INVITATION

What do you get when you put together a specialist of classical music, a technical guitarist and an amateur of "surf" music? The answer is: this nice instrumental album. A good mix of classical and modern music played exclusively from a guitar ensemble.

I would say the only weak part of this album is the whole "Train To Lamy" suite - it's a bit too "light" compared to the rest of the album, the only exception being the beautiful reprise cowritten with Ennio Morricone. "Punta Patri" is one of my favorite instrumentals of all time - the sadness of the melody enhanced by some touch guitar brings the emotion to a high level. Bach's "Toccata And Fugue In D Minor" (probably my favorite classical piece) is nicely interpreted - here you can see the great musicianship of those guys - though I still prefer the classical version with organs instead of guitars. "Fratres" is a quiet interlude before the cover of The Shadows' "Apache". "Above The Clouds" and "Prelude Circulation" are classical "Crafty" instrumentals - the first one being mostly emotional and the second one being technical. "The Good The Bad And The Ugly" from Ennio Morricone closes the album with a touch of humour.

Rating: 80/100