Artist: JJ Marsh 
   Title: Music From Planet Marsh
   Label: Independent Release

'Music From Planet Marsh' is the debut solo release from Sweden’s JJ Marsh, or Kurt Joakim Eller Juno Marsh as he's perhaps better known to his family.  JJ has been playing guitar ever since he was ten years old and has seen his various band efforts come and go.  Although JJ has appeared with various artists over the years (check out the HTP Hughes Turner Project), this album is all JJ and I suppose this is his way of getting his music out there to a wider by releasing it himself.

JJ has a relaxed style of melodic rock guitar playing that is just a joy to listen to and he hasn’t a bad singing voice either.  JJ contributes not only guitar and vocals to this album, but also the bass, with the rest of instruments being taken up by Thomas Broman on drums, and both Kjell Haraldsson and Thomas Bodin on the organ and various other instruments.

The album isn’t like other guitarist album I’ve reviewed over the years, JJ leaves his ego on the back seat and just plays good melodic rock guitar without all the shredding and over the top virtuoso stuff that some guitarists insist on.

The album opens up with ‘Electric Women’, a track very much in the 70’s guitar vein.  This reminds me of the early Deep Purple stuff before Gillian and Coverdale with its relaxed guitar riffs and JJ’s voice lending itself well to this more laid back style.

The album continues with ‘Play The Game’, which continues where the opener left off and the addition of the Hammond organ sound adds to that retro feel.  I can see where JJ got the interest of Glenn Hughes for the HTP project, his style would fit in well with the sort of material Hughes puts his voice too.

Things continue with the excellent ‘Is It Real’ before the nine and a half minute epic ‘Into The Light’, a track where JJ guitar and vocal talent really shine.

Another song of epic proportions is the seven minute ‘Something Song’ that leads the way to the rockier ‘Move On’, a really great track where JJ really shows his metal with some quite superb soloing.

Things take a more gentile turn with the soulful ‘Its Not To Late’ and ‘Need A Friend’, before the album closes with something rather special, the eleven minute tour de force ‘The Change’.  A soaring mix of eclectic melodies and tempo changes that rounds of a quite remarkable album that is sure to get the name of JJ Marsh on a few more albums over the coming months.

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