paul gilbert fuzz universe

Released: 09 August 2010 Label: Mascot Records

Paul Gilbert’s third full-length instrumental release sees him in top form, as you’d expect from one of the world’s most esteemed guitar players. He plays extended pieces of dizzying complexity across the fret board with consummate ease.

Gilbert has been criticised by some for being too technical and only writing stuff that fellow musicians can “get”, indeed his “Shred Alert” column and “Terrifying Guitar 101” lessons in Guitar World and Total Guitar magazine, have had guitarists locked in bedrooms all over the world attempting to improve their right-hand-speeds for decades (ahem) but Fuzz Universe is not just for nerdy musicians, as there are a lot of fun hooks in here too.

It is an album that sees him flexing his considerable musical vocabulary across a range of styles and speeds, ranging from fast to incredibly fast, occasionally slowing down for a few moments of melodic virtuosity.

The title track Fuzz Universe as the liner notes suggest, does indeed have millions of notes, (some would say too many) though there are far more stars in the universe than notes on this album, but that’s OK – he’s a guitarist not an astrophysicist! The riffs are enormously impressive, but it’s not that memorable, as it seems to be one of his Guitar World magazine exercises stretched to mind (and possibly finger) breaking point.

But that’s not to say it isn’t dazzlingly impressive of course.

My favourite tune is Olympic, which boasts expansive-sounding proggy keyboard phrasings, groovy seventies rhythms and a very cool fuzz distortion guitar for the punchy main riff.

The Bach Partita is a truly solo effort; a single clean(ish) guitar sound picking away through one the great composer’s pieces. Blue Orpheus is spacy sounding, with echoing FX and a strong, almost vocal-line melody, to the main guitar part.

Propeller lets the rest of the band shine, sounding more of an ensemble piece, as they don’t have a great deal to do elsewhere on the album!

Don’t Rain on My Firewood is another stand out track with a bluesy warbling guitar sound reminiscent of Robin Trower’s early days, full of wakka wakka and wah wah. (No I’m not going mad, that’s onomatopeia)

It’s not a challenging listen by any means, jaunty and upbeat throughout, but an instrumental guitar album of this kind is probably not going to be to everyone’s taste. Hell, they weren’t to everyone’s taste back in the early 90s when it was actually popular!

For guitar nerds and musos though, this is great stuff. Reeling off superlatives here doesn’t do the album justice really, as the guy is enormously talented, and having seen him play live a couple of times, and learned from his regular contributions to guitar world magazine, he seems a thoroughly likeable chap.

by Steven Hargraves