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Greg Howe has been around as long as I can remember and has always been a guitarist that pushes the boundaries of rock and fusion guitar playing. When I started playing Greg was one of Mike Varney’s discoveries and was releasing albums on Shrapnel Records around the same time as Jason Becker and Marty Friedman were playing together in Cacophany. His liquid playing and glissando style vibrato captivates me everytime I watch one of his videos. So I was really excited to receive his new album ‘Sound Proof’ and what an album it is!

The album opens with “Emergency Exit“ a high energy rock fusion track that seems to be as much a showcase for drummer Gianluca Palmieri as it does for Greg! The solo in this one is pretty crazy with a nice octave effect applied to the guitar signal. The solo is pretty heavy on the jazz side so its not going to appeal to the rockers out there quite so much as the main riff does!

“Tell Me Something Good“ has an infectious groove and heaps of Wah! It is a real feel good kind of track, with a nice combination of super dry tones and the usual drenched in reverb and delay which we all love to use! I think this track really highlights Greg’s sense of melody and timing which is pretty unusual, he certainly doesn’t write simple music!

When I first heard “Reunion“ I didn’t really like it that much but it has really grown on me over the last week or two (I’ve had this album on constant rotation!). At first I thought the Samba style sounded a little cheesy but I’ve really started to like it, as on all the tracks Greg’s playing is just jaw dropping and you just don’t expect the hear this kind of virtuosic playing over a latin sounding track.

“Morning View“ is a much more lyrical track that is all about the melody, it is quite pop sounding but once again the fluid style of Greg’s playing just takes it to another level. His tone, although distorted is still very clear and precise. This track has a nice acoustic solo, I wonder if he is using the Parkwood Hybrid?

“Walkie Talkie“ has one of my favourite riffs of the album, I’m a sucker for half time rock riffs. The track seems to have taken its name from the intro which has been eq’d to make it very Lo-Fi sounding. There is some nice interplay between Greg and bass player Jon Reshard during the main solo which is then followed by a very cool Keyboard solo by David Cook. There is some great unison playing in this track which states quite firmly what genre this album is in. Once again on this track Gianluca Palmiera lets loose with another display of his exceptional drumming skills.

When I heard the opening to “Sunset in El Paso” I immediately thought of Hill Street Blues… I don’t know why because it doesn’t sound anything like it?! Maybe it is the piano accompaniment to the solo acoustic guitar? It just has that 70’s and 80’s cop show theme about it. A little too cheesy for my tastes, I prefer the rockier tunes.

I forgot to mention there are spatterings of comedy throughout this album with short interludes such as “Write me a song“ which has a fake (I presume) conversation between Greg Howe and some record label exec. Greg: “Well did you listen to the whole disc or just the first couple of..?“ Sam: “Greg if I listened to the whole disc I’m gonna get a migraine!“. There are also a couple of tracks “Connoisseur Part 1“ and “Connoisseur Part 2“ which seem to be some guy leaving messages on Greg’s answer machine talking to extreme lengths about how is trying to get a nice tone, its incredibly annoying. If Greg receives calls like I this often I feel really sorry for him, I’d change my number!

“Child’s Play“ is another of my favourites on this album, its a real funked up tune with a nice double track of guitars playing different parts of the melody. One is Greg’s creamy distorted sound and the other is a crunchy single coil funkier tone which he uses to play plenty of funky double stops. There is also a clean solo which just shows how precise his playing is. There is also a nice example of Greg’s hybrid picking technique. He seems to manage to get every style of his playing into his solos without it sounding forced. From legato runs to super fast alternate picking into hybrid rolling licks without breaking a sweat!

“Sound Proof“ is the last track on the album which is weird, I would have thought the title track would have been higher up the playing order, but maybe Greg wanted to go out on a high? This is another funky track, there is a great drum groove which reminded me of the drum part that plays under the tapping solo in Satch Boogie.. I really should stop making comparisons but thats what I first thought! Greg’s rhythm guitar track really cuts through the mix, the dry clear chords are very reminiscent of that James Brown kind of rhythm sound. Jon Reshard gets a spot in this track to show off his bass solo skills including a bit of tapping!

If you are a guitarist and you haven’t heard Greg Howe then you should definitely check out Greg Howe TV to see him jamming and hear some examples of his playing before you rush out and buy this album. It certainly won’t be to everyone’s tastes because of the heavy jazz influence but he is a real virtuoso and I think that every guitarist can appreciate his skill and control of the guitar which in my opinion is reason enough to buy it.

Check out GregHowe.com for more info and samples of “Sound Proof“.
Greg Howe on MySpace.
Greg Howe on YouTube.