Recommended: cool music

News:
15-02-2008:
More amazing CD's to buy



buy awesome joOp WoltersOut Of Order







buy super Planet X
Quantum









buy Uncle Moe's Space Ranch II Moe's Town




01-09-2007:
Set your guitar to stun, we're at defcon 4... Andy James expressive release, chock full of rock melody and rapid fire two handed licks. A must for fans of modern rock guitar...



buy Andy James In the Wake Of Chaos

Livio Lamonea is one of bunch of exciting players coming out of Italy. This CD captures Livio in express mood dishing out high quality fusion tracks. If your a fan of legato fusion ala Allan Holdsworth, you'll want to check out this release. It's been a firm favourite on my mp3 player.


buy Livio Lamonea Modern

02-07-2007:
I continue to listen to new CD's and add them to the recommended list. NB they only get added when I have listened to them and they appear on my must have list. This one is an older release from Andy James...who is currently setting the world alight with his face melting "in the Wake Of Chaos".





buy Andy James machine


15-06-2007:
Updated the main list with three new CD's that are getting heavy ear play.

A reminder that top neoclassical playing doesn't get much better than Mario Parga's latest release:


buy Mario Parga Entranced

Paul Clark delievered one of my top rotation CD's of the first half 2007. Epic tracks, cool production, orchestral arrangements...plus overdriven seven string beef!



Buy Shredz at an Exhibition

26-04-2007:
updated to add Milan Polak and a 2004 release from Joop Wolters



A straight ahead rock album with vocals...with the added enhancement of having a great guitar player. Seductive songs and sizzling solos! Go on buy Milan Polak Straight

10-03-2007:
Another Back catalogue, this time a 2005 release from Torbin Enevoldsen.

09-03-2007:
Some more updates including some back catalogue from 2001, Mike Fortin "Static", Joel Gregoire's Stride "Music Machine" and 2006 releases Marco Ferrigno's "Hanging Gardens" and Thörbjorn Englund "Influences".



Dave Valdes returns wit hmore precise picking technique on his seven string guitar. A great follow up to his exciting 2002 debut "Paradise Lost". The track "In Darkness" features solo trades with guitarists Amaldo Garcia and Stephen Forte. Buy "Imhotep"

23-02-2007:
More additions and updates...I'll add more as I get time.




Unstable Balance is a great instrumental album, straight ahead, funk, shred with songs! Fans of a melodic "Greg Howe" style should like this release. buy

13-02-2007:
Just a quick note to let you know that The Alchemist II was the top seller for guitar9 in January 2007! ... See Januarys top sellars

30-01-2007:



The Alchemist II A great CD, highly recommended. Lots of exciting playing and all original material. I would buy it for the Unruly Elements track with Joe Chawki and Chris Brooks alone!



Revelation: Fully Loaded A chance for fans of super cool guitar to get the reworked first CD. The man has a fantastic technique, interesting melodies, rocking rythms and it features Greg Howe. Play "Full Throttle" at full volume with your windows down to get the full effect.


Shredz at an Exhibition is a musical masterpiece. Lush keyboards soundscapes, cinematic themes, quality guitar playing with an epic feeling

01-09-2006:

Blood of the snake, Derek Sherinian returns with an all star shred cast featuring Slash, Zakk Wylde, Yngwie Malmsteen, John Petrucci, Simon Phillips,Tony Franklin, Brad Gillis and Brian Tichy. Great songs, great guitar...

15-08-2006:

Three years have passed since Marco Ferrigno's acclaimed "Promised Land" project with Vitalij Kuprij. Since then Marco has been working on his CD "Hanging Gardens". The CD features tighter more focused play with progressively interesting songs and melodies

Track Listing
1. Temple Of Time
2. Night In Babylon
3 Tower Of Babel
4. Sacred City
5. Meditteraneo
6. Secret Garden
7. Varanus Komodensis
8. Closer To The Wind

Marco Ferrigno - Guitars
Tony Franklin - Bass
Marco Minnemann - Drums
George Bellas – Guest guitar on track 2
Javier Leal – Guest guitar on track 3 and 6.

If you a fan of ripping guitars you should check this release out. You can buy "Hanging Gardens" on line.

