GAME ON!

The album is a set of songs based on the music from a number of classic video games. I'm not much of a game player, and when I play I don't often listen too closely to the music, so I can't say I recognize that much of the music. But my son could tell where most of the songs came from (What does that say about him?)

Like the prvious album, "Mannekin", Clay Withrow played the majority of the instruments, with Brandon Lopez on drums. Unlike the previous album, Withrow gets some assistance on keyboards (Abe Hartley) and bass (Carlton Dorsey). The result is a much more finished sounding album. The songs are all very full sounding, as if they were played by a band that was interacting with each other. I am especially impressed by Lopez' tight complex drumming. This album put him high up there with some of the best prog drummers I've heard.

The songs, being based on game music, rarely ventures outside of the 4/4 box, but Withrow, being an adept guitarist and composer, manages to put in quite a few twists and turns. While on the surface, this is very much a Satriani-like album, there is an undercurrent of symphonic styling that makes this an interesting listen.

3.5 stars, rounded up.

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