Customer Reviews

Roundabout

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

 

 

If you are a casual listener to this recording you will definitely enjoy it. If you then realize that Phil Keaggy looped everything here all by his lonesome and that many of the songs are off the cuff Improvisations, you begin to understand what a great achievement this recording truly is.

I've listened to, and enjoyed, Phil Keaggy's music since his days with The Glass Harp. I have to say though that this recording is in my opinion quite wide of the mark. "Roundabout" has a couple of fine moments on it, but overall it's a very poor outing. It may in fact be his worst recording since "True Believers". After 40 years and dozens of recordings we can't expect them all to be jems. This one I believe falls far short of what most people would expect from Keaggy. I think it's important to be honest with reviews even of our most cherished musicians. I would hate to think that some poor person or tennager without much money had spent it on this badly made CD when they could have spent it on one of Keaggy's best. Also, a first time listener may never give any of his better music a chance if they hear this CD first.

As another review mentioned, Phil Keaggy uses a loop machine to record himself, play the loop back, and play over the loop. You really have to see this to believe it. I saw Phil do this at a Promisekeepers event several years ago. At first I couldn't figure out what he was doing. He was only one guy up there and he sounded like an entire band. Phil played a riff on his guitar which was recorded by the loop machine, then he hit a pedal and the loop started playing while Phil played over the loop. Sometimes he had more than one loop playing. During one song he sang into the guitar pickup, looped it, and it became backing vocals as he played on. When I finally figured out what he was doing I was just amazed! This was first time I had seen or even heard Phil's music, and I became an instant fan. I am so glad that he has preserved this style of playing on CD.

After Phil finished his set for the PK audience, he joined the Maranatha band while they performed Bob Dylan's Gotta Serve Somebody and brought the house down. You cannot go wrong with buying any of Phil's CDs. He is a brilliant musican who writes songs from a personal (first) and Christian (second) viewpoint.