Tokyo Joe
After the split of Mr Big in 2002, the spirit lives on in the solo project of guitarist Paul Gilbert. Renowned for being something of a virtuoso within the whole rock scene, "Acoustic Samurai" sees a departure from his eighties guitar solos. After years of carving up his axe, the acoustic arena enables Gilbert to show of other aspects of his guitar-playing. This album is an oppurtunity to concentrate on the song oriented aspects of rock.
Starting in the eighties in Razor X before moving onto soft-rock ensemble Mr Big, Gilbert has been lauded for his powerful yet exceptionally melodic riffs. No wonder really that when left to his own devices he would prefer to go down an acoustic song route rather than the instrumental guitar albums of some of his peers.
Recorded live at the Hard Rock Cafe in Tokyo, there is a real mish-mash of styles on "Acoustic Samurai". Don't think that because this is an acoustic album that it contains folk. Oh no! In fact, more frequently than you'd expect, the songs digress into bluesy guitar solos. (Something I've not heard an acoustic guitarist do since Kiss did their MTV Unplugged session.) And actually, it is the more bluesy numbers that seem to translate well. It's just funny listening to some of the other numbers thrown in.
I can only assume that it's because he's playing for a Karaoke-loving Japanese audience that he thought it a good idea to throw in Abba classic "Dancing Queen"! (Some songs should never be covered!) Actually, unlike a lot of other live albums, the conversing with the audience and the tuning up in between songs has been left on this album. Personally I find this quite entertaining. The Tokyo audience dissolve into fits of giggles several times throughout the CD and even after multiple listens, I can't figure out why. I can only put it down to the fact that Mr Gilbert is aging pretty well for someone whose rock and roll career began in that no-go zone that was the eighties. Sounds to me like there were a lot of star-struck girls in the audience that evening who were hoping that when he came off stage, he was looking for something else to strum!
Not an average acoustic album, and perhaps therefore, not one for acoustic fans. For a live album, it unfortunately sounds too live! The EQs are terrible and though I'm sure the atmosphere was great on the night, that just doesn't translate well on the CD. As for Gilbert's playing, I think an "Acoustic Samurai" is wishful thinking. I'd save that title for someone who has really mastered it as a separate instrument to other guitars. Someone more like Paul Simon. There is so much fussy soloing going on, that he should have got himself a Marshall stack and stuck to shredding in a rock band. In fact, everytime it gets to "The second loudest guitar in the World" I'm left thinking that God I feel sorry for whoever has to listen to the first!