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I have been meaning to review this album for a long time after discovering Andy James via YouTube. I think originally I saw an entry to the Guitar Idol competition and then another entry for the Dean Shred competition and both times was absolutely amazed by his playing so I bought his album “In The Wake Of Chaos
“ and I wasn’t disappointed!

Andy works as an instructor for LickLibrary.com and has released numerous DVD’s and video lessons on technique and from the opening couple of tracks you will hear why. The opening track and title track of the album is a very melodic rock track which sounded similar to John Petrucci, lots of detuned rhythm guitars and melodic phrasing and sudden burst of blistering fast solos which compliment the track perfectly.

The second track “Broken Ballerina“ has a great open riff and it is a showcase for Andy’s incredible sweeping technique, I think this track could easily become a standard track for teaching sweep picking! The mere mention of sweep picking will put some people off but Andy seems to make the arpeggios as melodic as the melody itself! There are also a few tapping phrases using octaves that are quite Vai-esque, Andy has obviously drawn the best techniques from many players and fused them into his own style.

“Shine on through“ is a ballad which wouldn’t sound out of place on a Satch album. Andy’s playing is so precise and clean and his phrasing is very musical, an area where a lot of shredders are lacking. Andy proves that its not all about speed and yet there are solos in the track that make you want to lock yourself away in your room with your guitar for a couple of years!

The cheekily titled “Tapt“ is an audio onslaught of tapping mayhem, seriously this guy is crazy there isn’t a moment when you hear a slightly mis-fretted note with either hand! Andy James would make Jennifer Batten nervous. I hope a tab book is released for this album… not that I’d be able to play it I just want to know what on earth he is doing!

“Revelation“ has an intro that reminds me of the exceptional Prashant Aswani, that overdrive tone that isn’t overly saturated like Tom Morello. This track is one of my favourites on the album, I’m a sucker for the heavy riffs!

“Lost Without You“ is another ballad and this time shows Andy’s acoustic guitar and melodic composition skills. It’s a pleasant kind of easy listening track.

“Octavia“ - when I first listened to this I expected a “Super Colossal” kind of lead sound using an octave pedal, but there wasn’t so I was a little confused until I heard the main chorus riff. The incredible arpeggiated riff that is doubled an octave above, I think this is 2 separate tracks one pitch shifted up because they aren’t absolutely identical. There are few Whammy pedal effects going on in the background throughout but not as much as I was expecting! Great track, this is probably my favourite on the album.

“Chaos Theory“ is another track that is reminiscent of John Petrucci, god I bet people get sick of me comparing them to other guitarists! I think it is a combination of the scales used in the melody and the harmony guitar tracks? This track has an awesome middle section where the rhythm guitar takes off on a meandering riff-fest with fast alternate picking runs that would make Paul Gilbert proud… oh bollocks there I go again! Nice Wah solo too, great track.

“Gates of heaven“ sounds like it was composed as a kind of etude which is same way that I feel about Guthrie Govan’s “Waves”. That’s not putting these tracks down, they are both great tracks. “Gates of Heaven“ does sound a little more technical than emotive. I would love to be able to play it, but its not one of the best tracks on the album more of a closing statement.

Andy, like great guitarists such as Guthrie Govan knows the fretboard so well that his soloing sounds effortless, he never seems to run out of ideas and never gets boring. Andy doesn’t use techniques like sweep picking and tapping just for the sake of it but rather to enhance phrases and melodic ideas. He is a great metal riff composer too, if you took away the guitar melodies you could easily turn each track into a great metal song and I think that is what makes this album stand out. If you like shredding albums like John Petrucci’s Suspended Animation this album is a must for you.

Don’t forget to check out Andy on LickLibrary.com
Andy James MySpace page
Andy’s YouTube Channel