|
Artist: Lars Eric Mattsson |
|
|
Where on earth do you start when you're faced with an album like this?? It's not too often you get a guitar maestro pitting his wits against the backdrop of an orchestra, but when you do, it takes your brain to places it's never been before! A full on instrumental album it is, though would most six-string shredding fans be able to stay focused to really enjoy their passion is the question here. Let's see after nearly an hour long of listening to 'Aurora Borealis'. The first few seconds of opening track 'Rising' with its flighty flute sounds like something from the kids TV show 'Bagpuss', before delving into the combination of guitar trickery and pacey orchestration that seem hell bent on outdoing each other. You could be stepping back in time as the harpsichord enters the fray on 'Bounce', visions of huge white wigs and flamboyant velvet clothing pass before your eyes before Mattsson steps in and drags you back up to date on the guitar. The tune does actually bounce along as the title suggest, and its nice to see that the fretwork isn't trying to overpower the tune. Mattsson seems happy enough to stay out of the limelight and gel gently in and out with the orchestra, whereas he could easily got carried away with himself. Again on 'Forward Thinking' he flits in and out when needed, his use on the wah-wah pedal kept to a minimum, to great effect it has to be said. There's more of a rockfest approach with 'Revolutionary Star', its pompous keyboards suddenly shaking you out of the lull you may have slipped into, before a tremendous drum roll takes you into a frenzy of fast, over the top guitar work you'll witness only on the odd occasion. It's just as well the flute and violins step in now and then or the man wouldn't have any fingers left to play with if left to his own devices! A moment of neat touches of funky guitar in bass break the tune for a split second or two save the graphic equalizer on the stereo from burning out as it's going berserk! Time to relax now as 'The Heart' takes you on a mellow journey of an easy listening solo, backed up by the dancing flute and subtle double bass. All you can do is stretch and give a big sigh as the tune ends, because you know fine well what's next! Fortunately after the racing speed of 'Eternal Cycles', there's another saving grace in 'Clear Skies', to chill our to. Just close your eyes and float away as the tender guitar plays in unison with the violin. Lovely. Hello, we're back to 'Bagpuss' again then as the flute intro of 'Planetary Strength' suddenly gives way to an explosive rock guitar and drumbeat, though it all sounds messy for once due to the orchestra jumping in and out in places where it doesn't sound right. Even though that seems to have been the theme of the album up to now, even the flying solo by Mattsson can't retrieve the tune from sounding nowt nor something. As far as 'Parisienne Etude', why? as nice as the acoustic sounded, I still didn't imagine that "the man with no name" would make an appearance. The tune isn't kept in context with the rest of the album, so unless it was used just to throw the listener a curve ball for some sort of reaction, it didn't hit the mark. It's back to business though on 'Midnight Sun', Mattsson seemingly getting a kick out of trying different styles of solos as the tempo changes over the course of the tune. At 8 minutes long though it does go on just that bit too much for my liking. I think you could say that 'Starfall' is Mattsson's nod to Brian May's 'God Save The Queen', both used as a finale to their work for the day. It's a soaring solo extravaganza without being as arty-farty as May's sometimes gets, stylishly bringing his album to the end. I've never been a fan of classical music at all, and this album won't ever change that, but I can see why the real connoisseur of the guitar will get a huge kick out of 'Aurora Borealis', more still if Lars Eric Mattsson ever toured the album live, which would be something special. Me, in total honesty, I'd rather see the real Aurora Borealis in its glory. Review by: Bob Baldwin |
|
|
Tracklisting: 1. Rising |
|
|
All content copyright of The Mayfair Mall Zine unless otherwise stated. |
|