SUSPENDED ANIMATION

Since John Petrucci is one of the must successful and acclaimed guitar players in history of prog, is very hard to approach a solo album of him without the band in which he has developed his unique technique. Maybe for his fans this solo album do not come as surprise or groundbreaking in any way, but does he has to surpass his own material in Dream Theater? I think not and he has made one of the must refreshing instrumental guitar albums for sure.

Let's see, what do we have here? A perfect balance between heavy riffs, nice melodies, technical at top class and many solos. Yes, nothing new in this types of albums, but all those parts and styles are really great worked and shows a lot of musicality sense and is touching, not only shredding. For instance, a track like "Glasgow Kiss" is completely uplifting and fresh, and even with the complex arrangements it presents, there's soul there and a lot of nice feelings along to it. Wishful Thinking and Lost Without You are the other tracks where you can feel your soul lifted and have a wonderful journey through the sounds. Just great.

Now, for the more prog metal fans, Damage Control and Jaws of Life seems like the perfect fit. Heaviness, strength, power and very nice melodies and harmonies within. Nothing sounds out of place and even though the tracks are long, it never reaches a point of overwork or trying too hard.

One of the biggest challenges for instrumental albums is to keep it fresh and rememberable, you know, those sequences or melodic lines has to be memorable and in this case is a total win. You can keep the tunes in your mind for hours.

Of course, this will satisfy most fans of prog metal, but I'm sure people with likes of instrumental music will find something nice to enjoy. I just hope people stop prejudging him and hear it without closed mind, because they will miss a lot of joy around here.

A strong 4 stars album. Even with the high standards that the same Petrucci brings over his shoulder, this album is successful and will please everyone. the musicians, no need to say, are top class and the production is great. One of the best instrumental albums I have heard in years. Hope he won't wait another 20 years to throw a second album.

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