H R H - R E V I E W S

Massimo Izzizzari
Unstable Balance Lion Music

Comments: An instrumental guitar/shred rock-fusion album has arrived on the shores of America from the guitar-laden Lion Music stable. This time out it's the spirited Massimo Izzizzari. A huge session guitarist for the better part of the past 15 years, Massimo has all the touch you could ever want and in any genre of rock/metal guitar. His feel is evident from the first chord played as the albums first track (its title track) is simply one of the best rock-fusion songs ever!

When you can turn off your attention to specifics and "feel" that the music and the energy and glory never seems to end, that's a good sign. It actually gets better from there, as this man has a better feel then one of his influences, Greg Howe.

Wonderful touch and feel abound throughout the bluesy ditty "Wordgame." This is reminiscent of the great Gary Moore's material. Is this too lofty praise? No, not even close. This guy is as thorough and well-rounded as there is in "rock" guitar today. His deep tones and phrasing are insane and he layers beautiful melodies and licks into each cut. Through evaluating instrumental guitar CDs a few dozen times a year it seems the session guitarists really seem to have an advantage when finally putting out their releases. Having to be so diverse for numerous types of bands and genres of music really allows these guns for hire to create much more diverse offerings then just the usual shred masturbation CD.

On this album he puts well-balanced songs ahead of the show-off mentality. A good example is on the fourth cut "Television Man" here he gives the thumbs up to his bass player Mario Guarini. Mario really plugs up a nice series of bass notes to compliment the wizardry of Izzizzari. This song is rock guitar at its finest. No showing off just simply playing for the love of it. Izzizzari also brought in a talented drummer, an absolute essential in jazz fusion. Those beautiful jazz drums are actually provided by his brother Azeglio and really have a great tone and feel to them. Guess it runs in the family.

There are plenty of precise rock licks on this record from Massimo, but you also have lots of distortion and flavor. A great example is the rock wizardry displayed on "The Alchemist." Mr. Izzizzari's playing never leaves the framework of the fusion and the bass and the drums are wonderful too, creating a nicely constructed song. How damn refreshing is it to have a real CD created, full of perfectly crafted songs. The CD ends with two of the best rock/blues guitar performances you could imagine. On "The Enchanted Forest and Teresa," his feel and touch are trumped only by his emotion. The best song overall though is probably "Violation of Privacy" where Massimo tears up beautiful George Lynch sounding leads with a rich thick tone.

There is not a dud on this album; all the songs are great. This is an early candidate for album of the year! Don't let the number of Zs in his name fool you, this is certainly no sleeper. This Italian guitarist is spectacular!

Band Members:
Massimo Izzizzari - All Guitar, Guitar Synth, Choirs
Azeglio Izzizzari - Drums
Mario Guarini - Bass.
Giuliano Izzizzari - Bass on "Violation of Privacy".
Francesco Carlesi - Keyboards on "Teresa"

Track Listing:
[01] Unstable Balance
[02] Access Denied
[03] Wordgame
[04] Television Man
[05] Freeze Frame
[06] The Alchemist
[07] Violation Of Privacy
[08] Take It Or Leave It
[09] The Enchanted Forest
[10] Teresa

HRH Rating: 8.3/10