DEREK SHERINIAN

It has been some years since I last came across an album by keyboard maestro Derek Sherinian, as the last one I reviewed was 2006's 'Blood of the Snake', and it transpires that this is his first solo album since 2011. Given that he has been rather busy in the likes of Black Country Communion and Sons of Apollo I guess he can be forgiven, but I am pleased that as soon as I put this on it took me straight back to his earlier albums. Sherinian is very unusual when it comes to keyboard players, in that I am convinced he does not think of himself as a keyboard player at all, but instead is a guitarist who produces his sounds in a different fashion to those around him. On all his albums surrounds himself with great guitarists, lets them go for broke and he keeps up with them, either providing support or duelling. While on this album he provides all keyboards, and drum legend Simon Phillips sits behind the kit, and he again brings in collaborators old and new. Returning are the likes of bassists Tony Franklin, Jimmy Johnson and Billy Sheehan (Sherinian's bandmate in Sons Of Apollo) as well as guitarists Joe Bonamassa and Zakk Wylde. Then there are others who are playing on one of his solo albums for the first time, including Steve Vai, Sons Of Apollo bandmate Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal and Kiko Loureiro (Megadeth).

That is a lot of power on the frets, with each guitarist adding their own particular styles, but while Vai stands out a mile on "Clouds of Ganymede" it is still very much a Sherinian song although he allows Steve a great deal of latitude. Towards the end Derek finally breaks free with a blistering run, which Vai responds to, showing they are both masters of their own instruments as they duel yet musically it all makes sense with the overall theme. I could have done without the fadeout at the end but that is just down to personal preference. "Dragonfly" commences with complex staccato piano alongside Simon, until they are joined by a warm bass, but it is a great example of Sherinian's skill and its simplicity and complexity make for a great combination, very jazz in its nature.

Sherinian has a definitive style, and it is wonderful to hear a new solo album from him after so long. Let us hope it is not another 9 years until the next one.

Derek Sherinian is just back with his new solo album, sharing credits with drummer Simon Phillips and many other top-notch musicians guesting around. "The Phoenix" serves as opener and title track of the album, beginning with a synthesizer solo by Sherinian himself asserting the energic tone to prevail in the proceedings. Then joins Simon Phillips' drums contributing the necessary feel of groove. On "Clouds of Ganymede", we find fusion guitar virtuoso Steve Vai bringing his characteristic sound and powerful touch to the fore. "Dragonfly" features Sherinian exclussively on acoustic piano, and backed only by Ernest Tibbs' bass, and Phillips' tasteful drumming, a rather intimate instrumental environment bringing a welcomed relaxation after the initially strong vibe. Buddy Miles' "Them Changes" steers straight towards bluesy territory, where Joe Bonamassa takes the lead on vocals and, of course, guitar too. For a hard-prog track here, you should check "Octopus Pedigree"

I agree with some reviewers that there is not a lot of effort by Derek himself as it is a group effort and guitar players are certainly not just an accompanying band. This may be seen upon critically or positively.

On a more negative side, the compositions are memorable which is at the expense of the band not trying hard enough to challenge themselves as a fusion-prog pack. Fortunately, the album is not too long and offers even acoustic moments.

Overall, it is a pleasant album to listen to but it seems to be a lighter effort by all its musicians. And I would wish to hear more Derek solos.

With an all-star lineup featuring some stellar musicians, this album almost feels like a bit of a letdown. Main man Derek Sherinian takes a backseat to endless guitar acrobatics by some of the world's most renowned players, yet it all seems rather dull and uninspired.

Now, I love heavy music, I have a bit of a taste for what's called "fusion", though I could never totally come to grasps with what that really means, and enjoy a bit of guitar shredding. But none of it seems coherent on this album. You have guys like Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Lukather, Al Di Meola and Zakk Wylde all on one record, and yet, with the exception of a few passages, it feels like they're all just going through the motions.

There's an abundance of great riffs though, which is evident in massive headbangers like 'The Sons of Anu' and the title track, 'Black Utopia', while songs like 'Starcycle' and 'Gypsy Moth' have some nice, exotic flavors to them. But overall, while none of the tracks are bad, I struggle to really listen to any of them all the way through without being bored.

