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I’m Broken (Pantera ‘Far Beyond Driven’)

I remember being so excited about the release of Far Beyond Driven. I’m Broken was getting good airplay on MTV and was just an amazing track. Dime was the main man at the time and everyone was anxiously awaiting his next barrage of awesome solos and riffage. I thought what Dime came out with here was just awesome. He could have rested on the standards he’d set with Vulgar Display of Power but instead he took his guitar into a heavier, moodier, groovier and more creative arena. I was blown away by riffs like Becoming, Slaughtered and 5 Minutes Alone. Darrell is sorely missed by many and watching his awesome performance in the video above it’s easy to understand why. What an awe-inspiring talent he was and not just to metal heads.
　
　
Low Levels, High Stakes (Allan Holdsworth ‘Hard Hat Area’)

Darn. I couldn’t find a video of Allan playing this absolute monster of a track. What a shame because it really is something special. I was fortunate enough to watch Allan live shortly after he released Hard Hat Area. Within minutes of the gig starting you could see he was furious with his playing. The whole room was just spellbound and simply drooling beer all over the place. Allan was furious… and there wasn’t a note that any of us could have played so well ourselves. And as you can imagine there were rather a lot of pretty awesome musicians in the crowd. I remember the highlight of the night being an improvised chord sequence which to be fair would be impossible for a man with four arms. Allan is truly something special.
　

Vroom (King Crimson ‘Vroom’)

Well, musically this was the big deal for me in 94. Crimson were back!! And there wasn’t just one lineup, there was two. At the same time! The double trio was fascinating and sounded absolutely huge and majestically powerful. This is Crimson… two trios were never going to play big harmonies in unison. When the one half of the trio modulates to another tempo to create those massive cross rhythms it’s absolutely immense. There’s some amazing dual guitar wizadry here, as is expected from the incredble Fripp and Belew.

4th of July (Soundgarden ‘Superunknown’)

Back in 94 I played this album back to back over and over. I may have even got close to getting fired because I was driving my workmates nuts with this album. Of course everyone would sing along when Black Hole Sun came on the CD player but for me Black Hole Sun was the song on the new Soundgarden album I didn’t care for so much. To me I was fearful Soundgarden were going for a big hit and I’ve even skipped it when listening to Superunknown. Until recently. Recently I found an appreciation for the chord patterns and that rotary effect. There’s some really lovely sounds and changes in there.

However, 4th of July, Limo Wreck, Fell On Black Days, Like Suicide or Fresh Tendrils are just amazing tracks. And wobbly chords whilst pretty isn’t enough. 4th of July is moody as hell and I simply love it! This is a great album and at times arguably the best output from Soundgarden. There is way too much compression on Cornell’s vocals though!!

I Can See Your House From Here (John Scofield/Pat Metheny ‘I Can See Your House From Here’)

Well, how was this ever going to have anything other than awesome guitar?! You’ve got Scofield and Metheny. Together. Competing. Trying to play a lick tastier than the last lick. Doubling and at times almost bickering with absolute blinding brilliance. This is one amazing record with some of the finest guitar playing I’ve heard. It’s not for those that don’t like something which swings and has lots of outside notes!! The colour tones and phrasing in this are just sublime.

That’s a better 5 than 93! Phew… was worried for a moment that I wouldn’t recover.
Paul.

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