Customer Reviews

Who Else

5 star:		(62)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Where did he find the guitar he's playing here? And the amp? How does he find that sound out of a Strat? I'm joking but Beck has a sound that is incredibly beautiful and unique. What he can do with a simple strat is out of my ability to comprehend (and I'm a guitarist myself). His sound is so full, so human, so forward, so intense, so beautiful!! The way he plays a melody like he did here on Angel is incredible. He is so lyrical! What an incredible way to let the note sing, resonate in your soul.. He is miles forward all the guitarists of our era. They can play a zillion notes. Beck outplay them all with a simple melody, and a whammy bar effect ... what a master!! And what about all his Beckism, all his trademark rumors, bend, slides, whammy tricks he displays here on "Space for the Papa" for example? An astounding way of play art in music, a unique bag of tricks to send shivers down your spine ... crazy. I will buy whatever he will ever come out with. Every time I listen to Beck I have to sit down. He floors me. I don't care if there are electronic loops and weird stuff here and there in this album. Everything Beck touches it becomes gold. He is so good its ridicolous. Someone here compares Beck to Page and Clapton ... c'mon guys be serious. Ah! Ah! Ah! Don't make me laugh. They are mummies, '60's dinosaurs ... Beck is playing music ready for the next millenium (3000). Eternal music! He takes risks, he plays from the heart, he has personality, fantasy, musical charisma. Clapton and Page cannot even be his roadies!!

While most, if not all, of his contemporaries (I won't call them peers 'cause they aint!) seem to wallow in the old techniques that got them there, El Becko soars above them all by constantly evolving and making music that reflect the times. I was so happy with this album. It was worth the wait. Then he follows with You had it coming and Jeff. Kind of a trilogy of Guitar Terror. And all PHENOMINAL. As an aside I was sitting there watching "It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World" (old movie.If you don't know it...rent or buy it). This album had just come out and while watching the flick one of the characters (Dick Shawn) utters the words "Y'all Hear What Mama Said?!"...yes the same sample used in the song! I nearly fell over. I was lucky enough to meet Jeff Beck back stage during his Austin show shortly thereafter and mentioned that I knew where the sample came from. When he found out I knew...all he wanted to do was talk about the movie. Apparently it is one of his all time faves. What a great Bloke!

I have always known who Jeff Beck is. But, for some reason, I never got around to adding him to my library. One night I was riding with my guitar playing friend down the freeway and he plugged in "Space for Papa." I was blown away! The car seemed to transform into some sort of friction free transport that floated along the highway. That song is the fastest seven plus minutes in rock and roll history! I made my friend play it two more times before we reached our destination! My mind still reels from thinking about that first listen! I bought this album from Amazon soon after and it is a great album!

If you like great rock and blues guitar, and want to cut your teeth on some Jeff Beck, this is the album to start your collection. I recently gave that CD to another guitar playing friend of mine and re-ordered it for myself. Today, I am ordering three more.

P.S. This album has a great sound engineer. I have a JBL pro sound DJ system with 4500 watts of fine tuned power. Of all the CDs I play, "Who Else!" is the album I use to set up the EQ for the night. When you use pro sound, you can hear the differences from various sound engineers on different albums. It can be very annoying some times because some CDs sound great and others just so-so. This album sounds perfect. Tight and clean in all aspects and instruments. I wish all my CDs were engineered this clean.

This album is meant to be CRANKED!!! I think I'll do that now, again!

Jeff Beck is one of the lost heros of the guitar. Many seem to overlook him and not realize the talent that he is and his contributions to eclectic cutting edge guitar. He is one of my influences every time I play the guitar and "Who Else" is chuck full of in your face raw licks and chordal bricks to the head. Its all good on this CD...buy it...I am glad I did.

JB is one of my favs, and this recording shows that he still one of the best out there. While his music and style continue to evolve and change, the work continues to be tip top. Definitely underrated in terms of his contributions to guitar playing/innovation. Some of the tracks have a bit of an electonica feel which may not suit some ears... personally I enjoy it. Nevertheless, the music & guitar work is top notch.

Jeff proves with this album that he's definitely not "washed-up" by any stretch of the imagination. "Brush With The Blues" proves it. Listen to the ear-piercing howl of his guitar at 3:02 into the song. Unbelievable. And "Angel (Footsteps)" contains the most BEAUTIFUL notes to ever emanate from a guitar. It's just as simple as that.

Who Else! marks an impressive return by the master of guitar- Jeff Beck. It seems to be generally agreed here that Who Else! is not one of Jeff's best (Wired, You Had It Coming) and I tend to agree with that. However, Who Else! is well worth the money you have to pay for it, and any fan of Jeff's should definately own this disc.

"What Mamma Said" is an explosive opener to an explosive disc. Here we are introduced to Jennifer Batten, Jeff's composing and second guitarist/midi keyboard partner. However this song is only a blueprint on what's to come. "Psycho Sam" could not have been named more perfectly, and has a perfect postition on the disc (after an explosive tune and before "Brush with the Blues"). More great playing is shown by Jeff, and it is probably one the best tunes that Tony Hymas has written for him. Next we come to the amazing "Brush With the Blues." Any guitarist should listen, absorb, and learn what Jeff is playing on this song. The solo is astounding and cannot be put into words. The band's dynamics are very strong, and that makes this song very effective to the listener. Here we will skip to "Space for the Papa," another highlight. Jeff displays maginifcent dynamics and slide playing here, which extends into the emotion "Angel (Footsteps)." Jeff plays notes that aren't even on the fretboard, and the solo can cause you to weep. The most emotional song on this disc is "Declan" though. There are many exotic instruments in this Irish cover, and Jeff can really put a lump in your throat with this one. The album has it's rough spots, such as "THX 138," but even those are worth listening to and do not make this a bad album at all. "Another Place" is a quiet closer for a loud disc, and Jeff's playing is graceful and elegant here.

