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'Moonfudge' is
the second solo guitar release from UK guitarist Edward Box.
Originally hailing from Cumbria but now living in Newcastle Upon Tyne,
England, Edward is regarded as one of the regions leading guitar gurus.
This new album
follows his debut solo release 'Plectrumhead' in 2003, taking material
gathered over the ensuing three years between albums. ‘Moonfudge’
once again display Box’s passion for the guitar without going into over
the top shredding mode and sticking to intricate subtle melodies and
riffs.
With 'Plectrumhead'
Box’s early influences like George Lynch, Schenker, Vai and Satriani were
ever present, but with this new album he has developed his own sound.
The album opens
up with ‘Jack In The Box’, a track that gently unwinds into a flurry of
hard rock guitar that isn’t as pretentious as other guitar albums I’ve
heard. Box leaves his ego firmly on the back burner and just plays
good guitar with great melodies.
Box tries things
from a different angle with the harder grinding guitar sound on the
appropriately named ‘Welcome To The Grindhouse’.
The same melodic
hard rock styled riffs that are found on the first track on the album are
again present on ‘Axis Of Evil’. Things take a stroll a more gentler
road with the atmospheric ‘Hourglass’, a real mellow song that reminds me
of hot summer nights watching the sun go down over a calm sea as the last
glimpse of sun passes over the horizon and the sky is filled with a red
and yellow glow the last glimmer of the day gone by.
The album
continues with the same degree of subtle unrelenting melodic riffs with
the likes of ‘Stanton’s Stomp’, which is a reworking of a vocal track by
Box’s old band Arch Stanton and the rockier ‘Trailblazer’, a riff that Box
had back in 1992/93, which finally sees the light of day.
Things slow down
once more for ‘Downstream’ as Box takes up both the acoustic and electric
guitar for this one. A great blend of both styles that strangely
compliment each other on this track and as the track unfolds it builds
into quite a awesome piece of music.
Box shows his
also has a great feel for the harder side of rock with the excellent
‘Pasadena’ and the rocker ‘Reverse Polarity’.
But it’s the
excellent ‘Big Screen Love Song’ that is where Box really shines.
This could have been an really pretentious track with lots of outrageous
shredding, but instead it is wonderfully soulful track were Box just lets
his fingers magically caress the fret board and what comes out is simply
world class.
This album is a real
credit to a man who will make a lasting impression on the guitar-playing
world over the coming months. |
