This was released at a time when there were a ton of guitar instrumental solo albums being released to capitalize on the success of Joe Satriani – and to a lesser extent, Malmsteen. Now, latterly more well known for being the final occupier of the guitar position in UFO, Vinnie was a shredder of some repute. Just like Yngwie, inspiration here is directly from the classical handbook, although I would say Vinnie does have more of a melodic feel to his interpretations. This is his second release on Mercury records – although he was a stock Mascot player.
To highlight the difference between himself and Malmsteen, listen to the track Beyond The Door – this is where his sense of melody and playing to the song comes into its own. It’s always hard to review these type of albums as you either like them or you don’t, and as I have mentioned I am a guitar nerd. My favourite piece on the album is the album close out track, April Sky, where he shows what great control and feel he has to his playing. An honourable mention goes to his cover of George Harrison’s, My Guitar Gently Weeps. It doesn’t sound much like the original but it’s still a great take.
8/10 from The Grooveman.
