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Category Archives: Reviews

Review: Van Halen – A Different Kind Of Truth

Written on February 3, 2012 at 9:47 am, by Jon

One of the reasons I learned how to play guitar is because as a 12 year old I was given a VHS of Van Halen “Live Without A Net”, which is still a brilliant lesson in how to play guitar and stage presence and worth checking out even if you don’t like Sammy Hagar asContinue Reading

Let Me Introduce You to Joe Robinson

Written on February 1, 2012 at 10:21 am, by Jon

If you haven’t heard of Joe Robinson he is an Australian guitar player and singer that won Australia’s Got Talent back in 2008 (check out his audition here – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU-0cCRbNCQ). Obviously he was massively influenced by Tommy Emmanuel but he has been growing and maturing as a singer/songwriter as well as guitar player and hasContinue Reading

Review: Jonas Tamas – Timeless Hour

Written on December 9, 2011 at 8:00 am, by Jon

Back in July 2009 I reviewed an album called “Sharp Guitars From a Flat Planet” which was the debut solo album by Hungarian guitarist Jonas Tamas. Since this release Jonas has signed to Steve Vai’s Digital Nations label and just released the follow up to “Sharp Guitars…” called “Timeless Hour“. If you bought the firstContinue Reading

Review: Toontrack EZ Mix with Metal Essentials pack

Written on November 28, 2011 at 9:10 am, by Jon

EZmix is a simple (EZ), yet powerful, mixing tool that gives you access to a huge array of mix presets for the whole gamut of mixing needs. Whether you need to mix drums, vocals, guitars, bass or keyboards this is your tool. Simply connect EZmix to a channel strip in your sequencer like you wouldContinue Reading

Review: Stephan Forte – The Shadows Compendium

Written on November 21, 2011 at 8:14 am, by Jon

I had never heard of Stephan Forte until I was contacted recently about his new album but I can’t understand how he has flown under the radar with me despite recording 4 albums with the Progressive Metal band Adagio, an album with the band Red Circuit plus the fact he was on the bill forContinue Reading

Gear Demo: Carl Martin Classic Flange

Written on November 16, 2011 at 9:00 am, by Jon

The Carl Martin Classic Flange Pedal is from their Vintage Series as opposed to their Pro Series, the latter contains mainly Boost and Drive pedals whereas the Vintage Series includes effects such as Surf Trem, Classic Opto-Comp, Classic Chorus and DC Drive. The interesting thing about this series is that many of the pedals areContinue Reading

Rick Graham ‘Insideout’ Lesson Pack

Written on November 16, 2011 at 8:00 am, by Jon

If you didn’t for some reason already know Rick Graham is Guitarist Magazine’s Guitarist of the Year 2011, a title that Rick shares with such luminaries as Guthrie Govan (1993) and Dave Kilminster (1991). Rick is also a Suhr Artist and as you can see from the video above he has a very nice rootContinue Reading

Review: Andy Timmons Band Plays Sgt Pepper

Written on November 10, 2011 at 8:30 am, by Jon

This album was always going to be a weird one for me, first of all I am a massive fan of Andy Timmons but then I really don’t like The Beatles all that much, yes I know I’m in the minority there but what can I do? I do like the odd track that TheContinue Reading

Review: Nick Johnston – Public Display Of Infection

Written on November 5, 2011 at 11:00 am, by Jon

Before I say anything about the music I have to say I love the artwork for this album with it’s retro Sci-Fi theme including a strange guitar playing Skeleton spaceman, angry robots and flying hot rod cars! Anyway back to the music, this is a new instrumental guitar album by Nick Johnston released this monthContinue Reading

Review: Chimaira – The Age Of Hell

Written on October 1, 2011 at 8:40 am, by Jon

A lot has happened since I reviewed Chimaira’s last epic release The Infection, the band toured relentlessly all over the world and playing festivals such as Mayhem and then just as they were due to go into the studio to record this new album bass player Jim LaMarca left the band, this was quite aContinue Reading