And then of course, there's Mr. Sherinian himself. The fact I've discussed the guitar playing more than the keyboards pretty much goes to show how low-key Sherinian's performance seems to be. Or perhaps I'm just struggling to pay attention. As a whole, I do feel kind of bad giving this album such a low score, but I struggle to justify to myself rating it any higher.

2004, Derek Sherinian is here to offer another solo album to the fans of his personal productions.''Mythology'' was released on the InsideOut and Avalon labels in Europe/USA and Japan respectively, line-up/list of participants remains pretty much the same as on the previous album, still Sherinian had sent an invitation to Jazz-Fusion legend Allan Holdsworth to offer his guitar work on a couple of pieces.

Now, another great member of the all-time Fusion Hall of Fame has entered the gates of Sherinian, so expectations were really high for this one.I am pretty dissapointed to say that the result has taken the opposite direction.Sherinian seems to have forgotten about the sense of melody and for what this album will be remembered about will be the endless and tiresome keyboard noodling, extreme technical exhibitions and loose soloing.It's pretty weird to listen to some Hard Rock-in' guitars trying to get on track with Sherinian's fists of keyboard masturbation, the execution by all instrumentalists are reckless, virtuosic and even flawless, but you've to come up also with some decent composing to satisfy your fans.This is not the case.''Mythology'' relies too much on self-indulgent performances, the balance between virtuosity, melody, technique and composition has pretty much faded in my ears and the numerous solo exhibitions are hard to follow, not to say they're not particularly memorable after repeated listenings.The rise of Metal and Hard Rock elements in the place of more Fusion-oriented lines are sounding rather annoying, there are still pieces with interesting moments, like the monumental guitar work of Steve Stevens on ''Alpha burst'', the impressive atmospheric passages on ''God of war'' Sykes' solo and Sherinian's orchestral keys creating a few enganging minutes of well-constructed music or the Latin vibes of ''El flamingo suave'', but the majority in here is about virtuosity and technique, fast solos, egoistic exhibitions and nonsense Metal/Fusion pomposity.

Not meeting my expectations.Flawless in terms of talent and execution, but very low in what you'll recall after the listening.Little to remember actually, so be sure to like furious, bombastic music if you ever lay your hands on this...2.5 stars.

Derek is of course keyboard player with Planet X, among others, but while this is a solo album of his it has to be said that it sounds as if it has been recorded by a master guitarist. When looking into the album a bit more closely the reason becomes apparent in that Derek has seen himself as composer, arranger and musical director and has then invited some guests such as Zakk Wylde and Yngwie J Malmsteen (among others) to come in and let rip. While Derek does provide some extremely complex melodies (aided and abetted by a rhythm section of Simon Phillips and Tony Franklin), it is the guitars that are centre stage.

While there are places where the music calms down, and indeed there is room at times for some acoustic guitar, it is where the guitars are at their most ferocious that this album really flies. Derek has brought in guitarists with quite different styles and has used this to great effect. "Axis Of Evil" sees Zakk and Yngwie shredding and trying to outdo each other on a rock song that just blasts. The note density on this album must be phenomenal yet there are few times when it seems over-indulgent. Over the top definitely, but it is music that makes the listener want more, not reach for the off switch. Derek may be a keyboard player but buy this not if you want to hear a Rick Wakeman soundalike but if you want to hear guitarists going for it at top speed.

Originally appeared in Feedback #73, Jun 03

Derek is of course keyboard player in Dream Theater, Platypus and Planet X so it is of little surprise what his solo album sounds like. Actually, I could say that it is not as self-indulgent as one might imagine, but of course I would be wrong, it is just that it goes in different ways to what I had thought it might. He has brought in many mates, such as Simon Phillips, Steve Lukather, Tony Franklin etc. To my ears the most interesting is Zakk Wylde who lets rip on the heavy rock monster 'Evel Knievel', but the jazz fusion interplay on the title cut is also something.

