Robert Hansson - Too Much Ain't Enough

Tracks:

Too Much Ain't Enough
Starfall
Hurdy Gurdy

Year: 1996
Label: Trebor Records

Total Playing Time: 10:55 m:s

Robert Hansson is the lead guitarist with Swedish hard rock band 'Human Race', who've been making a good impression on reviewers with their Deep Purple/Rainbow influenced music. Obviously not content with working hard to promote the band, Robert has spent some time creating this mini-CD of instrumentals. At this point I should probably mention that my collection isn't exactly choc-a-bloc full of instrumental albums - even Vai and Satriani are missing.

First and title track Too Much Ain't Enough is a jazz/rock fusion number. Starfall slows the pace down and gets all moody and melancholy.

The third song has the somewhat less than appealing title Hurdy Gurdy. It starts off with some interesting, vaguely Arabic, strings that I liked, but the Arabic feel gets left behind as the song progresses. It is the fastest paced song on the album and the combination of synth strings and guitar works fairly well, making it my nomination for the best track on the CD.

By the end of the first song I'm convinced that Robert knows a thing or two about playing the guitar. The other two songs merely confirm this. As a showcase for Robert's undoubted musical ability, this CD works well. As a CD that I'd regularly put in my player, I'm not so sure. I could say the same thing about any of the few instrumental albums I own. I always think that this is the sort of music you put on when trying to impress your friends with the quality of your hi-fi i.e. when listening to the hi-fi itself rather than the music its reproducing. Maybe if I was a musician myself I'd have a different opinion.

If you're into instrumental albums, or a Human Race fan, then this might be worth checking out. The final rating probably reflects my lack of enthusiasm for instrumentals, rather than any problems with the album itself.

Rating: 6