MARTY FRIEDMAN

Not having gotten the mellowness bug fix quite satiated on that album, FRIEDMAN returned two years later with his next excursion into the world of new age ambient flavored music only taken to the next level with several additional musicians and an upgrade in the compositional fortitude. INTRODUCTION came out at the end of 1994 pretty much released simultaneously with Megadeth's "Youthanasia" album and once again featured fellow band member drummer Nick Menza in the percussionist's seat.Along for the ride were pianist / keyboardist Brian BecVar and a few classical musicians including Sachi McHenry on cell, Charlie Bisharat on violin and Nick's father Don Menza playing the Japanese woodwind shakuhachi who himself was a famous saxophonist as a member of the Buddy Rich band as well as playing with Elvin Jones and Louie Bellson. The end results followed in the footsteps of "Scenes" but INTRODUCTION was a completely different type of album with only a quiet, calming placidly shared as the commonality. FRIEDMAN claims most of the music was written during his endless flight schedule and created so he he could listen to it in order to pacify his hatred of flying.

Defying any true categorization, INTRODUCTION came off as some sort of progressive post-classical minimalist new age lullaby album with intricate melodic developments borrowing an idea or two from traditional Japanese folk musical forms as well as incorporating traditional pop techniques of the American 1950s. The album featured eight distinct tracks that added up to 42 minutes of playing and basically revolved around a catchy intricately deigned melodic flow that implemented the creative use of timbres and musical cadences as the primary methodology of spicing everything up with extended compositional build ons to simulate a verse / chorus / bridge style of compositional flow. The music was sparsely decorated with various pairs of instruments showcasing subtle variations in the same recurring melodies that retained the lullaby effect whether the music delivered an atmospheric new age moment, Western classical minimalism or the occasional moments into the world of guitar based rock that featured the bass and drums with an occasional guitar lick erupting into virtuosity.

The piano based opening "Arrival" sets the stage with alternating parts that allow the music to reprise the same melody only set to differing instrumentation and dynamic shifts. The tracks that follow all offer distinct personalities that showcase FRIEDMAN's virtuosity delivered in impressive finger-picking skills that culminated the most complex Italian inspired melodies on "Mama." The creative drop in and drop out effect of the Japanese flute, the violin, cello, piano and rock parts maintained an unpredictable framework within the overall continuity of the melodic process with a few moments of time signature deviations added for the element of surprise. "Bittersweet" began with a detached Japanese flute that slowly ratcheted up the melodic deliveries before with a lugubrious orchestral effect slowly upped the intensity while ultimately culminating in one of the most impressive clean guitar picking solos on the entire album.

"Be" on the other hand begins as one of the most placid tracks of the lot only to make a complete shift into the world of rock with the most dynamic electric guitar workouts on the album. "Escapism" on the other hand nurtures a brilliant compositional flow only to feature an extended improv in rancho relaxo mode only with clever guitar licks offering soul piercing note bends and FRIEDMAN's obvious deeper connection to the very essence of melody itself. As the album progresses each and every track only offers an utterly instant ear worm with Japanese inspired melodic hooks with MARTY's most tasteful of guitar bends that sound like their narrating a greater tale behind the scenes. The album culminates in the rather distinct sounding "Siberia" which offers guitar tones and drumming techniques not heard throughout the album. The album delivered all the compositions in surprisingly good taste while maintaining a basic new age placidity without really falling into that world whatsoever. This is the kind of intricately designed mellow music that Buckethead has been striving for for decades and never even come close to the sheer genius of the compositional fortitude laid out on these eight outstandingly beautiful tracks.

