More info: www.favorednation.com , www.adrianlegg.com
Verdict (& Rating): Acoustic wizardry (80%)
This came along with the Neal Schon & Billy Sheehan albums who bit both fit within the modus operandi of Mood Swings. However, other than recognizing the name as that of a guitarist, I was pretty unaware of Adrian's work. As you will notice from the 'more info' link above this is released on the Favored Nations record label which is owned by Steve Vai. In fact, it is Adrian's second album for the label and his nineth overall.
A bit of research turned up that Joe Satriani describes Adrian as "simply the best acoustic player I've ever heard" and that he was voted "Acoustic Guitarist of the Decade" by Guitarist magazine. All this convinced me that he was held in high esteem by his fellow guitarists, but not that his music would have any appeal to us mere mortal with zilch talent in the music department.
As an overall description of the album, the music could be described as expertly crafted and played classical acoustic guitar music. However, Adrian throws in plenty of variations on the theme. For example, opening track "Nefertiti - What A Sweetie!" add a dash of Delta Blues and the excellent "More Fun In The Swamp" takes the dash of the blues and adds a Cajun tang. Elsewhere "Doublejigs" fuses English & Irish folk flavours.
If you're a guitarist, I fairly confident this is the type of music that will have to sitting down thinking "I wish I could do that!" as you admire Adrian's technical expertise. Rather unusually for something that has appeal on that level I find the album to be a joy to listen to and believe it or not the thought "I wish he would plug in and crank it up" never occurs during listening!
