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Impellitieri’s latest work Pedal To The Metal is not only
a showcase for his spectacular talent of speed guitar shredding
but also contains several different styles of rock and metal as
well. New vocalist Curtis Skelton’s bluesy, soulful, yet hard-core
voice works in every single way. And that’s a statement on
such a diverse record.
An
avid fan of several types of music, Impellitteri’s diversity
shines through especially on tracks like the Godsmack-sounding “Hurricane,”
or the pace-changing ”Destruction,” which is three parts
metal, one part Deep Purple-type rock. Another change of pace song
is “Judgment Day,” which one might describe as Foreigner
meets Malmsteen in a dark alley and gets knocked silly.
Finally
there’s the absolutely wild and crazy circus meets the three
little piggies fairy tale sounding “punk.” It’s
an Anthrax-style metal rap that actually slams rap industry stars
Eminem, Jay-Z, Dre, Snoop and, for good measure, even Fred Durst.
Skelton sings, “Heavy metal is here to stay, ‘cause
rock and roll is American way.”
Drummer
Glen Sobel lays down a solid tight drum performance all the way
through the many starts and stops. The best song on the album is
“Propaganda Mind,” where Skelton sounds great, and Impellitteri
does his best to break the sound barrier from a dead stop reaching
mach 6. The only things these songs have in common are absolutely
breath-taking fast, clean, amazing solos, and the listener is the
benefactor.
This
past year has brought many of the young or historic guitarists,
once again, into the spotlight with amazing guitar performances
on many different releases. Works from Steve Vai, Glenn Tipton on
Judas Priest’s new offering, Chris Poland’s return to
Megadeth, Jonathan Donais’s work on Shadows Falls’ album,
Craig Goldy’s clean playing on Dio’s new work, Chris
Broderick for Jag Panzers 2004’s record, Zakk Wylde for BLS,
to name a few, but this is not only the crème of that crop
but perhaps the best guitar work on an album that’s been heard
since, well, it’s Malmsteen, of course.
And
this is the first axeman that could play every single note of Malmsteen’s
discography. If you love rocket-fast, world-class lead guitar, then
purchase this and get rid of all the rest of the CDs in the changer,
‘cause it will take you at least a month to determine your
favorite solo. The bottom line is that much of it is solid, and
even though it spans genres, it ultimately succeeds with its uniqueness.
Band
Members: Chris Impellitteri- Guitars, Curtis Skelton-Vocals, James
Pulli-Bass Guitar, Glen Sobel-Drums |
