Customer Reviews

Resolution

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I had never heard of Andy Timmons until very recently. I recall seeing his picture in a guitar magazine and thinking that he was a blues player, how wrong I was. In a recent interview with Joe Satriani he raved about Resolution, so I looked Timmons up and discovered that he was on Steve Vai's label Favored Nations. I downloaded a sample clip and the first thing that hit me was not his playing or his songwriting, but how sweet his tone was, thick and pure. I ordered the cd and was not disappointed. This guy is the real deal, great tone, a great songwriter and he sure does ripe on the guitar. Resolution is a great guitar instrumental release that has a nice mix of fast paced rockers, slow emotional ballads and loads of tasty, tuneful shreding. The best way I would describe him would be huge doses of Satch and Vai, along with sprinkles of Van Halen and Hendrix mixed together slowly and cooked on high. I should also mention that his band, this is The Andy Timmons Band, provide a solid foundation for Timmons to play away. I look forward to his next release and I would love to see him rip it up live.

If a teen guy would ask me what is rock guitar, rock guitar with balls, I'd answear "take this kid, listen to this stuff, this is rock guitar as it should be played". Andy plays only with a bass player and a drummer here, showing his abilities to deliver consistent rock guitar solos that means something. A lot of rock players can't do this. They play scale after scale at best (or meaningless mostly pentatonic up and down cliches) and say nothing. Not Andy. I follow Andy since his days in Danger Danger. He has always been a very technical but melodical player, and this is what separate him from the rest. This album in my opinion deserves four stars and a half if it would be an option, simply because it has less memorable riffs and songs than the precedent "That was then this is now". That album had some unforgettable tunes like "Super 70" or "Cry for you" that have the right to be considered among the best guitar songs ever from any player. This album has less memorable stuff but it is highly enjoyable from its beginning to its end. It is "consistent". I can't pick up a song. They're all very good, not absolutly memorable, but VERY good. Few cats can release a rock record honest, pure, true like this one. Andy is really one of the few rock guitarists that I still listen to (Andy Timmons, Steve Lukather, Michael Lee Firkins, Greg Howe, Shawn Lane, Prashant Aswani and few more). He's not only a shredder. Considering Andy a simple shredder from the eighties would be a very misleading judgement. Sure his music is based on chops, but he plays very deep music. A lot of players in the past had chops but they weren't considered lesser players for this reason, on the contrary they were great even for the chops! (Chopin, Listz, Shawn Lane, Charlie Parker, Dizzie Gillespie, John Coltrane, Eddie Van Halen, Leo Kottke, Michael Hedges etc etc). Chops are fantastic if they are used to play music and not simply to impress. Take your time and listen to this album few times and you'll understand what I'm saying. Andy's guitar playing do communicate feelings.

The Good
"Deliver Us" focuses on melodic guitar runs and tight rhythms. "Ghost of You" starts of tame and subdued, but drives up the distortion at various intervals. There's nothing too complicated on "Resolution," just a simple down tempo progressive accented by organ tones. "Redemption" barrels along with lots of speed and energy, and displays some of Timmons' most technical and intricate abilities. "Lydia" is an emotional instrumental ballad. Emotions continue to remain somber on the moving track "Gone (9/11/01)." Timmons channels his Danger Danger days on the over-the-top rocker "Move On."

The Bad
Nothing notable

The Verdict
Resolution is a straight-up rock instrumental album with plenty of guitar flash and flare, tight rhythms, and emotional ballad pieces.

Wow. I had known about Andy Timmons for a while but never heard anything by him. I go to Favored Nations now and then to see who the latest artists are over there. I saw his new CD, Resolution, so I bought it. I am a guitarist and I'm into the usual suspects, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, John Petrucci, Steve Morse...you get the picture. Let me say that Andy Timmons belongs mentioned in the same sentence. The song/tunes on this CD are his own style but familiar in that instrumental rock has guitar as the lead instrument mostly. Good compositions. SUPER GREAT TONE! Great Playing! One tune evoked so much feeling I actually welled up. It was the 9-11 piece. I have never had that happen to me with a piece of rock music. This guy is great. No doubt about it!

