Customer Reviews

Live & Beyond

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is clearly Eric Johnson's most accessible album. Although guitar fanatics such as myself will find plenty of inspiration, this record should have broader appeal than his prior studio recordings.

This CD comes on the heels of Eric's Venus Isle album (released in '96, I think) which was justifiably criticized for being too polished and somewhat sterile as a result of his reported obsession with achieving perfection in the studio. (I think that he DID achieve perfection with "Ah Via Musicom" however.) Recording a live record was the perfect way to avoid excessive tinkering and re-recording of the songs in the studio.

Although every song but one was recorded live in Austin, TX last January, it is all new material and it is excellent. This CD captures Eric's live sound very well and gives him the opportunity to show off what a great blues feel he has. In a couple of spots, he plays some extended solos that seem to be largely improvised. The singer from Storyville performs on two of the songs which added some vocal depth to the album.

Eric is absolutely one of the best guitar players out there -- he has incredible chops, the best guitar tone I have ever heard (on record and live), and a truly original style. All of these strengths are well represented in Alien Love Child: Live and Beyond. If you like guitar-oriented music, you can't go wrong with this album.

The first time I saw Eric Johnson perform live was back in 1991 on the Ah Via Musicom tour. Johnson and his band put on one of the loudest shows I'd ever attended. People always compare him to the other guitar `gods,' Joe Satriani, Steve Morse, etc. To these ears, Johnson always had more passion in his playing. Sure, he could slip into `look what I can do' mode from time to time, but overall, his guitarwork was nothing short of breathtaking. It didn't matter if he was playing a Wes Montgomery-inspired jazz tune, dabbling in acoustic country/bluegrass, or just shredding in hard rock/metal mode. With EJ, it's all about the tone. It's amazing to hear just how many sounds he pulls out of a single guitar.

In October of 2000, Johnson released a live album with his latest band, Alien Love Child. Recorded live at Antone's in Austin, TX (a.k.a. the house that Stevie Ray Vaughan built), Eric is joined by Chris Maresh on bass and Bill Maddox on the drum kit. Live and Beyond features 10 new tracks--9 performed live and one in the studio. This album's a bit different though. Johnson's playing is noticeably more refined than before, and the overall style is more in a blues vein.

Starting with the instrumental "Zenland," Johnson and his band are in fine form. Maresh lays down a cool groove and turns in some great bass licks on the song. Up next is one of the best songs EJ has ever recorded--the smoldering 11-minute blues workout, "Last House on the Block." This is one of those songs that sticks in your head the first time you hear it, and Johnson's playing on the track is outstanding. His solo starts out quietly, then builds to a fiery crescendo before going back into the song's main theme. Up next are two instrumentals, "Rain" and "Enzo Shuffle." "Rain" is an introspective tune written by Maresh, while "Enzo Shuffle" finds the band in Johnson's classic rocking style.

Storyville vocalist, Malford Milligan joins the band for the slow burning blues number, "Once A Part Of Me," another of the many highlights on the disc. He sticks around for a cover of Jimmie Vaughan's shuffling "Don't Cha Know." You can almost hear everyone grinning onstage while they're playing this tune. Johnson cuts loose on his tribute to John Lee Hooker, "The Boogie King." The live tracks end with EJ's solo interlude, "Elevator Sky Movie" and another rocker "Shape I'm In." "World of Trouble" is the new studio track, a tasteful slow blues tune and another highlight.

Longtime Eric Johnson followers will undoubtedly love this album. The material is of a high enough caliber that it will most likely win him some new fans as well. Johnson's guitar playing is currently at an all-time high. He can still burn up the fretboard when he wants to, but at this point it's as though he knows he doesn't have to. The result is quite possibly the best album of his career.

I've been anticipating this album for some time (check out ericjohnson.com for the story) and it was worth the wait. EJ is one of the rare musicians/guitarists around today who have done their homework, synthesized their own style, and polished it to a diamond luster. There is a great range of style and vibe here, but it all hangs together.

It goes without saying that the musicianship is superb (not just EJ but the whole band) and the tone is amazing, as always. On "Boogie King" and "Last House" the tone is AMAZING. There are a couple quirks, like where it sounds like someone hit a button at the wrong time during the recording, but this is fine with me, makes it a real live album.

A couple of the cuts are very reminiscent of live Cream, but a lot tighter in terms of musical direction! But there are also tracks that are in a very cool Wes Montgomery style, rock solid Austin, Texas R&B (Shape I'm In), and one that I would call definitive "Eric Johnson guitar trippin'" (Elevator Sky Movie). As a live "guitar master" album I hold this one up in the same class with Clapton's "EC Was Here", Hendrix' "In the West" and "Band of Gypsies", and Ronnie Earl's "Live in Europe" as must haves.