30-06-2006:

Paul Gilbert's first all-guitar instrumental album. This one was a grower for me. Lots of interesting rocking tunes with groove orientated shred playing and I particularly liked the Hyden classical track on guitar.

26-06-2006:

Excellent production, interesting playing through out and a master of so many different styles. A must have and I particularly liked the reworking of Waves from Guitar On The Edge.

01-06-2006:

Thörbjorn Englund, the guitar magician behind Winterlong is set to releases his debut instrumental solo album entitled Influences. As the title suggests this album pays homage to Thorbjorn’s influences and covers a wide range of styles. You can buy it online.

31-03-2006:

ADD was a great release from 2006. Featuring Hugh Ferguson on hot legato guitar. The production is excellent through out and remains on my current mp3 playlist

20-01-2006:

Terry Syrek, AUM. A must have CD for fans of progressive guitar. Mixes ethic soundscapes, clocks, heavy riffs and top guitar solos, made all the more astonishing because of Terry's focal distonia. A favourite on my mp3!

05-09-2005:

This has been on the mp3 player top list for over a year, so this is a reminder that you can buy the CD "Peter Emmer" from guitar9. If you a fan of melodic guitar with a commercial/rocky Greg Howe feel, then this will be for you. Check out the sound samples on guitar9.

29-05-2005:

Great instrumental CD from a great picker. You can now buy "Flying Solo" online.

01-01-2005:


More proof that guitar players sound better with a keyboard player. Great songs, great lyrics, emotional. Rhythm Of Time features Joe Satriani, Steve Morse, Vinnie Moore, Greg Howe, Kip Winger and Daniel J. The songs are great, but if your in any doubt...buy for Greg Howe and Vinnie Moore...

01-12-2004:


Mythology, keyboardist Derek Sherinian brings together the gods of the guitar Steve Stevens, Zakk Wylde, Allan Holdsworth, Steve Lukather, John Sykes, along with stellar musicians such as Simon Phillips, Jerry Goodman, Tony Franklin, Marco Mendoza, Brian Tichy for an all-star, nearly all-instrumental shredathon...you must buy this CD for the Holdsworh/Goodman "One Way Or The Other" and the totally amazing Zak Wylde and Holdsworth-fuelled track "Day Of The Dead"...you'll be blown away by Holdsworths' ability to solo over the heaviest riffs known to man...in an organic fusion style...buy...buy ...buy



Joop Wolters, the lead guitarist of Arabesque, Shadrane, and Lalu, returns with his second solo release. Speed, Traffic and Guitar Accidents is home to 17 instrumental tracks that see Joop delve deep into his emotions to produce a stylistically varied release. Read the review on Essential Guitarist. by Joops CD online

01-01-2001
Two releases that have stayed a long time on my must play list:

This CD was released in 2001, and is a brilliant show case of Mike Fortins aggressive legato fusion style...I had to buy the CD! The good news is you can still buy the CD Static "Patterns"


Stride, featuring the mighty fretwork of Joel Gregoire, formed in 1996 and began playing instrumentally around Texas and Louisiana. Known for their amazing musical abilities, this band excels like no other in their live performances.
Check out the Stride CD Music Machine

Background:
For me writing CD, DVD reviews is a long and complicated process. When I have done this it has taken me over a week to compile the review. The reason is I like to listen to the CD many times and over that period run through all my thoughts about the tracks, note my favourites and also the stylistic qualities of the player. This includes going back to other players CD's to find the musical references. Obviously this process does not scale well. As a consequence I have currently stopped writing CD reviews.

However to ensure that I get my view across on new CD's that I have bought I decided that I need to provide an outlet for these. I have an mp3 player with over 8000 tracks, which makes it impossible to listen to all the music I have. So i set up a new CD playlist and put these on heavy rotation, in random order. I Often I like to guess the player by listening to their note choice. After a while CD's that don't cut it get bumped. Others that remain fresh stay on the list. So I thought it would be a good idea to include some of the CD's from my current list on the home page. My feeling being that these CD's are my recommendations for others to hear and hopefully buy.

I also decided not to openly slag off players CD's who I didn't like. I understand that most have spent a good deal of time and effort putting their CD together. In these cases, I just won't list them. In order to not start off with too blank a canvas, I have gone back and added some I bought over 2006 that kept me amused. I'll try and add more when I get time.