Despite a beautiful painting of an Indian goddess (forgive me, I'm uncertain if it's Krishna or another deity), a tabla player (Anil Datar), sitar player (Clar Monaco) and tambura (GiGi Monaco), there isn't that much Indian music contained herein. There's an all-too brief 45-second track, "Intermission" concluding Act I. Act II features some intro vocals by Mantel's lovely sister, Paula, in Sanskrit (I think?), which then give way to a Western pop song. Then there is another brief expose of Classical Indian music - not quite a minute and a half's worth - by Datar and Monaco. But that's it. Those hoping for an Indian/Western fusion album will soon learn that wasn't Mantel's intent.

Judging from the majority of songs on the album, Mantel intended to write some great Rock/Pop songs that featured his ostensibly skilled guitar playing, and in that regard, he succeeded very well.

The album boasts "two acts," realized in twenty tracks. Mantel is either a prolific composer or was very busy in creating the album -- perhaps it was more than a handful of both. The opening title song is an aural collage with someone "searching" through an analog radio dial, reminiscent of the studio soundscapes The Beatles and George Martin were experimenting with hundreds of thousands of albums ago. But most of the other songs have an exceedingly strong Rock backbone. "Exit 10" is a standout with its ascending/descending chord progression (reminds me of the second half of Yes' "Awaken") and its double-time, triplet-driven groove. Mantel is indisputably a gifted guitarist with an active imagination, worthy of greater recognition.

Mantel steps out of his Rocker boots on the all-acoustic guitar track, "Affectionately Yours." Its transparent intimacy is a testament to Mantel's skillful guitar playing. If he wanted to make a lot of money, methinks, Mantel could create an album of similarly composed/played acoustic guitar songs, package it up a la New Age graphics and titles, and sell plenty of copies. It is a truly beautiful piece.

"Wings of Fire" hits you from the start, with Mantel's opening muscular chordal guitar motif, sounding a little like Rod Stewart's brilliant cover of "I Know I'm Loosing You." The band jumps in just a'cookin', powering its way throughout. Mantel's guitar solo takes it even further, with backwards attacks, big chorus pedal textures, rapid style picking, soaring melodic statements and quick-step Celtic-sounding arpeggios. This tune is worth the price of admission.

The busy liner notes contain a collage of photographs of Mantel throughout the years; pictures of "The Cast," his fellow musicians; and some cool graphics; so the CD is as appealing to the eyes as it is the ears. Having the lyrics written in paragraph, versus lines and stanzas in a poem, is a little peculiar, though.

All in all, this album is marvelous find. Especially if you're a fan of Eric Johnson's songwriting and guitar playing -- who wouldn't be? -- "The Unstruck Melody" may rightly hit you with a bang.