "the machine". Tom Ginsberg provides tasty violin morsels and Tobias blazes away. The song, at last, morphs back to the tone poem riffs, each played by a different band member. The polyrhythmic grind is wild.
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This is a Gary Hoey-ish instrumental remake of the Deep Purple classic. It starts with a disturbing sonic collage that could easily serve as fill music for a horror movie. Then, it’s a no holds barred shred fest for the rest of the tune.
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Here, the music of J.S. Bach is played on electric guitars. Tobias and fellow GIT alum, Glenn Riley, render this awesome classic with perfect accuracy on their distorted axes. There is an added cadenza at the end, which gives Riley a chance to show off some of his awesome sweep picking chops. Go!
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| An awesome remake of the Funkadelic classic, originally written by Eddie Hazel and George Clinton. This song was recorded live in the studio and it was a one-taker. It was the loudest thing ever played in that studio, and the only thing that ever brought the police. Tobias had three rigs hooked up at once, which created this incredibly inspiring tone. Before the solo starts there are six accidental feedback pitches that create a beautiful little melodic phrase that can never be recreated. That’s true studio magic! The solo starts like Hazel’s original, but soon takes off in a completely different direction. It turns into a gory, tongue-wagging extravaganza that lasts for about seven minutes. Then, we shift to a more Pink Floydish take on the tune, which in turn, morphs into unaccompanied Spanish guitar tremolo and a Vincent Price-like voice over. Listen to it with headphones!
Listen for the hidden track.
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CD Information