Fearing that he was alienating his fanbase completely at this stage, FRIEDMAN would never release these kinds of mellow albums again with future albums returning to the heavy metal basis for shredding and general songwriting. While this album may sound like an absolutely disastrous proposal it is pulled off with so much class it brings tears to my eyes when i experience it. The tasteful use of melodies and how they are forged into a unique compositional wholeness evokes the world of the classical musical geniuses of yore and FRIEDMAN after proving his top dog status as one of the top neoclassical and thrash metal masters of all time displayed how his talents went well beyond such confines of heavy music. This is an album i always think i'm going to outgrow after many years but every time i put it on i'm really just blown away like a was the first time i heard it. If i had only one complaint about the entire album it would be the lazy drumming techniques on the rock oriented sequences but even then they don't distract from the overall goal. This is an all-instrumental affair with only the beautiful track "Luna" offering an uncredited female voice narrating some poetic prose in the Japanese language thus showcasing FRIEDMAN's fascination with the Japanese culture almost a decade before he would permanently relocate there. Pure genius this one!

SCENES is a strange anomaly of a musical experience. It is first and foremost a guitar album but this is way different than what Shrapnel Records was known for. Much more known as a shredder's paradise which gave FRIEDMAN exposure to the greater musical world, SCENES is not only a departure for FRIEDMAN from his metal-centric reality but for the label as well and the best part of which is that the notorious crappy tinny shoddy production values that Shrapnel Records was famous for is thankfully missing here. This album is crisp and clean and every tiny sound being magnified into its full potential.

The music is a strange hybrid of exotic Eastern inspired cleanly played guitar scales with symphonic atmospheres shrouding every single note. The guitar playing is very tasty and instead of MARTY's usual million notes a second methodology, he plays slow to mid tempo arrangements that after fully unfolding accompanied by lush symphonic orchestral type arrangements only then explodes into a harder edged rock and metal with his electrified solos. Everything though is quite calculated and slave to the melodic developments. Nothing is left to improvisation or "unwelcome" notes. There is a clear Japanese influence on this one signifying FRIEDMAN's ever growing fascination with the Oriental world and musical styles even to the point that his future wife Mimi also contributes vocals in Japanese on "Realm Of The Senses" the most obvious Oriental sounding track of the lot. In case you are familiar with "Dragon's Kiss" the last song "Triumph" on here is indeed a new age version of "Thunder March."

If you could possibly entertain the notion of one of metal's greatest lead guitarists exhibiting his talents in a subdued dreamy atmospheric Eastern parade of beautiful and catchy melodies exercising as much restraint as his off-the-leash shredding then you should definitely check out SCENES for it is an extremely tasty and well thought out album that is as far as i know utterly unique in its experimentalism crossing unlikely metal shredding guitar sounds with symphonic new age sensibilities. I would rate this higher because the guitar playing, the melodic developments and Brian BecVar's atmospheric keyboards are top notch but what holds this back a wee bit for me is that long time associate Nick Menza's drumming style is a little too obsequiously laid back to the guitars and sometimes the keyboards can sound a little cheesy (especially on "Valley Of Eternity.") This is an album i fell in love with a long time ago and have listened to it countless times and it still instills the same thrill and awe that i experienced the first time around. A long time favorite that i love to break out now and again

While these are all remakes there are three new tracks and two of them begin the album. 'Barbie' sound like a grunge version of the 'Rosemary's Baby' theme which is very short at only one minute and then abruptly turns into 'Simple Mystery' which is a heavy alternative rocker. The closer 'Tears Of An Angel' is the other original track and it is the odd track out as it sounds more like a melodic symphonic guitar song like off of 'Introduction' and sounding unlike the punk infused metal rockers that constitutes the rest of the album.

This album went over like a pile of doggy doo in the punch bowl when it was released. This album totally rubbed MARTY's fans the wrong way and i can actually understand why. For one thing he does the unthinkable by punkifying sacred cows such as 'Tornado Of Souls' from Megadeth's magnum opus 'Rust In Peace,' Cacophony tracks like 'Burn The Ground' and 'Where My Fortune Lies' as well as tracks from his entire career including his very first band Deuce. A novel idea and one worthy of exploration and i have to say that i do not find this album as hideous as the rest of the metal world seems to. While it is probably the nadir of MARTY's discography it is an interesting listen to hear a virtuoso play J-pop inspired punk of his prior musical output. The production is pretty raw and obviously designed to be that way. It is very weird to hear punk like creations that also have neoclassical guitar solos inserted.