Overall, buy this disc. It's worth it.

This album is perhaps one of rock's best comebacks. Jeff Beck fills his guitar with passion and beauty, as well as being technically astounding, and it's very refreshing, considering much of music today is stale and boring.

Stale and boring is one thing Who Else! is not. "What Mamma Said" is an explosive opener and fits with the sampled quote perfectly. "Psycho Sam," one of the hightlights of the disc, is just what the title of the song says. It is a crazy, rocking song, and features some awesome playing by Mr. Beck as well as Jennifer Batten. "Brush With the Blues," the third song, is one of the best tracks of Jeff's entire career. His tone is rich, his technique is right-on, and there is tons of emotion. The crazy-yet-beautiful solo in the middle is worth paying the money for this CD alone! Next, we cool off a bit with "Blast from the East," another good track filled with odd time signatures and awesome tone. "Space for the Papa" is after that, and features some of Beck's coolest slide playing ever, which follows into "Angel (Footsteps)" which features even better slide playing! Beck never fails to amaze. "Hip Notica" is a fun tune and features some excellent organ-midi work by Ms. Batten. "Even Odds" is a great rocker and Jeff has a great, mean tone here. "Declan," the 10th track, is one of the most beautiful moments of guitar playing I have ever heard. I cannot say more than that. "Another Place" is the perfect closer to this disc and is also very beautiful.

Overall, a great disc that proves Jeff Beck is back to stay. Rock on, Mr. Beck.

I come to this CD with very little prior exposure to Jeff Beck. Having said that, this is not a perfect disc, but after several listens, I like it a lot. The music usually explores new or interesting directions while keeping the emotion in the mix. The rare spoken-word add-ons are surplusage, more so than the similarly rare add-ons in Steve Stevens' solo album or the second Bozzio Levin Stevens album, but that is a minor point. Six songs really make this disc for me: What Mama Said, Angel, Psycho Sam, Space for Papa, THX 138, and Declan (in probably that order). The only song I would have dropped off the disc was Brush With the Blues. Of course, I still let the song play when it comes up, rather than fast forward.

As for particular songs...

What Mama Said-the music and tempo kept me off center for the first several listens, but I am a big fan of this type of loud hard guitar sound, w/ a strong electronica influence;

Psycho Sam-tense, electronica influence, compelling, complex;

Brush With the Blues-A little more traditional blues rock, which is OK if you like that sort of thing. Its not my mood;

Blast from the East-the rhythm guitar and some of the solos provide the "East" blast; the remainder is fairly standard midtempo guitar rock, reminiscent of some moments of John Paul Jones's Zooma album (though without the low tone crunch);

Space for Papa-bluesy, with a strong twangy electric guitar, a bit of swagger and very effective changes in tone and tempo;

Angel-loping, beautiful, long, jazzy, slow midtempo, with a tinge of electronica in the beats; the combination sounds a little more like Ry Cooder in his world music mode, with a shade of Indian (subcontinent, not American Indian) tones. Really good.;

THX 138-a stronger electronica presence, faster paced, sustained guitar chords throughout, mixing effectively with the soloing. The "swirling solos" and the relentless bass line made this song a standout for me;

Hip Notica-Not crazy about the title; slower song, not as emotionally effective as Angel, but not bad;

Even Odds-Mid tempo rock, strong bass line again; fair, but nothing that screamed for attention;

Declan-slow, weeping guitar with flute [!]; nice, emotional;

Another Place-slow, new age jazz guitar, rather short and inconsequential end to the disc; again, OK if you like that sort of thing.

Jeff Beck has gone techno?! (Gasp!) Yes! And he does is it in fine fashion. Who Else isn't as good as You Had It Coming (which is probably Jeff's best album), but it's still great. Here's my thoughts on the tracks:

What Mamma Said: A great song to kick off the album. The middle section gets a little stale, but then it kicks up again. Co-written by Jennifer Batten.

Psyco Sam: Arabic techno to the extreme! Make sure your volume isn't up too loud on this song, as it may surprise you. The title fits this song well.

Brush with the Blues: Probably the best song on Who Else. Jeff builds up the blues, then shreds it apart in a mean, terrific blues solo. Again, Jeff never fails to bring out great blues.

Blast from the East: Jeff gets a great tone on this song, and it has a cool melody.

Space for the Papa: The longest track on the album. It gets a little boring after a while, then kicks up a bit, then gets boring again. The solo is pretty good, though.

Angel (Footsteps): Perhaps the most complex and difficult song on the album. Melodic slide work, great tone, great melody...it's all here.

THX 138: The guitar loops get a little old in this song, but the soloing over them is pretty cool. A sci-fi type song.

Hip Notica: Jeff proves with this song (along with Rosebud on You Had It Coming) that he still has funk left in him. I dare ya not to tap your foot. Go on, try. Can't do it, eh?

Even Odds: A top-notch song. An with no surprise, it's a collaboration with Jan Hammer. While there's none of Hammer's signature synth-work in this song, Jeff's part is heavily distorted and pretty cool.

Declan: The most beautiful song on the album. Sit down, put this song on, and close your eyes. Memories of green hills and mountains flow by.

Another Place: A short, yet cool little solo piece by Jeff. It's just him and his guitar.