I first came across Michael some years ago when he sent me some albums by faunch to review, and now the left-handed guitarist has brought together three EP’s he released under his own name as a single 10-track album. Michael started playing guitar in 1973, when he was 14 years old, which officially makes him a member of Fender’s 1 in 100 Club; of every 100 people who pick up guitar, just one is still playing 50 years later. As one would expect from someone who has been playing so long there are multiple influence on display, and while Zappa may not be a huge influence in the musical stakes, he has quite definitely impacted the song titles with the likes of “Hey, look over here! I’m naked!” and “I Value Your Onion”.
This feels very much like an old school guitarists release, with influences from the likes of Jeff Beck, Wishbone Ash, Allman Brothers etc, with an emphasis on musicality and fluidity as opposed to out and out shredding so while there are hints of Satriani here and there it is very much in the minority as this is about creating an album where the listener plays it for pleasure as opposed to being stunned by just how many notes to the bar Machine Gun Kelly is creating. In that way it reminds me of Eddie Ojeda’s solo on the Hearing Aid “Stars” release as while everyone else was hauling their ego along in a wheelbarrow and showing off their note density he was instead being musical and creative. That’s not to say Michael is a slouch, just that when he drops in the run it is for a specific reason as opposed to an end in itself.
Overall this is a release I enjoyed playing and am glad I have heard, and isn’t that what music is supposed to be about?
Rating: 7/10
