CD Reviews July CD John 5 - 'The Art Of Malice' (Mascot Records)
| John 5 - 'The Art Of Malice' (Mascot Records) |
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| CD Reviews |
| Written by Andy P |
| Monday, 05 July 2010 05:00 |
 Is it metal? Is it bluegrass? No it's John 5 with his geetar fricassée of schizophrenic Ye-Ha metal with a tritone starter, chicken pickin' main course and an acoustic sweet. I hold my hands up and admit to owning a few guitar instrumental albums in my time, starting in the mid-80s when Guitar Player magazine's Mike Varney brought so many players to the fore. But my fascination waned slowly over time and I eschewed the shred.So, like Worzel Gummidge, let's see if I can get my interchangeable geetar head on to imbue me with the ability to once again revel in the world of 32nd note flurries and arpeggios. Album opener 'The Nightmare Unravels' kinda reminds me of the HBO series Deadwood albeit if Rob Zombie directed an episode. I don't know why it seems to remind me of a Western - it just does. From its opening clean reverbed guitar chords utilising the tritone or devil's interval - that's a Bb against an E for those of you with guitar already in hand - to digging in with some nasally power chord accents before skidding along the fretboard, combining fast runs, dissonant intervals and trademark rapid fire banjo-like rolls. Next up is 'The Art Of Malice' which begins in a flamenco/classical vein and transforms into the Chet Atkins/Albert Lee territory of country and chicken pickin' and, at the 1.29 mark, weaves in some quick classical arpeggios just before the end. The album skips from rock to country, dark to light, like having a metal Darth Vader and a banjo-loving Luke Skywalker fighting it out, not with lightsabres but with alternating tracks on an instrumental album. On the dark side we have 'Ya Dig' a Van Halen/Joe Satriani type fast boogie. With the inclusion of Billy Sheehan and his distinctive bass lines this track sounds like it wouldn't have gone amiss on Dave Lee Roth's 'Eat 'Em And Smile'. 'Portrayed As The Unremorseful' kinda reminds me of Steve Vai with its tight syncopated riffing. Slipped into the backing track is a homage to Led Zeppelin - we get some real 'Rock And Roll' and a few choice Jimmy Page licks. 'Wayne County Killer' has the hallmarks of Satriani's melodic sensibilities, 'The S-Lot' starts out with a sound akin to a bunch of distant dying vuvuzelas and 'Ill Will Or Spite' rocks along with its menacing verse and melodic chorus. On the lighter side young Skywalker turns his hand to some drop tuned acoustic on 'The Last Page Turns' with its Led Zeppelin vibe showing us the other side of his playing when he's toiling on his Tatooine farm. We also have the acoustic and slide of 'Can I Live Again' with its simple clean melody and country rock vibe. 'Steel Guitar Rag' is a composition that travels through time starting out with Robert Johnson sitting on the back porch on a balmy summer evening melting into Danny Gatton working the modern railroad. And rolling along like a hobo hitchin' a train ride is the E9 (no 3rd) chord intro to the country/jazz lounge band stylings of 'JW'. And let's not forget Ace Frehley's 'Fractured Mirror'. It's the Ace Frehley track verbatim. With his background as guitarist for Marilyn Manson and, more recently, Rob Zombie it may be no surprise that I heard fleeting Alice Cooperisms in these compositions like the (for want of a better term) pre-chorus in 'Wayne County Killer' bringing to mind 'Elected'. I can't look at this album - or any guitar instrumental album - in a non-guitarist way, because I play guitar and I still (occasionally) revel in the geekiness of technique like the first time I heard Vai's 'The Attitude Song', Satriani's 'The Enigmatic' or Van Halen's 'Eruption' and 'Mean Streets' intro or Holdsworth's 'Devil Take The Hindmost'. Having said all this do I actually like it? Hell yeah! It's just the right balance of shred and chicken pickin' darkness. It's testament to the fact that Russ P was going to review it and I nicked it off him. Malice indeed, now where's my Telecaster? www.john-5.com www.myspace.com/john5official www.youtube.com/john5official
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