While some of the tracks are admittedly of bad taste and should have been axed from the playlist, the overall effect is not the brutal rape of the eardrums as many would have you believe. True Colson isn't the cream of the vocal crop but does lend an interesting amateurism to the mix. MARTY seems to have succeeded in sounding like a garage revival band of sort breaking that spell only with some of the technical wizardries that he can't refrain from. This is a decent album although i'm the first to admit it's probably my least favorite of his lengthy disco. Tasty riffs, nasty solos and the J-pop punk energy is certainly there. Maybe he's just completely gone Japanese after living in Tokyo and hosting TV shows like Rock Fujiyama and Jukebox English for a little too long. It certainly made him whacky for this one but hey, he's constantly reinventing his sound so fear now. I personally like this, at least most of it.

As with his usual solo albums INFERNO displays aspects of thrash and progressive metal with his unique virtuosic neoclassical solo skills in full display. MARTY has been a favorite guitarist of mine for some time because he doesn't rely on technical skills alone but rather deftly intertwines them with brilliant ideas with emotional depth well beyond the average guitar wankery. There is flamenco / metal fusion on "Wicked Panacea" with Rodrigo y Gariela, industrial metal sounding pounding on "Steroidhead," the punk inspired "I Can't Relax," the John Zorn meets groove metal track "Meat Hook" with Jørgen Munkeby delivering an absolutely killer sax frenzy, the death metal meets melodic trad on "Sociopaths" with David Davidson screaming on vocals, the sublime guest vocals of Alexi Laiho of Children Of Bodom on "Lycanthrop" and "Horrors" which somehow compiles guitar action from Jason Becker who is now paralyzed from Lou Gehrig's Disease (probably an archival thing).

If you love the high energy intensity of his debut "Dragon's Kiss" and the Cacophany albums with all the influences from the experimental fusion albums ranging from "Scenes" to "Tokyo Jukebox" then you will love this. I have to say that MARTY FRIEDMAN never rests on his laurels and despite an album or two that gets bogged down in a pool of stagnate reservoirs, more often than not MARTY knows how to up his game delivering some seriously intensely creative metal guitar with smokin' sizzlin' solos that blow away most of the competition. I personally think this is one of MARTY's best despite having a very consistent discography on his hands.

This is an album for lovers of virtuoso musicianship. MARTY FRIEDMAN remains one of the finest guitarists in all of rock history but on this debut album he displays his sweeping arpeggios, exotic scales, masterful picking and progressive time signatures with a sense of flair and bravado unmatched on his following solo releases. MARTY is all about worshiping the melody and nails it on every move here. Although he can shred like nobody's business, it's his calculated discretion as to when to do so and when to let the note wail milking every conceivable possibility for its use. The music here is thunderous traditional 80s metal with speed ladened licks running up and down the scales shifting moods and tempos in a flash but also contains fair amounts of laid back slow building crescendo inducing scales and chord changes. Every little note is well placed and the aim of this music is to create a pleasing emotional response while simultaneously blowing your mind technically speaking.

DRAGON'S KISS is simply put a brilliant masterpiece of instrumental music that works in every possible way. Melodically, energetically, exotic flair etc. I am so tempted to give this 5 stars because MARTY's guitar playing and songwriting are of that caliber however the production is just awful and MARTY's bass playing skills don't match his guitar talents. A very close call but these flaws really keep this album in the 4 star range. If you are thrilled by faster-than-the-speed-of-light guitar wizardry that worships the melody then this is a mandatory addition to any guitar freaks collection where melody rich metal will melt your soul with every sweeping picking frenzy. Every track on here is outstanding but I still have a few faves. One of my absolute favorite instrumental musical pieces ever is the mind-blowing "Forbidden City" followed by "Evil Thrill," the beautiful "Narada" and "Jewel."

The overall album flows the music in almost similar way, with new age influenced kind of music. I am impressed with the opening track Arrival (4:52) with its ambient style and good guitar playing. It applies the same with tracks that follow: Bittersweet (5:27), Be (4:51) and the rest. In Luna (5:17) he inserts the female Japanese voice that makes the track sounds different. I also like the melody of Mama (3:55). The concluding track Siberia (4:19) is rich in nature and I do enjoy the track right from the start to end with all of its subtleties.

