More info: http://www.favorednations.com/
Verdict (& Rating:): Instrumental gold (90%)
Neal Schon will be known to most Mood Swings readers as the lead guitarist in AOR Kings Journey as well as number of other projects such as Hardline, Bad English and more recently Soul Sirkus. In addition Neal Schon has also released a number of solo albums. His collaboration with Jan Hammer "Untold Passion" made into my own collection.
This time he has teamed up with keyboadist and songwriter Igor Len who is also co-producer. Adding a human touch to the drumming on the project is Omar Hakim.
One of my favorite instrumental guitar albums is "Staring at the Sun" by Neil Zaza (which incidently features Journey members Valory & Smith). What I liked about that album was the fact that the album was filled with instrumental 'songs' rather than pieces of music that had been crafted solely for the guitarist to shred over. Neal & Igor have taken a similar approach here with equally as good, if not possibly better results.
Opening track, "Blue Passion", does a rather good job of establishing Neal's credentials as a superb guitarist as he soars over the music. Some of the tracks could be described as AOR instrumentals, the title track and "Highland" being two examples. These remind me of the Neil Zaza album and also the couple of impressive instrumentals in the Journey boxed set. Tracks like "Loner's Dream" are a nod to his work with Jan Hammer. "It Will Happen" has an Eastern flavour that reminds of Marty Friedman's solo albums. An important element of the album is that it also includes the use if modern technology to craft some comtemporary tracks for Neal to add his signature guitar work to, such as the jazzy ambience of "Timeless Motion" and dreamy "Urban Angel". Of course, Neal can't resist the urge to let loose a something a more uptempo in the form of "Burning Bridges"
Sometimes less in more and by showing some restraint Neal has created a very listenable instrumental album which is a perfect showcase for his guitar playing and proving that there is more to a good instrumental album than simply a shred-feast.
