JEFF BECK'S GUITAR SHOP (WITH TERRY BOZZIO AND TONY HYMAS)

This record sounds sometimes funk/big band, sometimes blues, sometimes hard rock, overpowered by very artificial fat drums and rhythmic keyboards. The best bits are where the keyboards are absolutely floating. The main attraction remains Beck's miscellaneous guitar sounds. Beck's guitar sound is varied and he gives a good exhibition here, sometimes approaching the Fripp's sound. I prefer the relaxing tracks having floating keyboards arrangements.

"Where were you" sounds a bit like Roger Water's "Ballad of Bill Hubbard": WOW! "2 rivers" is the really best track: it has a very smooth floating keyboards ambience with a highly pitched sentimental electric guitar sound: awesome! The almost reggae "Behind the veil" contains excellent moaning guitar notes. I appreciate Beck the most when he sustains his mellow zigzagging solo notes: he should have exploited more this romantic and dreamy style here.

Rating: 3.5 stars

This album is great,i find the collabration between Bozzio,Hymas and Beck perfect.It was as if Beck was Bozzio on guitar and vice versa.As all throughout the album the timing and improvisation is complicated theres still a feel of solid groove.Though Primaily it's Beck's guitar playing being centre focus, i feel Hymas can create a great atmosphere from songs like savoy with solidness and rock piano to Where were you with just adding haunting chords to accompanie Beck's minor guitar bends creating the mood.And Bozzio's drumming is as just high standard as his usual collabrations,the self titled track being one of my many highlights .

The Powerful Trio

How much does a cover artwork influence your purchase decision on a CD? For me, a lot! This Jeff Beck's Guitar Work is a good example on how I arrived at purchasing this CD. I knew Jeff Beck and I liked his guitar playing - especially those with Jan Hammer and Bogert, Appice. But I was not familiar at all with his solo albums. I once had a compilation cassette of Beck's best that contained "Goodbye Pork Pie Hart" that I considered an excellent track. But that's it - I never paid attention to other albums. But when this album was displayed at the CD shop I could not believe that the artwork was so artistic that made me to buy the CD without even thinking about finding a reference from others reviews. I had no time. And right after the purchase, I realized that Terry Bozzio is sitting at the drum stool. It's great! BTW, the artwork was designed by David Coleman (Art Direction) and Mark Ryder (Illustration).

The opening track "Guitar Shop" is a showcase of Beck's powerful vibrato with constant rhythm section while the guitar plays solo augmented with narrative by Terry Bozzio. The guitar work is really stunning. Beck moves his style from fills to melody beautifully. Terry's drum provides dynamic sounds especially during transition pieces. The song ends with howling guitar effects by Beck. The second track is much better. It starts with an atmospheric guitar riffs and drum beats followed by keyboard work. Guitar plays its intertwining roles with keyboard. At minute 1'01 guitar solo reaches its complex solo followed with great jazzy keyboard punch at approx 1'20. At minute 3' the guitar solo reaches its peak with high register notes where Beck uses his acute microtonal sense of pitch to control his work.

Third track "Behind The Veil" is a reggae rhythm section with tight bass lines and rhythmic keyboard augmented with guitar fills by Beck. In "Big Block" explores his guitar with fierce attack at transition piece using high register notes. For some reason this song reminds me to Billy Cobham "Stratus" of "Spectrum" album where Tommy Bolin was the guitar player. "Where Were You" starts with a mellow electric guitar solo in ambient nuance. Tony Hymas provides soft keyboard sounds at background. Beck demonstrates his virtuosity through tapping and pitching techniques.

Overall, this is a very good collection of music for those of you who are fans of guitar sounds. The techniques that Beck demonstrates in this album is quite advanced in nature. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

An album to appreciate.. but not necessarily enjoy

There is no doubting Jeff Beck's stature as one of the top guitar players ever. He has however tended to be under-recognised when compared to his peers such as Clapton and Hendrix. This can in part be explained by the fact that he is more of a team player, his contributions to bands such as The Yardbirds and even his own Jeff Beck group usually being devoid of the virtuoso style of Eric and Jimi.

Beck began setting the record straight with his jazz fusion influenced albums of the late 1970's, and continues the process with this 1989 release. This album is almost exclusively instrumental (although there is spoken word on track one), Beck being accompanied by drummer Terry Bozzio and keyboard player Tony Hymas.

The early tracks on the album focus on the rock side of Jeff's repertoire, "Savoy" having a strong rhythm and some incisive guitar. The track structures are kept pretty simple, Beck remaining firmly centre stage throughout. "Behind the veil" explores funkier territory with a shuffling reggae beat and more noticeable keyboards, but it is still Beck's guitar which dominates proceedings.

Overall, there is a certain coldness to the tracks here, the guitar playing being technically supreme but often lacking in emotion. Even on reflective numbers such as the delicate "Where were you", Beck's focus appears to be on playing the notes with absolute precision. In this respect, for me Beck is much more of a Clapton than a Hendrix or a Gary Moore. This in turn leads to me appreciating the album rather than actually enjoying it.

Those who seek to hear a guitar maestro playing in top form need look no further. Those seeking an album of complex and/or emotional prog as best advised to look elsewhere.

In my not so humble opinion, this is one of Jeff Beck's best albums, as much for his playing as his side men, Zappa alumni Terry Bozzio on drums and keyboard wizard Tony Hymas. The album starts out fairly well, with the title track, Guitar Shop, where Beck and Hymas throw in screaming sounds over a Bozzio's sparse but booming drums. Beck then comes in with a twisted lead guitar leading to Bozzio speaking guitar terms.'