But, as in the Planet X recordings, it is all just a little too clever for its' own good, and is an album that will probably not be played much in the future, as too much intensity and note density can be plain boring.

Originally appeared in Feedback #63, July 01

In 2003 a tireless Derek Sherinian launches his third solo album entitled ''Black Utopia'', released again on Inside Out.For this album the line-up of ''Inertia'' took an upgrade with three more musicians added to the guest list of Sherinian: Bass parts are provided in a few tracks by Billy Sheehan, Jazz/Fusion legend Al Di Meola also contributes with his guitar in a pair of tracks and the virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen appears also in three pieces.The later was touring with Sherinian since 2002, propably this was the reason of his appearance on the album.

''Black Utopia'' sounds so much the same yet different to ''Inertia''.This is still a heavy-sounding album, especially when Zakk Wylde takes over with his guitar, having a strong Heavy Metal sense throughout and flirting constantly with modern Jazz/Fusion.Malmsteen's influence on the tracks he appears is more than evident, these two pieces along with the opening introduction have an obvious Neo-Classical flavor due to his highly technical solos.The rest of the album can be actually labeled as Fusion Metal with plenty of atmospheric soundscapes added for good measure.Sherinian again provides a virtuosic keyboard performance with tremendous pyrotechnics, grandiose preludes and powerful solos, while the guitars remain aggressive and punchy all the way.The biggest suprise comes from the brief but highly original acoustic crescendos of Di Meola, which have their own sound and spark.However the ghost of DREAM THEATER seems to keep haunting Sherinian's composing approach, who's albums have a strong vibe from his past with the milestone US Prog Metal legends.

Sharp, rich and pounding Fusion/Heavy Prog/Metal with huge waves of guitar and keyboard attacks is what ''Black Utopia'' is all about and anyone fond of the more virtuosic side of Prog has find his heaven.Recommended.

Do you like Jeff Beck's fusion albums like "Blow By Blow" and "Wired"? How about Jan Hammer, particularly The Jan Hammer Group's album "Oh Yeah?". Well, you're going to love this. This album has ex-Dream Theater keyboardist Derek Sherinian channeling the feel and style of those albums, with a little added heaviness in the guitars, and a few other keyboard sounds not heard from those great 70s albums.

Derek's style has always been a little jazzy, and on previous solo albums, and the albums by his main band Planet X, are a nice mix of jazz, jazz-fusion, and progressive metal. At times he'll even let loose and go completely post-bop amidst the prog-metal. On "Oceana", the jazz and fusion style is pushed to the foreground, leaving only traces of his famous brand of prog-metal. Lots of funky bass, excellent fusion drumming, and with guitarists Tony MacAlpine and Steve Lukather, you know you're going to get some real jazz-fusion guitar ala Scott Henderson; mixed with some heavy riffs here and there.

Seriously, if you are familiar with Planet X or Derek's solo stuff, but wished he'd do a real jazz-fusion album, this is it. Every track here is high quality modern fusion, with great soulful guitar, nice keyboard sounds and solos, but also fast technical stuff that occasionally reminds me of fusion bands like Tribal Tech, Jan Hammer Group, or Return To Forever. Add a little heaviness from the guitars (and keys), and you have a modern fusion classic.

Right of the bat I must say that this is one of the strongest releases in 2011, it grabbed with the first listen. Derek proves that he is a real keyboard master and the guitar playing from Steve Lukather, Tony Macalpine and Joe Bonamassa is nothing but incredible. The bass playing is really livid and groovy on the album as well, the rhythm section does an outstanding job on the overall.

The compositions are fantastic in and of themselves too, they have a strong early Jeff Beck feel to them - fusiony yet very groovy. The music is not too focused on being prog, but the prog is all over the place - and it is done remarkably well. The songs are light, there's not much of a nod to metal at all on the album - but they are really energetic and pack a punch.

The only complaint of mine would be that there's too little keyboard spotlight on the album. But it doesn't diminish the listening enjoyment at all. The album has an overall energetic and light feel compared to some of his other work, and it's a truly fantastic release. Everyone should get it.

Best songs: Five Elements, Ghost Runner, El Camino Diablo, Oceana