This is the 2nd out of the 13 solo studio albums that Tony has released – plus he is on countless projects and guests on squillions of things. This was released in ’87 when the guitar shred fest was in full swing, and this album definitely falls into that category. I would put him along side Malmsteen in style, although I think Tony has a lot more melody to his playing. Tony plays all guitars, bass, and keyboards except where George Lynch guests on a couple of tunes for the obligatory guitar battle.
This is above average fair for the shredder community, as the attention to melody and structure is evident throughout. There are vocal lines, but played on guitar, that give the workouts a purpose – a bit like Satriani does. There are a few references to classical pieces (Chopin is credited on two pieces), but they all were doing that back in the day for a bit of credibility. The aforementioned Tears Of Sahara with George Lynch is my favourite track as they try to outdo each other with who has the best licks.
This is for guitar slingers and aficionados only, and anyone else who has a passing interest for over the top guitar.
8/10 from The Grooveman.