For those who are aware of Andy Timmons, this CD stands as his most prized accomplishment to date. When a conversation occurs about the finest guitarists in the world, if Andy Timmons is not mentioned, it's not a valid conversation.

Don't be fooled by the fact that he's signed on Steve Vai's record label. This is not music written specifically for, and riddled with, self-indulgent "trickster" licks. This is beautifully and orgnically created material that Andy colors to perfection with the incredible sensitivity he posseses for his instrument. Every lead is constructed with what is best for the song in mind. It's so easy and pleasurable to wrap your ears around his sound, style and, particularly, the phrasing of his leads that you completely forget there is not a singer.

His most sensitive, beautifully crafted effort to date, without question. That's not to say that his previous efforts aren't worthy of high praise as well. It's just that Resolution completely expresses where this man is at musically at this point in his amazing career and we can only look forward to what the future may bring from this amazing musician. Resolution is well worth the listen. It will turn you into an Andy Timmons fan . . . PERMANENTLY!

Andy Timmons and his new Resolution cd is a fabulous sounding work of art. It will knock your socks off! Unbelievable tone and style. Possibly the best guitar music to come out in the last 5 years. One song after another showcasing his mind-boggling sense of melody and masterful guitar/amp tone. My only complaint is I can't seem to get any of my chores accomplished, as I have been listening to this album over and over! Thanks very much to Andy for a truely great listening experience!

You must own this CD if you love the art of guitar playing. Every cut is a winner! This CD inspires me..... Thanks Andy...

As a person who not only plays music (rock, jazz, classical, blues, country, etc.) but has been collecting music with over 700 CD's in the collection, I rarely like to simply dole out the 5 star ratings without some scrutiny; but, let's be honest, Andy Timmons has the chops to compete with the all-time greats (Vaughn, Vai, Satriani, Keaggy, Hendrix, Gilbert), and something else that many of them lack (especially today's players). That is: melodic sense. I like speed, sure, adding to the prowess of this musician as a technical giant, but a song has to have a point to it to be a great song. Andy gets that point.

I just finished listening to this CD for the first time after having just recieved it in the mail, and I was floored! No question Andy has the technicality to insert the mindblowing riffs with extreme precision exactly where they are needed, but he has the where-with-all to understand the places in the story (the song, that is) that need one single, perfect note placed within the chord, or maybe even, yes...silence.

As with other CD's from this amazing guitarist, this one is also a must have.

For those who want to dig a little deeper into Andy:

Particularly good other selections from Andy include "Ear X-tacy" (melodic metal instrumentals, one crazy kick-butt country-rock tune, and an awesome tribute song to Stevie Ray Vaughn, among others), "Pawn Kings" (if you like bluesy, sometimes southern flavored rock-and-roll - 1/2 of songs with lyrics), "The Spoken And The Unspoken" (more melodic rock instrumentals with some alternative-rock influence on the songs with lyrics), and, of course, the acclaimed "That Was Then, This Is Now" compilation (almost all melodic hard rock instrumentals, some bluesy-jazz-rock influences). Try it, love it, understand!

Best so far (Excluding the Semi-Compilation "That Was Then, This Is Now")
If you're reading this, you most likely know Andy's music, so no need to analyze every note, melody, or perceived inflection, intention, implementation etc.. It is what it is. Great guitar playing and solid melodies. No vocals on this one. Also, no filler (well 2 songs perhaps, but that is a matter of opinion).
So, if you like Andy's previous releases, you'll like this as well.. But don't expect it to equal TWTTIN.
Personally, on this release, I don't hear any tune on the same level as "Groove or Die", but as a whole, a fantastic CD.
Definitely worth adding to your CD collection. You'll play it a lot.

I was with my friend in Dallas three years ago and he asked me if I wanted to go see Andy Timmons. I was thinking, "the guitarist from Danger Danger?" I didn't know he still performed. He has become an even more versatile and amazing guitarist since his axe ruling days of the 80's. I had his last album, but "Resolution," is even better than that and he is definetly still one of the leading guitarist in the industry.

-CW