Customer Reviews

Merry Axemas, Vol. 2: More Guitars For Christmas

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

 

 

Steve Vai is a lot of things, but "compilation producer" may not leap to mind. But that's just what Steve is in his spare time, and here comes volume two of his excellent Merry Axemas instrumental "guitars for Christmas" series. The first volume featured the expected shred kings (Vai, Satriani, Eric Johnson...) and the second volume brings in an array of other classic six-stringers (and one four- five- and six-stringer in session bassist Stu Hamm). Along with Stu we've got Steve Lukather, Neal Schon of Journey, Steve Stevens who you might remember from Billy Idol's 80s band, Trevor Rabin, erstwhile member of 80s Yes and the most prolific South African scoring movies today, Jersey cowboy Zakk Wylde from Ozzy Osbourne's band and Pride and Glory, metaller John Sykes from the Thin Lizzy/Tygers of Pan Tang/Whitesnake/Blue Murder, Robin Trower (second most famous utilizer of the Uni-Vibe), jam whiz Al Di Meola, and the master of fifth-chord mayhem -- and my namesake -- Ted Nugent. Every track works, even if some of them are relatively obscure Christmas songs since many of the obvious choices got used up on volume one. Standouts include Zakk Wylde setting aside his Les Pauls to play a beautiful arrangement of "White Christmas" on classical guitars; Rabin's highly-processed but lush and engaging guitar-synth take on "O Come All Ye Faithful"; and Nugent's wailing, wild, tongue-in-cheek explosion of "Deck the Halls". If you love Mannheim Steamroller you'll be made uneasy by most of these renditions...if you've always wondered how many harmonics can be fitted into a Christmas classic, or what Emmanuel would have done with a PRS and a Marshall half-stack, look no further. A guaranteed hit with any and every guitarist on your list.

The first CD was great. Almost everyone did a wonderful job in not losing the melody. Melody is the key part in christmas songs. I'm a believer in the fact that if you're going to do a song (where the melody is important)- you should be creative in ways to keep the melody going without playing the same thing over and over again. On the second CD, Al Dimeola, Mr. Wylde, and Stu Hamm all play examples of what I'm talking about. None of them lost the melody of the song. The rest of the tracks on the Vol. 2 CD also have tremendous musical ideas in them, and they sound great until whoever's playing goes off into his own world, and the melody get's trashed. The solos may show that they're gifted musicians, but it's almost like they forget what they're playing. I found the first CD more enjoyable because it had a lot less of the "losing the melody". Regardless, the CD is worth getting for Stu Hamm's track and Zach Wylde's White Chritmas.

It seems that I may be among the minority that found this one to be better than the first. This one does rock harder and does have a tendency to take wild rides that may clash at times with the main melody, but isn't that what rock is all about? It never gets boring. I would recommend this one to anybody for the first track alone. Steve Lukather proves himself as a master of the fretboard with his rendition of The Christmas Song. I am a fan of the production on this one as well. Another success for Vai. Pour some eggnog, turn your stereo up to 11 and enjoy the ride!

This is a great companion to Merry Axemas. Although I agree, that at times, some musicians lose sight of the melody in this CD, Ted Nugent does an absolute tour-de-force on "Deck the Halls" without losing the melody at all. WOW--I would have gotten the CD for just this song alone from the Motor City Madman, though all the renditions have their merit.

I love both of these albums and play them every Christmas, alternately with The Three Tenors' Christmas and the Carpenters' Christmas Portrait. Both Axemas albums are upbeat, yet not lacking reverence. Feels so good to listen to these after a day of forced hearing of droning, badly sung, department store Christmas muzak.

The first Merry Axemas album is outstanding, but this second attempt has its moments. Ted Nugent rocks "Deck the Halls." Zakk Wylde's "White Christmas" is a lovely work of guitar mastery. And on this album, Steve Stevens actually makes my least favorite Christmas song, "Do you hear what I hear?" fun to listen to.

For an upbeat change from the usual, I recommend this Merry Axemas album along with the first.

The only reason that I gave this CD a "3" star rating was the Stu Hamm, Zakk Wylde, and Al Di Meola tracks. Neal Schon's O come, O Come Emmanuel is a good song, but I really don't know this song, so I would not associate it with a typical Christmas song. My main issue is the "showboating" that goes on. This is a Christmas album, and some of the songs become barely recognizeable. It just seemed overindulgent to me, and other than the three tracks previously mentioned (which should get 5 stars), I will probably remove the rest from my ipod. Deck the Halls by Ted Nugent started out good, but quickly goes bad, and sruggles to recover at the end. I was pleasantly surprised the first 2 1/2 minutes of Steve Stevens "Do You Hear What I Hear," then the last 3 minutes became what I had dreaded and became outright weird for a Christmas song.

The first Vol. is better. This new one is heavier and more industrialized. If you enjoy hard rock, you will easily get stuck into it, but if you are looking for something more predictable, you wont find it here.Its a nice Cd for a Christmas party full of beer!

Predominant metal drone, head-bashing. Where are the blues, jazz players? Love Lukather, Stevens jiggy thangs. Hamm -- yes, more bass players! Too much guitar -- still disappointed Prodcuer Vai won't let the guys sing, use guitar for punctuation. Prefer volume 1.

thibon feesh