7afe9b14df6877f15e8c4c662d01ea870ac858ab
Description:	Instrumental guitar rock from USA, latest full-length album released in 2012.





One-time Santana guitarist and stalwart Journey axeman Neal Schon has arrived back on the scene in a solo capacity with another offering in the form of 'The Calling'. Performing all guitars and bass himself (as well as a little electric sitar), ex-Journey sticksman Steve Smith has assumed drumming duties; composer, producer and keyboardist Igor Len features on acoustic piano; and the legendary Jan Hammer, with whom Schon has previously collaborated, contributes Moog to a couple of tracks. A purely instrumental affair, 'The Calling' is a fairly diverse beast containing twelve cuts coloured with the stylistic disparity that's characterised Schon's long and varied career. So we have classic rock, blues, funk, jazz fusion, prog and moments of guitar-centric ambience. And the album shines through its diversity; meandering through, and switching, genres with pleasingly stimulating results - a quality that's key to the success of any instrumental album.

As one would expect, it's Schon's guitar licks and solos that largely dominate proceedings - after all, this is billed as a Neal Schon solo record - although the sonic backdrop over which he exercises his fretboard dynamic is not merely dismissive muzak. Rather 'The Calling' has a series of well-composed, skilfully executed and produced/mixed instrumental pieces that Schon has adorned with his lead work. With the calibre of musician involved, I suppose this is a given, although Len and Smith should be given equal credit for the resultant music. Notably, Len's acoustic piano on 'Carnival Jazz' is rather astounding, and Smith's drumming shines during the more up-tempo passages, providing a solid impetus for the tracks. Then there's Jan Hammer's Moog synths which are particularly magnificent on the prog/fusion piece 'Fifty Six', bringing to mind his work with jazz/rock fusion pioneer John McLaughlin in the Mahavishnu Orchestra. In this sense, it's refreshing to see Schon integrating and utilising Hammer's talents in an apposite context rather than merely recruiting him for a random guest slot. Hammer only appears on two tracks but he certainly makes his mark.

The emotions at the core of the music, though, are largely conveyed through Schon's soloing, and his guitar sounds at its most poignantly stirring on 'Blue Rainbow Sky' with a beautifully warm tone and melody-driven leads. A tribute to Ronnie James Dio which, in Schon's words, is centred around "the night he died outside my house - the sky was blue and it's that feeling that was the inspiration for the recording", it's a captivating piece and heartfelt tribute. That's just one example, though, as Schon's affectively expressive playing covers a whole gamut of emotions on an album that has much to offer through, at times, a mixed palette of instrumental music that should excite the casual listener as much as the muso hordes who thrive on this sort of thing.


Neal Schon At MySpace





I would say that there are only a handful of guitarists that could pull off an album of guitar leads – Jeff Beck is definitely one and Joe Satriani another and the third would be Neal Schon.

He has linked up here with Jan Hammer (alumni of both Jeff Beck and another virtuos John McLaughlin), his bandmate from Journey Steve Smith and Igor Len on piano.

My immediate reaction was pretty negative – huge amounts of Jazz-Rock fusion twiddling and a total lack of melody but by the time I got to ‘Six String Waltz’ I was hearing the songwriting and it was becoming clear that Schon is not just a great soloist but he has a real ear for a huge and vaulting sound – positively anthemic in scale.

‘Irish Field’ changes the mood completely – a light Celtic lilt underpinning the multi-tracked guitars and a delightful touch of mist about the number but then it is back to the heaviosity on ‘Back Smash’.
He suggests Eastern influences with electric sitar on ‘Fifty Six’ and then gives the listener a fully overblown ballad on ‘True Emotion’. Thankfully ‘Primal Surge’ gets the ear working again and the Vietnamese style percussion against a melodic guitar line is one of the highlights on the album.
The closer is ‘Song Of The Wind II’ and he channels his inner Santana to pretty good effect.

It isn’t the album I would choose to take to my grave but it is a set of excellent guitar pieces that reward regular listening and he is one hell of a guitarist.



Genre:	Rock
Subgenre:	Instrumental Guitar Rock
Bitrate:	320 k
Size:	123.07 MB
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