Metal

Brian Bromberg | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 22, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Artistry Music
• ASIN: B0007N19FU
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #224,856 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

"Metal", the powerful new recording by critically acclaimed bassist/producer Brian Bromberg, showcases the bassist in a rare fusion-rock setting, simulating a full band on an arsenal of custom basses. Demonstrating Bromberg’s instrumental fusion-rock songwriting and aggressive playing, "Metal" is a departure from Bromberg’s jazzier outings, featuring him primarily on the guitar-like piccolo bass. Bromberg tears through melodies and solos with the force of today’s most skilled guitar heroes, playing the piccolo bass much like a lead guitar. But don’t be fooled – there are no guitars on this album. The rhythm guitar sounds and bass parts are also played by Brian on an array of different basses. What makes this recording exceptional is that nine of the eleven songs feature only Bromberg and hard-hitting drummer Joel Taylor. Rounding out this ground breaking project is keyboardist Dan Siegel, guesting on two tracks.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Joyous, exhilarating, masterful, May 11, 2005

By 

spiral_mind (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Metal (Audio CD)

Call it serendipity. Instrumental guitar-rock is a big pleasure of mine, but often it's increasingly hard to find something *new* that doesn't sound like just another entry in the genre. I certainly never thought that I'd find the most brilliant and exciting recent discovery in that vein lying around in the jazz rack, let alone find out that it doesn't even have any guitars. But life is full of surprises.

Brian Bromberg's gimmick here is that all the guitar-sounding tracks come from a high-tuned bass, but that doesn't really matter. All the gimmicks possible couldn't save an album without a solid musical foundation to build on, and he's got that in spades. Metal's mode is basically in the rock camp, mostly in a simple power-trio format (unusual only because Brian constitutes 2/3 of the trio himself), and the chord structures seem fairly straightforward. It's hard driving, high-octane stuff that blazes by in a mind-boggling dance across the frets. But BB has a jazzer's improv ability and an expert bassist's knowledge of harmonics, so he takes the whole thing into a melodic realm Satriani and Vai usually only flirt with. (In the guitar-god realm Steve Morse is the closest comparison I can make, and I mean that as a very good thing indeed.)

As with the best jazz, there's really no lead part. Brian lays down tracks with the regular four- or five-string and flies over them with the higher-sounding 'guitar'-tuned bass, and the two sounds basically exist as equals. Both take turns as lead, both supply rhythm underneath the other, both are used for wild solos. Most often all the parts are 'soloing' at once. There are no mere holding patterns, no repeating grooves; pick any one part to listen to at any time and you can hear him constantly mutating and changing the riffs throughout. And that's not to mention that the lightning-speed virtuosity on display is literally stunning - "The Dungeon" and "Trade Show" alone are evidence enough that Brian's either a robot or has made the same deal with the devil as Jaco Pastorius and Victor Wooten.

Buy this album; it's as much of a jolt as the strongest coffee you can make and lasts a lot longer. Then go back to BB's gorgeous 2002 album Wood (this disc's polar opposite) to complete the picture.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best shred guitar music I've heard in a while..., February 24, 2005

By 

khryoleoz - See all my reviews

This review is from: Metal (Audio CD)

...since the early releases by Tony MacAlpine, Greg Howe, and Steve Vai. Though stylistically this is a departure from Bromberg's jazz outings, in one way he keeps to the familiar jazz structure of head, melodic improvisation, head, then outro. And while he improvises with technical mastery as fine as the familiar guitar shredders, he does so with interesting melodic phrases and each track is graced with some very cool rock grooves. Brian's tone is sweet and the overall production is well crafted. As one of my favorite bass players, Brian Bromberg has amazed me with fine upright and electric bass playing since his recording with Rob Mullin's Jazz Jazz. This latest release is by far the most different, but only in terms of style. Brian's moving melodiscm and great writing is present throughout and I am thoroughly enjoying this offering. God bless you, Brian.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It doesn't sound like a bass, but it is!, May 3, 2005

By 

D. L. Worthing "Graphic Designer" (Arundel, Maine United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Metal (Audio CD)

Bassist Brian Bromberg's style of traditional and contemporary jazz playing takes a vacation at "Metal" land.
Bromberg takes a shot at rock bass and hits a homerun.
The amazing part is besides the drums and some keyboards the entire string section is bass, and the real funny thing is a lot of the time you think your listening to some really great guitar work, it's remarkable.
The talented Bromberg lets it fly and it's just unbelievable bass playing.
I've listened to it a number of times and am still floored that it's a bass.
Check it out for yourself. It's phenominal.