| CD REVIEW Paul Gilbert & Freddie Nelson |
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Band: Paul Gilbert & Freddie Nelson Darned if it ain’t incredible how sometimes even the most freaky music lovers still find incredibly surprising good albums coming out from artists they didn’t expect it from! Sure, I knew guitarist Paul Gilbert from his work with Racer X, then with Mr. Big…and I’ve even got the man’s 2000 solo album Aligator Farm in my collection (bought last year, I haven’t even been able to listen to it yet due to a too busy schedule with Concrete Web – 520 reviews in one year, do you follow?)! If I’ve never come in contact with his more recent solo work through the website, it’s because that stuff went into the to-do box of one of my “specialist” collegues! Anyways…Gilbert had just done two instrumental solo albums which allowed him to reach a higher level of guitar play, when in all places of the world but his Pennsylvania hometown, he comes across this singer/ guitarist/ songwriter/ producer named Freddie Nelson…which he always knew of, but never had the chance to work with due to the fact that he’d moved to California before the two ever had a chance to work together. Working with Freddie, meant that Paul could keep up his level of focus on his guitar play, as the first was to handle all vocals, and contribute to both songwriting and producing (plus some additional guitar as well)! I have to say, what the two have put together in the ten songs on this album is simply put incredibly good! There is of course Paul’s very diverse guitar play (going from catchy “regular” with surprising lead runs, to “groovy” with catchy melodies), but the icing on the cake absolutely mùst be Freddie’s vocals…which are surprisingly remeniscent to that Freddie whom is now no longer among us (talking about the incredible Mr. Mercury of Queen here, if you hadn’t guessed yet!). Well, Nelson’s voice may not be quite a copy (which is all too well, because it gives his voice a character of its own), but due to his typical vocal deflections he certainly could be passed off Mercury’s American bastard son (no offence meant to the man’s mother)! To increase that remeniscence, Paul occasionally adapted his play to something which might’ve been thought of by Brian May himself (as if played with a “regular” guitar in stead of the one he invented and built himself, thus establishing the typical Queen sound). The album was released much earlier in Japan (somewhere in early December, I guess), so it shouldn’t be a surprise to find out the twosome (fortified with Mike Szuter, Jeff Bowders, and keyboardist Emi Gilbert – whom also appears on the album alongside drummer Matt “Muck” Muckle, Paul also handling bass and backing vocals) have already gone over there for a foursome of gigs in February of this year (gigs which were all recorded, immediatelly mixed by Paul & Freddie, and which will be available as 4 official bootlegs over there in the near future). For Paul the exhileration continued, as right after Eric Martin, Billy Sheehan and Pat Torpey arrived in Tokyo to start off their 2009 Mr. Big Reunion Tour with a week’s long of interviews for magazines, radio, tv, and Internet sites. Actually, it’s going to be a busy year for Gilbert. In between the reunion shows with Mr. Big (Japan dates announced for June…with more to follow all over the world), he’s also to do a series of guitar clinics (one in Italy at this moment, started April 4 and runs to April 17; another serie already announced to take place in Northern America during August). I wish I’d found some Internet sites for you to listen to some samples of the album’s songs…but even after an extensive research I still drew blancs, so…just pop out to the local record store come April 20, and just put on any of the tracks. If you’re a Mercury fan, you will be delighted at what you’ll hear, I’m sure! Well, the combination of these two exceptional musicians sure makes for a beautiful album, one that deserves being nominated into that “Best Albums Of 2009”-list of mine! 98/100 Tony. |