Axe Attack
As soon as I received Paul Gilbert's new album 'Get out of my yard' and found out that it was a guitar instrumental album, I cursed the Roomthirteen.com distributors. Even as a guitar player, I find guitar instrumental albums an insufferable bore. They're usually self indulgent, un-interesting and full of very clever but pretty pointless fret wankery. After I had finished crying, I plucked up the courage to put Paul Gilbert's new release in the stereo and press play.
For those unaware of who Paul Gilbert is, and why he should be releasing a guitar solo album, he is the guitar virtuoso from such bands as Racer X and Mr Big. His style is arguably Eddie Van Halen mixed with Yngvie Malmstein, and the music on this disc is reminiscent of Van Halen, post Dave Lee Roth of course. Mix some jazz, blues and a little funk and it pretty much sums up 'Get Out Of My Yard.' (The song 'Three E's for Edward' is like an extended version of Eddie Van Halen's 'Spanish Fly')
It goes without saying that 'Get Out Of My Yard' is initially as dull as ditchwater. After the sything start of the title track, the first few tracks 'Hurry Up' and 'The Curse Of The Castle Dragon' are well played and certainly fairly appealing. The downside being they seem to drone on and on, because like with all instrumental tracks they don't follow the usual tried and tested formula of: introduction/verse/bridge/chorus/verse/bridge/chorus/solo/chorus and so forth, or variations around this structure. It's very difficult to know whether you're at the start of a song or at the end, but then again that's the nature of the beast, the aim of CDs such as this is to wow the listener with some extremely exotic axe work.
Does an album of Paul Gilbert's guitar tomfoolery work on this wow-factor level? In a word, yes. His musicianship is excellent, both technically and creatively, and there are several ideas on 'Get Out Of My Yard' that are nothing short of brilliant. 'Full Tank' and 'Straight Through The Telephone Pole' especially, are fret genius and incredibly catchy. Even the absence of vocals, these ideas woo the listener into an immediate respect for this man.
With all the great ideas I still couldn't get past the fact that this disk was eyelid droopingly tedious. This was the case until I stopped listening to it directly. I was busy concocting several Bloodstock reviews with 'Get Out Of My Yard' on in the background, when after thirty minutes I realised I was listening to something extremely entertaining. I started to thoroughly enjoy the album, but I found as soon as I listened to it properly again it didn't have the same appeal.
To say this Paul Gilbert album is mere background music is off the mark somewhat, but from a personal point of view 'Get Out Of My Yard' was a much more enjoyable experience from a peripheral ear point of view. In a genre dominated by such musicians as Marty Friedman, James Murphy, Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert has some stiff competition. 'Get Out Of My Yard' is a guitar wizard in full control of his trade. It has some great ideas, even some catchy ideas, but I think it all depends on how you listen to it. For myself I'll be putting on this disk whilst decorating the living room. Guitar lovers will lap it up, and rightly so, for those who find the genre more boring than watching the carpet fade should stay well clear.