Customer Reviews

Compression

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Being a long-time fan of Billy Sheehan's bass work and the bands he has been in, I decided to buy "Compression", his first solo album. Billy Sheehan is certainly one of those musician's musicians; in short, a rock genre virtuoso on his instrument of choice. Of course, being a excellent player and an excellent song writer can be rather exclusive from each other. Altough I won't name any names, I've found that a lot of solo albums from such virtuosos make for a boring listen.

"Compression" is NOT an album of bass solos. It does NOT in the typical "neo-Classical" style of rock that we've heard from too many other bands. It IS however a collection of great songs written and performed by Billy Sheehan. Aside from some guest stars on a few tracks, Billy handles all the instruments and voices. And quite well.

The music here is, dare I say it, danceable! No, not dance music, but hard rock with a real groove. "Oblivion" is a great track with fast riffs, but it just plain rocks. I especially like the majestic sounding "Chameleon" (no, not the Herbie Handcock song of the same title), the laid-back funk pentatonic funk of "Caroline", and climatic closer "Feed Your Head". If I had to liken the overall music styling to something else, I'd say it sounds similar in some ways to ZZ Top's "Rhythameen" album and the band King's X.

Although Billy Sheehan has always gotten credit for his dazzling solos, he's also knows full well how to pull back and groove with his bass. And he can play more than the bass guitar. "Compression" is a testament to all this. Granted I'm a musician myself, but it's great to see somebody like Billy Sheehan make an album that people other than musicians might listen to.

I went to see Steve Vai play in London last year, with Sheehan as Bassist. I had been dragged along for my friend's birthday, and didn't really know who any of the dramatis personae were. Suffice to say that I went out and bought Compression the next day. It is an exceptional, complex album that gets better every time I listen to it. There are clever musical phrases, and (not that I'm qualified to judge) some highly skilled guitar/bass playing. Sheehan's voice is distinctive, and in places mesmerising. I stumbled across this artist by happy accident, and would recommend him unreservedly.

I am astonished by Billy's voice! Great tunes, and his voice is somewhat reminicent of Rob LaMothe of the Riverdogs. If Billy does another vocal CD, he will have the singing down pat. Lets also not forget that Billy plays guitar here as well. Steve Vai solos on one tune, and Terry Bozzio drums on two songs. The rest of the songs are done on drum machines, and while I'd rather hear a drum kit instead, it is handled really well. Drummer-less musicians could learn a lot from this CD. The last tune has some questionable additional precussion on it, though. I bought this CD thinking that it would only be accessable to bassists- boy was I ever wrong about that! Check out the sound samples above!

Not another boring bass player effort.The more I listen to this Cd the more I love it. Not a bad song on the disc,my only wish is that when Mr. Sheehan takes a solo or riff that it was more up front in the mix.The same was true of his Niacin efforts, both very good discs. Mr Sheehan can sing and sing well. I highly recomend this disc if you like Via/Satriani vocal type efforts.

I love this CD! I recently saw Billy on tour with Steve Vai
and they were absolutely breathtaking and intense!
I got this CD shortly after the show and really have
enjoyed listening to these incredible tracks.
Terry Bozzio ads incredible power to the tracks
he plays on. Even Billy's vocals sound good. Reminds
me a little bit of the vocal tracks from Metal Fatigue
by Allan Holdsworth or some of the Jeff Berlin vocal
tracks with various singers, but along the same
lines. I really love this style of music. I find it very
uplifting and inspiring! Buy it!!

I'm a huge Billy Sheehan fan - from the days with Talas through DLR and Mr.Big. So I was really excited to get this. Billy's playing is, as usual, amazing, playing almost all of the instruments and singing himself. At times I have to rewind just to really hear what was just played. My problem with this album is that it is so busy it's hard to hear much of a melody. The bass is jamming, the drums (sequenced) are extremely complicated and the guitar is all over the place. I was hoping for the melodic fluidity of the Sheenhan written Mr. Big tunes and they just aren't there on this album. Don't get me wrong, the musical ability on this album is awesome. Just don't expect the "songs" from his previous efforts.

Billy Sheehan, powerhouse bassist for bands such as TALAS, David Lee Roth, Mr. BIG and Niacin, debuts his first solo album. First noticable thing about the album is his GREAT voice!!. Second would have to be the fact that this is an album of well written songs with lots of melody and vocal "hooks". Steve Vai and Terry Bozzio make brief guest spots, but Billy Sheehan plays all bass and guitar parts and programs the drums which sound great and actually sound like a drummer playing not just a drum machine. This CD will be staying in my CD player for a long time. This would be a great CD to "take a chance" with buying. A++++++++++Jon Schwalls

I must admit I wouldn't have bought this initially because I would have assumed it would have been a bass ego-trip for this highly respected bass player.

But after reading seeing 'Chameleon' played on Steve Vai's tour I was pretty impressed. Smart move from Steve because he's promoting Billy's CD by playing this song, but the CD happens to be on Steve's record label!!

So what we have in essence is 11 quality hard rock songs in which Billy sings, plays guitar (very impressively), and of course plays the bass.

The album is a lot heavier than I would have expected (but that's baritone guitars for you) and sounds pretty modern.

Mr Big it isn't. Bass solos it isn't. Korn it isn't. But somewhere in between Billy has done a terrific job in coming up with a strong album.

Now if only he'd continue working with either Vai or Gilbert then we'd all be happy!

A worthy purchase.

Three Words i can say and they are:

A Perfect Groove!!!!!

Most know Billy Sheehan from Mr. Big, Niacin, or the Steve Vai band for his unbelievable bass lines and amazing solos. This album, however, showcases Sheehan's songwriting ability, singing and guitar playing as well as some of his classic bass work. If you purchase this album, be forewarned that you will hear sweet jams like the 4/4 classic rock of Three Days Blind and the heavy, eastern-sounding Chameleon. Expect smooth hooks like in Caroline. By the way, he named it Perfect Groove for a reason. As a jazz bassist who has played in his fair share music scenes, this album his highly underrated and should have plenty 5 star reviews because, simply put, this is good music.
There are plenty of "shredders" who have mastered the guitar/bass/etc. but can't write because they have no concept of musicianship. Billy Sheehan has mastered the bass and is a good musician no matter how you slice it. So, start listening to the good music on this album.