Gamma 4

Gamma | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 10, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Wounded Bird Records
• ASIN: B000819142
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #314,506 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Gamma 4 by Gamma

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Stay away from Gamma 4!, May 10, 2006

By 

Donald G. Halliburton - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gamma 4 (Audio CD)

This album is just plan bad. Not because it does not sound like another Gamma album, or because it is not hard enough, or there are not enough blazing solos, it is bad because it is simply a weak effort. The songs are anemic, the lyrics are lame, and even most of the performances are stilted. And yes, when a band reunites and creates something of a continuation of it's legacy, it should have some semblance of their original sound. This just comes across as an album for an albums sake. Uninspired.

2.0 out of 5 stars Lacking the trademark Gamma sound, January 11, 2012

By 

Eric Morris (San Antonio, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gamma 4 (Audio CD)

Another reviewer stated of this CD "Good unless you need synth." Well, yes, we need synth! Keyboards were an integral part of the Gamma sound. (Full disclosure here, I am a keyboardist.) When I try to explain to guitarists the perfect balance between guitars and keys in Hard Rock I play them Gamma 2 or 3. Most have never heard it and it shatters their false notion that keyboards are optional in Hard Rock.

I saw this band in concert circa 1981 and they were tremendous! But Mitchell Froom was on the keys then. I know he's a big-time producer now, but surely he could've been persuaded to join this line-up for "4." Lacking that, Derek Sherinian would have been a fitting replacement. In any case, I won't trash the band's effort on "4," just suffice it to say it is not the same style of music that made them famous. Perhaps it was felt they should update their sound for the current stylings in music. The problem with that is yes, the synths on the first 3 CD's were a product of the time (late 70's early 80's). But the point is that Gamma's music has aged well while that of many of their contemporaries has not. So their legacy should be embraced rather than ignored. Ah, but artists are usually the least objective about their work.

With all of this in mind, "Last Man on Earth" is a good song with a slow, lumbering beat (not unlike "Voyager.") It's worth a buck to download this one song. But by all means pick up the rare "Best of Gamma" CD. It's from the early 90's but has been re-released at least once. It's 16 songs from the first 3 CDs so all the important tracks are present.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good Gamma, unless you need synthesizer, May 1, 2011

By 

Music Fanatic (Bettendorf, IA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gamma 4 (Audio CD)

I disagree with the majority of these reviews. This is a very good album, and it is definitely essential for most fans of Gamma and any fan of Montrose or Pattison. Here's why:

1) Nearly all the songs are solid and grow on you the more you listen to them. There are two "bad" songs, but if they were cut, it would still be a full-length album and would be far more consistent with almost nothing to criticize. It's a little slower and mellower than the first three, overall, but not much--and it's less poppy.

2) There are a couple of outstanding songs that are definitely among the best of Gamma. Darkness to Light is a great rocker, and Last Man On Earth is a long track that has some super-tasty guitar. To me, the album is worth the ten bucks I paid for it just to get those two songs.

3) Pattison's voice sounds terrific, and the guitar work throughout is impressive. One of my favorite vocalists with one of my favorite guitarists makes it a slam dunk for me. I would have preferred less slide guitar, but I enjoy that too. The synthesizer is missing, but I don't miss it.

4) Regardless of what the other reviews say, this album totally sounds like Gamma. If you put this album on shuffle with the other three, it would blend perfectly. It has a bit more stylistic variety than the first three, and a few of the songs might have gone better on one of Pattison's albums with Robin Trower, but the guitar and the voice together make it unmistakably Gamma. I will admit, if you listened to Gamma for the synth-heavy 80's element of their sound, you will probably dislike the stripped-down bluesy approach of this album. The omnipresent synthesizer could arguably be called an essential attribute of the Gamma sound, but I liked Gamma for the songs, Montrose, and Pattison--not the synth. If you are a fan of Gamma for the same reasons, you should definitely check out this album.