Eric Johnson is one of the few, out of a handful, guitarists who is associated with a guitar's tone. The way he gets his sound is not only baffling, because his lead tone is so saturated and overdriven, but an avocation that you can get a good tone if you have enough dedication and patience. It's so clear and articulate, and he even pulls these tones off live, which is unbelievable. This album unlike all the albums prior capture the magic of an Eric Johnson concert.

Alien Love Child which are Eric Johnson on guitar, Bill Maddox on drums, and Chris Maresh on bass was born somewhere between and after the "Venus Isle" album. Alien Love Child, which is really just another name to throw out there is primarily just Eric much like the Electromagnets, which was actually Steve Barber's and Kyle Brock's band, and EJ happened to be playing in it, but the same can't be said about ALC. This album features all new songs most of which are composed by Eric....hmmm....what a suprise right? Anyway, all kidding aside, I was very impressed with this album, especially the opening song "Zenland." What an incredible song. It's kind of a typical EJ blues-rock fusion instrumental tune that you'd expect him to play. If I had to pick a favorite Eric Johnson song it would be "Zenland," although I do enjoy alot his other instrumental songs ("Cliffs of Dover," "Pavilion," "Righteous," "Manhattan") and his vocal tunes as well like "Desert Rose" and "When the Sun Meets the Sky."

Alien Love Child are by far one of the best blues rock trios to ever form, but I still am going to treat this album like an Eric Johnson solo album for the simple reason that he has his trademark all over the place on this album.

I recommend this album not only for EJ fans, but also anyone who enjoys music that is technically demanding and at the same time incredibly pure and beautiful.

When it comes down to it, there are very few people that have such an incredible guitar sound. Eric Johnson is definitely one of those people. Voltage sag or no, his sound is almost always perfect, and on "Live and Beyond" he is a lot more raw than his studio albums. Yet, he still has that perfect tone. This is a fun album. One, because it came out a little quicker than the last one, and because of it's rawness. Johnson should be heard and seen live to really appreciate it, and this does a good job of it. He has an amazing bassist in Chris Maresh and Bill Maddox pounds on the skins.

This album is a little different than classic Johnson due to the rawness of being live, but his sound is still exceptional and his speed is still blinding. Solos on "Zenland", "Once a Part of Me", "Last House On the Block" and "Enzo Shuffle" will leave your jaw bouncing off your lap. Malford Milligan steps in to sing a couple of songs including Jimmie Vaughan's own "Don't Cha Know". His voice is a little more fitting for the blues than Johnson's own. He gets a little airy on "Elevator Sky Movie" with long delays and repeats before kicking it into a countrish overdriven speed workout. He segues into "Shape I'm In" which is very classic Johnson sound.

When it comes down to it, Johnson is an incredible axe player. A joy to listen to, and watch (although guitar players find him quite frustrating). His speed and sound are amazing, and he uses both with an elegant ease. After listening to "Trademark" I had to play guitar, and even to this day I still am energized to play after hearing him (I also feel like breaking all my fingers and putting my guitars through the wood chipper as well).

Fans of Eric Johnson as well fans of great guitar playing will LOVE this disc. I've seen Eric play live and, while he was brilliant, he was in warp-speed overdrive all night. He never slowed down, favoring instead to play "too many notes" all night. I'm sure this is a natural thing on Eric's part, given the fact that energy levels are higher in live situations and his physical technique is truly one of the most amazing sights to witness anywhere. Here, however, Eric seems to put more restrain on his chops, and shows a jazzy harmonic sense in which he plays more outside than ever before(shredders rest assured...there's still plenty here for you). Included are a few of his trademark instrumentals, some blues tunes, and some vocal tunes that are some of his best to date (check out "Once A Part Of Me"). Lastly, but certainly not least: even if you didn't like Johnson's playing (hard to imagine...), this disc is worth the purchase price for guitar tone alone. Honestly, I've never heard live recorded electric guitar tone any better than this. A must-have for guitar players/fans.

I caught Eric in Boston this week and picked up this CD immediately after the concert. Both the live performance and the CD did not disappoint: I have listened to it dozens of times since I got it and I love every single cut. It is hard to describe this disk without using words like "awesome", "stunning" and "spectacular" but even such hyperbole does not do Eric's work justice. My favorites (if I can narrow them down): the other-worldly "Zenland"; Chris Maresh's "Rain"; "Once a Part of Me" (with searing vocals from Malford Milligan); "Elevator Sky Movie"; "Shape I'm In".

The sheer scope of this effort, ranging from blues to jazz to driving rock to EJ's trademark Zen planet virtuosity is almost unbelievable. I would have expected that considerable studio twiddling was necessary to produce the tones evident on this CD had I not heard his incredible live sound with my own ears.

