WHO ELSE !

Released in 1999, "Who Else!" was Jeff Beck's first major release in 10 years and you can really tell that a lot had changed! Gone are the jazz fusion blows of yore and the synth big band sound of "Guitar Shop", here is Jeff Beck ready for a new century.

The album introduces a completely new style for Beck, a fusion of rock instrumentation and technique with the structure, style and production of techno and electronica music. As a result of the drastic stylistic differences, the album sounds quite fresh but unfortunately it play out quite as well as his 70's and 80's output. The album's first 4 songs are very strong, with styles ranging from electronica rock to blues to Eastern world fusion but the second half of the album slows down to longer, slower trance-style pieces like "Space For The Papa" and "Hip-Notica". Of these trance instrumentals, "Angel (Footsteps)" is probably the most interesting but really they're all a little insipid. The album rounds itself out with two more ballad-like pieces, the oriental "Declan" and the spacey "Another Place".

"Who Else!" was a very experimental album for Jeff Beck and, while having its good moments, is one that would be refined a little more with his next release, "You Had It Coming"; good but non-essential.