EXPERIMENTAL GUITAR SERIES VOL. 1 - THE GUITAR AS ORCHESTRA

This interesting album is a way of showing just how the electric guitar can be a multi-dimensional instrument. All of the compositions on this album are written by Adrian Belew and they are written as modern-classical pieces written for orchestra and, from what I hear on this album, a lot of piano. Belew uses his many toys to help arrive at the sounds that are on this album, toys like guitar synthesizers, processors, digital compressors and whatnot.

Many times on this album, you could almost swear you are listening to orchestra and not just guitar. But the main instrument that is mimicked here is the piano. You could swear that it is a piano, except the sound does have that somewhat processed feel, so it's not quite perfect in it's mimickry. Yet, the album is still amazing when you think all of the sounds are performed by an electric guitar. Some reviewers claim that the music is too similar sounding to be enjoyable, but I don't get that. Instead, to me, it is quite a mix of textures and sounds that sometimes come off quite beautifully, while at other times it can also be a bit off-putting. I don't expect everyone to get a lot of enjoyment out of it, though, as the tracks are more classically based as hinted at by the description of the album.

Now, being a classical style album, keep in mind also that the music is more of a contemporary classical meaning that it is not so much built around melodies as much as it is textures and abstract expression, more along the lines of "Frank Zappa style" classical music. However, the music is also not "synclavier" music as is the case with some of Zappa's classical music, but it is quite a bit warmer than this with more of a variety in sound, but comparing it to Zappa's style, you might get a clearer picture of what to expect.

Some tracks are more interesting than others, namely "Laurence Harvey's Despair", the 7+ minute humorous "Seven E Flat Elephants....", the mysterious and spooky strains of "If Only..." and the lovely, orchestral "Alfred Hitchcock's 'Strangers on a Train' " which could easily be thought of as a soundtrack from a high suspense movie.

The biggest weakness of the album is the apparent lack of dynamics, which may be a bit hard to obtain with the tools that Belew has to work with. This is also a problem with Zappa's synclavier albums. But, like I mentioned earlier, this is a much warmer sound than Zappa's synclavier pieces, and that may make it more tolerable. It's going to be tough for many to listen to this, however, and it can be one that you may only come back to once in a while. The only time I find myself re-playing it is when I feel like being amazed at what can be done with instruments and technology. It would be interesting hearing these tracks played with the real instruments and a real orchestra, but, for now, we have this. It's good, but will probably only appeal to those that understand instruments and technology. Otherwise, it's a bit hard to listen to as entertainment.