Freak Guitar

Mattias Eklundh | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 26, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Favored Nations
• ASIN: B00005V91H
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #187,016 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Apparatus

2. God - The Mechanic

3. The Grey Hat Of Compromise

4. Lisa's Passion For Heavy Metal

5. La Bamba

6. Evil Shower

7. When Sam Played It Again...

8. Midsummer Night In Hell

9. Numb

10. (Friday Afternoon) In A Galaxy Far Away...

11. The Satanic Moonwalk

12. Cornholed

13. Detroit Rock City

14. The Territorial Thing

15. Time To Breathe

16. Mumbo Jumbo

17. The Mud Man

18. Dr Pangloss Goes To Lisbon

19. Faith In Chaos

20. Revenge Of The Bambi Loving Terrotist

See all 22 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get yer freak on., October 28, 2002

By 

Lord Chimp (Monkey World) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Freak Guitar (Audio CD)

Freak Kitchen - the band that is a genre of metal unto itself. My guess is that you have never heard of them, and likely never heard of their guitarist Mattias Eklundh. Well, here's your chance to check him out and all his wild genius.

From the get-go, Eklundh's technique evokes Steve Vai and Zappa, and I believe fans of either will enjoy this. (In fact, this album was released by Vai's own label.) His sense of humor is also evident - "Apparatus" wails at strident pitches with a funky rhythm, all the while producing indistinct effects by placing a small vibrator (the song's namesake) near the pick-ups. Like my favorite guitar players, Eklundh will make you laugh and rock out and lull you to a meditative state. After the sizzling opener "Apparatus", the 21 tracks that follow encapsulate an insanely wide spectrum of style and inventive technique.

The heavy metal side is present, naturally. "Lisa's Passion for Heavy Metal" is a groovy riff monster, and "God - The Mechanic" is an intensive shredding piece with an infectious rhythm. The more playful and/or experimental side is more interesting to me though. "When Sam Played It Again" is fabulously unique and catchy, sweeping double-bass flutters, elevator musak, and danceable melodies all together in under a minute. "Evil Shower" is a schizophrenic and herky-jerky piece that is full of tempo changes that remain surprising after listening to the song many times. "Faith in Chaos" is a cold frenzy of chomping guitar riffing and furious solos. "Midsummer Night in Hell" is festive with moments of nightmarish sound. "La Bamba" is an elating electric guitar spin on a blissful classic. And you've never heard KISS' "Detroit Rock City" like this before - the nylon-string guitar and rhythm makes it sound like Romani jazz or something. And, thoughtfully, there is the beautiful "Time to Breathe", 10-minutes of looping serenity and nylon-string guitar heaven. The great ballad "The Grey Hat of Compromise" evokes Satriani with the careful, emotional bends and the "singing" of the guitar. "Our Man in Beijing" is the slow, groove-laden final song. I won't go through every song, because I'm lazy and somewhat stupid, but suffice to say there's a lot of diversity here. And it's all good too.

Is it an mega-indulgent bunch of songs? Well, sure...but all albums like this are. And just like anything else, it's good or bad depending on the individual listener. I think this album is fun through and through, with inventive technique that makes the shredding fresh and interesting. After all, there's at least nine million guitarists who can bust out 16 measures of 128th notes at freakout speeds, but most of them are incredible boring. While Eklundh plays incredibly fast, he also performs with absorbing depth and imaginative style that makes his record (and work with Freak Kitchen) interesting and gives it longevity.

The album's liner notes shed light on the songwriting process, techniques, and inspiration of each song. I'd be very happy if all instrumental albums featured such commentary. A nice touch to what is, in summation, an outstanding guitar album.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing, August 7, 2002

By 

Steven Woolgar - See all my reviews

This review is from: Freak Guitar (Audio CD)

I saw a review of this album in a British guitar magazine. I also noted that this was published under Steve Vai's Favored Nations label and so my interest was piqued. That being said though, I was leary of getting another guitar album with lots of 'widdly' and no soul. Well it turns out this is a guitar album written by an intelligent and capable musician. It is interesting and challenging to listen to. THE GUY DOES "DETROIT ROCK CITY" AS DJANGO REINHARDT!

The whole gamut is covered in this album. Atmospheric stuff, Jazz, heavy/techno, Frank Zappa-esque weird stuff. It is fun. This is the most exciting and refreshing CD I have bought in a long while.

Go ahead, take a chance, buy it!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just awesome,a unique musican, April 19, 2000

By 

Ritchie Roncarolo (France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Freak Guitar (Audio CD)

Probably one of the best guitar player on this planet. The songs are totally different,from rock to jazz to polka. Extreme skill and creativity,add to this a cover of the Black Page (zappa),just to make steve Vai furious . Brilliant