| COMMENTS & REVIEWS |
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MJBrady
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Published on: 22 Apr 2007
Danish session guitar ace Steen Grontved unleashes his first recording as a solo artist, and it's a great one for fans of the guitar. Steen is not your atypical guitar shredder, and certainly not the typical style of guitarist that one would expect to hear coming from the Lion Music label, yet Lion Music has been showing themselves to be as diverse as a label can possibly be, fully covering most everything under the progressive and fusion spectrum. Grontved's music can be described more or less as jazz/fusion, as there are no displays of metallic shred or neo-classical playing to be heard on this cd. Steen plays a highly melodic, slick, and sophisticated style of guitar, able to play fast and intense over odd changes, he proves himself a more than capable musician, and one that will appeal to the fans of aggressive modern jazz/fusion.
This cd presents many different sounds and nuances besides the guitar, there are a lot of layers of synths and percussions to compliment Grontved's masterful playing. He also employ's the use of a guitar synthesizer further enhancing the overall aural delight of the recordings. Not a mere guitar show, Night Vision Goggles is a total package for fusion fans, a variety of songs that merge composition with stellar musicianship, and always in a tasteful manner. Steen's playing can remind me of so many other great guitarists, he has no doubt paid his dues as a fan of music, as well as being a dedicated musician. I can hear echoes of Gambale and Henderson on certain songs, the deft touch of Greg Howe on a couple, even some west coast sounds of Carlton, Ford and Ritenour, a little Satriani, some Wes, Lukather, Landau, it's as if he is a chameleon of the instrument, able to deliver so many sounds, tones and styles, yet that is his repetoire, as each of these disciplines makes up his unique personna as a guitarist.
As a first cd, this is very respectable music, and as a fan of most every musician used as a reference in this review, there is no doubt that I am enjoying this cd a lot, the songs are short, well conceived and easy to listen to, the cd overall has no filler, and enough variation to keep you following along for the length of the disc. I hope Steen continues to write and record, as he certainly does have a keen feel for writing great music, not to mention, he is a darn good guitarist.
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| TRACKS |
CREDITS
(click to view performer credits) |
PROGGNOSIS SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY
(click to view Release Page) |
- Timber
- The Worm
- Playground
- Home planet
- Run
- Bye
- Secret lab
- My Butterfly
- Still Here
- Round and around
- What Mango?
- Find the pick
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ProGGnosis - Progressive Rock & Fusion
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