ELECTROMAGNETS

Electromagnets sole selftitled album was released in 1974. This album caught my attention because of Eric Johnson´s participation on the G3 tour with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai ( look in Steve Vai´s discography for: Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, Steve Vai- G3 Live In Concert). It´s not that I really think Eric Johnson´s music is breathtaking or excellent in any way on that album but I felt that I at least had to give his seventies fusion album a chance.

The music on Electromagnets is jazz/ rock fusion of the softer variant. Technically challenging but with a generally light mood. The album is almost entirely instrumental except for Salem which has vocals. A nice feature to make the album more diverse. All songs are more or less good but I think that Hawaiian Punch and especially the little more agressive Dry Ice are the best songs on the album. I would put Electromagnets in the same boat as The Dixie Dregs and some of Jeff Beck´s jazz/ rock albums like Blow by Blow and Wired.

The two live tracks on the CD re-issue are very powerful even though the sound quality isn´t the best. Listen to that shred work from Eric Johnson.

The musicianship is outstanding. These guys are very accomplished.

The production is excellent and brings out the best in the music.

Electromagnets is a good album IMO, but I must say that I generally prefer darker music than this. I think the album deserves 3 stars and I fully understand if others feel that this album should receive 4 stars because it´s a very professional album and the quality of the music is high. It´s just a matter of aquired taste with this one for me I guess.