Overall, it's a highly recommended album and it's an eye opener for me personally as I have never imagined Marty's music is something like this. It's so peaceful listening to this album. Keep on proggin' ...!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Therefore it's not the greatest surprise that the material on "Tokyo Jukebox vols. 1 & 2" are metalized instrumental cover versions of J-pop tracks. The nature of Marty Friedman's solo material have always been eclectic and at times quite exotic, so doing cover versions of J-pop tracks doesn't at all seem out of place for him. As mentioned these are metalized cover versions and some of them feature both fast paced metal rythms and heavy riffs in addition to Marty Friedman's brilliant solo and lead playing. He adds quite a bit of soul to the sometimes polished and easily accessible pop melodies and his arrangements of the tracks are generally of high quality too. The tracks from both albums are very well produced (the tracks from volume two features a slightly more organic sound quality than the tracks from volume 1) and "Tokyo Jukebox vols. 1 & 2" is overall a quality release.

Wether or not you're able to appreciate the pop melodies and polished nature of the music is probably an aquired taste. I guess this release falls under the "open minded music listener" catagory, but personally I enjoyed the quirky nature of the music. There's a sort of happy bubble gum innocence to it, that's somehow greatly charming. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

So here Marty takes a bunch of Jpop numbers and basically morphs them into metal instrumental pieces. Most of the tracks are played with a heavy metal edge to them, with the opening track veering into pure thrash aggression. The overall results of this project are sort of a mixed bag. The interesting thing about Japanese pop is that it tends to be more 'melody' based than 'vocal prowess' based like a lot of western acts, thus the music itself has some strong melodies and memorable chord progressions built right in, which in turn leaves little room for improvisation...in this case, guitar solos over a basic backdrop chord sequence. Yes, this is a guitar showcase, but the shredding and general wankery has to be incorporated within the tight song structures rather than given space to breathe for a crapload of bars after a couple of minutes into the tune. Also, some of these melodies do sound similar after a while, with a sort of signature vibe of "energetic joyful vibrancy with just a slight melodramatic undertone". Some of these songs really tend to blend into each other after awhile. The song "Story" is such a generic jpop template that it seems like a strange choice for an instrumental metal workout. Metal muzak for elevators that soar up and down really fast.

There are two songs that stand out for me. One is the album's centerpiece, "Polyrhythm", a rockin' version of a sprightly techno song that has a real mind-bender of a mid-section. I kind of dug the original for the loopy polyrhythms that pop after the first chorus, so it was cool to hear Marty and the gang mimic all this crazed techno wonkiness. As a result, this song actually sounds progressive, easily the most interesting and memorable cut off the album. The finale track is a standout too, with its majestic vibe and synth washes to back up the guitar's interpretation of original singer Alan's stratosphere reaching vocals.

It's a bit much to digest though as a whole...sort of like trying to eat an entire birthday cake by yourself. There are nobler tasks one can undertake.

Still, it's good for a few slices, sugary and loud for sure, but the enthusiasm can be felt in the delivery. An interesting endeavor.

This album should be one of the influences for certain part of Octavarium song (by "Dream Theater") and it's easy to spot which part.

There is not really much to say about this piece of gentle music that is like a ever happy puppy, always trying to please. 3(+)

From very first sounds album's music sounds very energetic and bombastic, with quite pleasant tunes. But after very few compositions listener will be bored - all songs are very similar, made according to same formula, and in fact are pop-influenced metal guitar shredding demonstration with minimal support from very simplistic rhythm section and some electronics.

This work is not typical axe-hero recordings; it's just too soft and too pop-oriented for that. This music is just more Marty's guitar playing demonstration, but with obvious airplay orientation. As a result, every separate composition is not too bad, even if often presents more instrumental pop-metal, than any form of progressive rock.

But in whole, the album is just not very successful collection of such enough faceless compositions without even traces of experimentation. Too often music sounds even too commercial.

This album possibly will attract Marty's fans, but hardly will be interesting to any other prog rock lover.