BLOW BY BLOW

Anchored in the heart of jazz-rock, Jeff Beck's first Group-less solo album finds our hero veering between dirty funk, mellow blues, and even some soul (helped out in this regard by none other than Stevie Wonder, returning the favour after Beck's contribution to tracks such as Superstition). Although Jeff's technical skills are what are really showcased on this album, he also shows remarkable discipline, never indulging in empty technical showboating to the detriment of the intended emotional impact of a composition. He also clearly doesn't take himself too seriously - as witnessed by track titles like Constipated Duck - and allows his backing group a fair share of the spotlight to boot. (Max Middleton, in particular, does some really neat work on the keyboards). A solid set of technical exercises, the album's real failing in my eyes is that it seems to have no artistic statement to make beyond "Hey, this Beck guy can really cook on the guitar".