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Recommendations - Shred
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George Bellas
Turn Of The Millennium
Our Price: $16.00
(Price Includes U.S. shipping)
More Info
Turn Of The Millennium, George Bellas' debut release, is an album of intensely heavy compositions with odd-time meter and neo-classical, progressive overtones. The CD features some extended tracks--check out the 12 minute "Everlasting" or the 9 minute "Monolith". Bellas leads the way for a new breed of guitar players as he explores the outer realms of cutting-edge guitar music, blending crunch and speedy neo-classical guitar. Kevin Chown, as always, is tremendous on bass. Turn Of The Millennium also features Deen Castronovo on drums. Instrumental Guitar, total running time, 70:00
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In Review |
'Joy 4 Ever'
Review Featured In Virtuosityone.com
By: Andy Craven
ion Music have managed to unearth another very talented guitarist in the guise of
Anand Mahangoe. This guy is in the vein of Satriani and Vai which was surprising as
he looks more like Tom Morello of Audioslave than those 2 fretboard giants, luckily
this means there is more than a sprinkling of melody combined with fretboard flash.
Having a very accomplished backing section of Mike Terrana (drums), Nick de Vos
(bass) and Rob Faburick on keyboards. Ex-Dream Theater keysman Derek Sherinian also makes a guest appearance.
Ignoring the song titles (which sound like some cock rock bands!) we have an album
full of great melodies, strong musical frameworks, a killer production and great
guitar work.
Opener A Dirty Mind Is... sets the mood for the majority of the album. Powered along
by a strong upbeat riff and being reminiscent at time of Satriani and Dream Theater,
its home to some superb guitar work. Mike Terrana`s dums sound great, but its the
keyboard backing that really does it for me.
Blind Date starts with a nice hammond organ part that reminds me of Pink Floyd a
little whilst Anand plays some nice root power chords before picking up the tempo
then taking flight for almost 6 minutes of pure class. The thing about Anand`s
playing is the melodies, they are memorable, catchy and really bring the tracks to
life. This in turn makes the flashy passages much stronger. The lead lines here
remind me of Vai`s best moments yet the interplay between the other band members add to the overall depth of the track.
Intimate Dance sees the tempo drop for some a nice underpinning simple acoustic
line. The bass, drums and keyboard handle the power element here. The main lead
guitar melody is quite Neil Schon - super melodic with everything that is needed,
but not overdone in any way. This track has everything, extremely lyrical. Anand
makes great use of arpeggios (more in the Vai than Yngwie vein), yet adds subtle
tremolo bar inflections and great sliding into notes. A great display of melody and
restraint.
Meet Mr Long sees a strong Satriani vibe enter the album. Again great rhythm work
that sets the basis of the track. The lead lines are really breathing, similar in
feel to Flying In A Blue Dream (the track) Satriani but its just a killer track. The
track then breaks down into a Surfing With The Alien esque tapping passage on the
bass strings before some nice harmonic minor licks.
Get Laid continues the whacky titles. Anand`s tone is huge here, with a big riff
coupled by some great keyboard madness from Derek Sherinian. Yet there is also light
and shade. The superb production is also very much in evidence here with everything
being big (yet not overpowering) and the melodies again are superb. Now add a
vocalist to this line-up and you have what could possibly be one of the best prog
bands ever!
Disillusioned is home to some more soulful restraint guitar work, again the band
combine exceedingly well, listen for the great bass runs around 2:08 which build the
track very nicely. Anand then lets fly with some very original licks that are just
stunning. The vibe here again reminds me of Pink Floyd, with a nice Gilmour touch of
class to the solos.
Get Out changes the mood totally. A very fast track with a very prog-metal feel. The
opening section is incredibly tight before claming down for the main guitar melody.
Anand makes great use of the wah pedal, using it very lyrically helping to enhance
another strong melody.
Next is Next, the track reminds me a little of Dream Theater, the lead lines are
again very strong but its the bass work of Nick De Vos that really stands out here.
He has a great tone and really knows how the anchor the bottom end yet adventure up
the fretboard to keep the track moving. The track is one of the weaker tracks here,
but that only due to the quality elsewhere.
Onatopp starts out very progressive in a fusion-vein before picking up in tempo.
Mike Terrana is really laying a groove here. The main melody of the song has an
almost Santana Latin quality to it. This is even more prevalent in the songs
breakdown. Included here is a cool trade-off between guitars and keyboards. Another
very strong track.
The One is very relaxed, quite Eric Johnson sounding, with clean electric guitars
and some nice piano work. This then steps up a gear for the emergence of some more
very classy electric work. Its sounds to me like Johnson, Satriani and a little Vai
all jamming on the track, that basically is another way of saying the lead work is
stunning.
Joy 4 Ever is another up tempo melodic affair. Great Hammond work combining with yet
another classy melody - Anand`s head must be full of the things!! Its stylistically
in line with the majority of the album, yet it has the original element that is
prevalent throughout this album.
Overall Joy 4 Ever is an absolutely corking release. 2003 has seem some very high
quality instrumental albums from Marty Friedman, Marcel Coenen and Joe Stump, but
Anand has come out with something that I found positively enjoyable from start to
finish. The guy has class in every aspect of his work. Sure you can hear the
influences but Joy 4 Ever is stronger than anything Satriani has put out in over a
decade. In short if you just want to hear some very classy guitar then this album is
for you... highly recommended.
Hot Spots: Blind Date, Intimate Dance, Meet Mr Long, Get Laid, Onatopp, The One.
Rating: 92%
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| Titles To Watch |
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Jazz/Fusion Solo Outing
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Fifth Shrapnel Release, Funky/Blues/Shred
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Richie Kotzen
Electric Joy
Kotzen Makes Use Of Full Creative Control
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