Customer Reviews

Guitar Shop

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

 

 

This is such a great departure for Jeff Beck, and though those who like his older stuff may not enjoy this album, those who love instrumental guitar rock, this is THE Jeff Beck album to buy. great songs from begining to end. I love to listen to this whole album on repeat.

Jeff Becks amazing work "Guitar Shop" is a must for the hard core fan. Casual fans may like it for its more of a traditional rock album then the jazz fusion Beck is better known for. Becks guitar work is top notch, as always, being the perfectionist he is. This album won a Grammy in 1990.

Jeff Beck's instrumental albums are simply fantastic! He is an outstanding guitarist, but as importantly there is always good songwriting on his albums. "Guitar Shop" is no exception to this rule and is packed with memorable melodies and some fantastic drumwork. While some might think this CD to be nothing but guitar wizardry, it's hard for me to believe that anyone cannot enjoy the sheer talent of Beck's unique style and undeniable charisma. Add to this the unusual synth sounds and textures and you have one monster instrumental CD. Variety is also the key here. While "Guitar Shop" opens the CD up with something you might expect from Beck, "Savoy" moves the band into hard rock territory, while Behind the Veil" offers a bit of a reggae groove. Other tracks offer a variety of blues and rock and even an airy ballad title "Two Rivers". "Guitar Shop" stands up well against the classics "Blow by Blow" and "Wired" and will certainly please fans of instrumental guitar rock.

For a while there, this was mandatory listening in my house. The sounds Jeff Beck gets from six strings (plus effects) is amazing and they are showcased on this CD. Is it his best? No. Is it incredible listening? Probably so.

Jeff Beck is one of the great artists of the electric guitar. After Hendrix (who is in a class of his own), Beck is one of the greatest. Unlike many others, he covers a broad musical spectrum, incluing hard rock, more or less straight blues, jazz fusion, more or less straight jazz, and classical (bent his own way, of course).

In Guitar Shop, Beck continues his journey. Not as groundgreaking as his very early work--with the Yardbirds--he replaced, and improved upon, Eric Clapton), and not as revolutionary as his work with the Jeff Beck Group (Truth and Beck-Ola). Not cutting edge jazz fusion (Wired and Blow by Blow), it still stands head and shoulders above virtually anyone else playing on electric guitar!

Buy it, but don't stop hear!

If you have never listened to Jeff Beck...this is a great starter. Always cosistently inspired in his playing, here, as always, he shows that his chops are completely present and accounted for in any style and genre. Beck treats his guitar as a voice, and all of his playing announces that touch. Everything in it is something excellent and well-crafted -- hard and tight rock to funny, then to heartbreakingly beautiful. And for the hot tip... if you have not heard or seen his "Live at Ronnie Scott's"...don't ask questions, just reach for your wallet.

Surprisingly few reviews. Must have for guitar fans if only for the harmonic whammy bar etude "Where Were You". By this point, Beck had developed his current right hand technique; mainly thumb, wrist low re the top of the guitar, fingers hanging down, pushing on a floating bridge with the heel of his hand. The unusual tune is largely due to limiting note choices to natural, unfretted harmonics, which are then manipulated with the whammy bar. Steve Vai wrote (in the notes for his "Sound Theories"): "On "Sparks," the violin melody at :32 (4 bars) is humbly inspired by Jeff Beck's performance of "Where Were You", in my opinion perhaps the single most touching electric guitar performance in history." About half of the other cuts are pretty good post-fusion, which have become regular parts of his repertoire.

I am a big Jeff Beck fan and this is one of his most rocking efforts. Terry Bozzio is a great drummer and Tony Hymas and Jeff have done a lot of great music together. They pretty much invented their own style of instrumental rock. Jeff has always managed to sell well and that is due to the music not being complicated or jazzy, it's just rock and roll and I like it. If your a fan of Jeff and have never heard this: Buy it now.

"Guitar Shop": From the first beat of Terry Bozzio's drums, you know your in for a rock and roll treat. Then we get some great Jeff Beck licks and goofy talking lyrics in the vein of Frank Zappa. Good start to the CD. 4 stars

"Savoy": Just a simple rock and roll song, played with one of the best drummers in the biz and Mr. Beck. Who needs vocals? 5 stars

"Behind the Veil": He slows it down a little here, this song is as good as Jeff gets. He makes the guitar sing. 5stars

"Big Block": Again this is just rock and roll folks and Big Block is heavy. 4 stars

"Where Were You": I just love this one, man can he make that thing sing. Like a great horn player his guitar carries the song and takes you places. Hymas is excellent on this one as well, setting the background. 5 stars.

"Stand On It": Back to the hard rock sound of drums and guitar, with Tony setting the background with his keyboards. The guitar and drum sound had to influence the two piece band of today. 4 stars

"A Day In The House": Don't really like Terry's lame vocals and nothing should have been done. 3 stars

"Two Rivers": Keyboard dominated song much like his later stuff. Tony and Jeff are great on this one and this is what Jeff Beck is all about. 5 stars

"Sling Shot": The CD ends like it starts with a Jeff Beck rocker. 4 stars

Summary: A classic rock and roll album with only some lame vocals by Terry Bozzio, who is a great drummer and his presence is really felt throughout the CD. A couple 5 star Beck numbers, some 4 star rockers and one bad tune. All in all a great one for fans of great guitar and drums. You don't need to be a music snob to like it either. This CD rocks. I give it a light 4 stars because of 1 bad song.

Yep, crazy fast tunes with nutty lyrics. There are several on this disc that I mixed with a couple of similar tunes from other Beck albums to get a really great playlist for high speed driving. This is definitely not Beck's best stuff; much different than most of his other work. But it's worth a listen. Easy to get a speeding ticket playing this CD in a fast car.