I will never understand why Eric has not received much wider acclaim, especially when you consider the mostly trash popular music that he is competing with. It is obvious from the number of enthusiastic reviews on this page that he has a devoted (but too small) following everywhere. With this effort, Eric continues to exhibit his inexhaustibly creative talents as a composer and musician completely dedicated to his art. You will not regret buying this CD.

Johnson took what seemed like decades in the studio working on his last release, "Venus Isle," and wound up with a good set of tunes obscured by a classic case of overproduction. This time he took a new set and went directly to the stage, and the result is the best-sounding live recording I've heard since UFO's "Strangers in the Night" or the more recent "Time is the Enemy" by Hellborg/Lane/Sipe.

On the technical side, the frequency response is phenomenal and the sound balance perfect. Everything is exceptionally crisp, and Johnson's tone (!) - let's just say he managed to put my speakers through some maneuvers they really weren't prepared for...

The chemistry in this new band line-up is something you can taste and feel; EJ's playing is as incredible as ever and shows evidence of a little progressing and maturing (with even a vague touch of homage to B.B. King in spots...) Overall there is some very, VERY tasty guitar on this disc, everybody is right on, and every cut just cooks from start to finish!

I have to disagree entirely with a previous reviewer - I'd never heard of Malford Milligan before this, but his vocals fit Johnson's playing like the proverbial glove. "Once A Part Of Me" - what a GREAT song! That cut is simply the best blues performance I've heard since Gary Moore crossed over from rock 'n roll. Let's hope Milligan & Johnson record extensively together in the future - for no-nonsense, gut-wrenching blues, it doesn't get much better than this. This release is a must-have for anyone who loves blues guitar - destined to become a classic.

I listened to Alien Love Child for the first time last night. Because I am a rabid Eric Johnson fan, I probably would have loved the album even if it were merely passable. However, Alien Love Child is superlative, and perhaps will someday be regarded as one of the most important electric guitar albums released.

Not being familiar with the Alien Love Child concept, I was expecting a more typical Eric Johnson performance, where one is simply amazed by his superhuman dexterity and musicality. Much of his playing has been so advanced as to be nearly inconceivable. It wouldn't be fair to compare Eric to Jimi Hendrix in this respect, and I am sure that Eric would laugh off any such comparison. Still...I haven't been so (pleasantly) baffled by a guitarist since I heard "Third Stone from the Sun" emerge from my transistor radio at age 12.

This album is different. Eric plays in a distinctly more human, rather than superhuman, way. I wondered if he could play the blues from a personal level, rather than as a subject he had studied in his usual fastidious manner. This feels real.

An excellent decision was to include a guest vocalist, Malcom Milligan, on two of the tracks. Eric has a pleasant voice, but some of these tunes begged for a more authentic blues vocal style. Milligan supplies this admirably.

The band works as a band, and not merely as Eric's backup musicians. Bassist Chris Maresh and drummer Bill Maddox are a superb rhythm section.

The best example of how Eric has made the blues his own may be "Last House on the Block." The tune pays obvious homage to Eric Clapton during his Cream days (and to Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker as well.) However, this isn't "Eric pretending to be the other Eric." It is as though whatever spirit animated Clapton in the late 1960's had taken possession of Eric Johnson in 2000. It's as though Cream never happened, and Eric Johnson was channelling that "blues spirit" for the first time, and through his own sensibilities. Hearing this track was haunting.

So is the rest of the album, in different ways.

If you are not familiar with Eric Johnson, this is a very comfortable way to get to know him. If you think you know Eric Johnson, perhaps you don't. It is well worth encountering him again, with an exceptional, cohesive band, on Alien Love Child.

Hell yeah...this is the Eric Johnson that I wanted to see all these times.

I want to take this perspective after I saw him on the G3 tour. This guy was pretty boring and he didn't do the show any justice. The thing he did do justice with was that he his sound and his riffs/solos were apart from the usual distortion/scratch like licks from Satch/Vai. This guy did justice that way but his showmanship stunk. So after seeing that (on DVD I did) I was wondering what Eric Johnson would perform next (live) and oh man was I in for a surprise!

I mean seriously...what wasn't said about this whole CD yet? Heh...and this kind of show is what suits EJ. Sitting down with the other players and playing calmly (reminds me of AiC's MTV unplugged) it was just exhilarting and amazing. From the first song to last...this did not disappoint me at all. What it did instead was renew my faith in EJ as a performer AND a guitar player altogether (although I never doubted his guitar skills for one second). Enjoy this CD while it lasts since Alien love childs one of those rare god-like bands >=-)