Before we do that, let's start by saying that this CD totally rocks (in an '80s hard rock sort of way). Now, to drop names and clarify that statement... are you a fan of Nuno Bettencourt? Slap some vocals on the title track and you'd have the missing song that Extreme never actually wrote, complete with a horn section! And when it's time to be creative, Chris' instrumental remake of Madonna's "Material Girl" is really quite spectacular. In between, there are up-tempo rockers, acoustic ballads, and an endless parade of guitar pyrotechnics that bring back all sorts of memories of music made a few decades ago, but played and recorded without the cavernous reverb of days gone by.

Influences from Van Halen, Satch, and Vai are present, too, and Chris exhibits a fabulous range of Marshall-territory guitar tones throughout the beautifully recorded and produced album (Chris engineered and produced the record himself). Guitarist Blues Saraceno makes a cameo on two tracks, too, and the album is written as a concept piece anchored by cinematic movie themes. The stories associated with the songs were enjoyable to read, too. We'd suggest ordering a physical CD online rather than downloading the tunes from the iTunes Music Store.

Chris is an accomplished player and MI-London platinum award graduate. He won Guitarist Magazine's "Guitarist of the Year" contest in 2000, and was runner up the previous year.

Unlike his obvious instrumental heroes, Chris did a particularly great job of focusing on the songs, writing catchy pop and rock hooks throughout, almost as if the songs were meant for a radio friendly band and then he said "Screw it! I want to shred all over this!"

Overall, if you're a fan of instrumental rock guitarists, and you loved the technical masters of the '80s and '90s (he even channels some Alice in Chains here and there), Studs N' Sisters won't disappoint. Chris is a serious talent that we expect will continue to gain notoriety as more players and listeners become aware of this great album.