Johnny is one of those guys you either love or hate. He seems to bring out the best and worst when his name is even mentioned. I have met him on a couple of occasions and found him to be very knowledgeable. Now, this album was a bit of a departure as he was given the opportunity to have killer backing band by bringing in some hired guns – namely Ginger Baker, Steve Vai, and Ryuchi Sakamoto. The end product is fantastic.
I came to this album through the involvement of Steve Vai. His contribution on key songs lifts the album to epic proportions. Opening track, FFF, has a great groove courtesy of Ginger – and Vai adds the sprinkles on top. Rise actually charted and was a good choice for a lead off single, but Bags was the track that made everyone sit up – that’s my favourite tune on the album. Awesome contribution from Vai, and Ginger’s drums are simple but effective. If you are only interested in Vai’s guitar noodling, then fade out track, Ease, should have you drooling – his solo is very dramatic and makes the whole album.
9/10 from The Grooveman.