Savoy is a straight ahead, upbeat rocker, with a classic Beck sound. Behind The Veil is a nice reggae tune, made interesting by Hymas' keyboard washes & Beck's solo. Big Block is a grinding blues song, where you would almost believe the band had a bass player.

My favorite track on the disk is Day In The House, where Hymas lays down a weird techno track for Beck to play over, with vocals speaking lines presumably from the British House of Lords.

If you like Jeff Beck, you should love this album.

After Jeff Beck figuratively sharted in his Levis (and on many of his adoring fans) in 1985 by releasing his dubious, demeaning "Flash" album he wisely went on a much-needed hiatus from his career to reassess and, presumably, to do some laundry. One need only to notice the decade we're dealing with and it becomes obvious that no artist in that murky era was immune from being infected by the dreaded MTV virus, even a revered guitar deity like Jeff Beck. Therefore, we should all grant him a lot of slack for, like so many of his esteemed colleagues, succumbing to its siren-like allure and for trying to appear trendy and "hip" to a generation of musical nomads. Retreating to his 70-acre estate outside London for four years evidently did the boy a world of good for he eventually re-hooked up with keyboard wiz Tony Hymas and enlisted the services of American-born drum wunderkind Terry Bozzio to create some fresh sounds as the 80s mercifully came to a close. "Guitar Shop" was the result and the intriguing cover art said volumes. Jeff had put his amazing talent up on the racks for an overhaul and some crucial maintenance in order to get his impressive vehicle back to where it alternately purred like a kitten and roared like a lion. It worked.

Yet the foul taste left in my mouth from the sell-out that was "Flash" lingered and, mostly out of spite, I avoided this record for a very, very long time. It wasn't until these last few years (mainly through television exposures) that I finally realized that Beck is not only just as good as ever but continuing to get better with age. I've started to go back and listen to what he's been doing for the last two decades and have come to the conclusion that I was foolishly hurting no one but myself by boycotting Jeff. He got over "Flash" and moved on. I didn't. And that was to my detriment. "Guitar Shop" is a very good album and more consistent than the three studio LPs that followed his 1975 masterpiece, "Blow by Blow." Whether I acknowledged it or not as the 90s began, Beck was back, armed to the teeth, accompanied by two seasoned mercenaries and he wasn't taking any prisoners.

I've been an admirer of Terry Bozzio since his days as part of one of my guilty pleasures, the quirky band Missing Persons, and so I knew that his contributions would be sizeable. The record's namesake cut opens the album with Terry demanding your undivided attention via punchy, ringing drums as Jeff prods and teases as only he can with wild axe noises as Bozzio verbally injects reams of slick salesman-worthy "industry jargon" heard frequently in the retail guitar biz. There's no discernable melody but that's okay, they opt to take you on a driving, raucous carnival ride through a scintillating maze of sounds. A heavy rock riff sets the tone for "Savoy," a funky locomotive of a tune wherein Beck shows he hasn't lost his infatuation with the effects that were constantly being introduced during the 80s ad nauseum. While these gadgets often detracted from his prowess on "Wired" and, to a lesser extent, on "There and Back," here he demonstrates a modicum of restraint in his employment of them without sacrificing any of the energy they can generate. Tony's "Behind the Veil" is next and Terry's strong but subtle reggae beat propels this song provocatively. Jeff draws upon his knack for melodic runs and Hymas' synthesizers provide a stability and depth of field that corrals and tempers the volatility of his two cohorts.

Bozzio lays down a menacing, heavy blues beat for "Big Block," a hard-hitting track that takes the listener through some intriguing twists and turns. Beck is simply amazing as he tosses in one maniacal lick after another. This is one hot tune. In an abrupt display of contrast, however, they then produce the serene "Where Were You." Jeff performs its haunting, gorgeous melody in front of Tony's dense soundscape, creating a dreamy aura. Beck's masterful ability to manipulate guitar harmonics is damn near supernatural and never as much as on this beautiful number. It's heavenly. The hypnotic spell the trio weaves is suddenly broken, however, by the following cut, "Stand On It." Here their Led Zep-ish approach to authentic Brontosaurus rock gets me right where I live and Bozzio pounds it out with proper Bonzo-styled zeal. The song's progressive, upwardly mobile structure is highly satisfying and Jeff's slide guitar solo is suitably demonic.

For "A Day in the House" Terry once again mans the mike to recite a bossy, authoritarian soliloquy that gives this song a giddy, eclectic spin. Hymas' keyboards are bright and dazzling, offering a point of reference to counterbalance Beck's entertaining shenanigans. The track's multi-layered construction is imaginative and colorful. They then shift 180 degrees for "Two Rivers." Tony erects another lush and glorious backdrop that drenches this tune in a romantic shower of radiant starlight. Jeff's guitar is ever so expressive and penetrating yet he never lets himself get mushy or condescending as to detract from the emotional impact of the central melody. The band closes with "Sling Shot," a startling wakeup call that rudely rouses you from the reverie induced by the previous track. They hone a sharp edge on this one and it races like a formula one car on a straightaway. There's nary a dull moment to be found as all three participants get a chance to get their ya-yas out. Fasten your seat belts, kids, and don't go sticking your head out the window.

You may, with ample reason, label me crazy as a loon but I find that many of the songs on "Guitar Shop" remind me of Weather Report in that they have unpredictable arrangements and no discernable allegiance to tradition. It may be that Beck, during his self-imposed vacation, rediscovered his inner rebel and cast off any misplaced inclinations toward trying to appeal to the video-addicted public, allowing his muse to guide him back to what he does best - letting his guitar do all the talking. I wish I'd not acted like a sulking cuckold and ignored this album when it came out in October of '89. I only deprived myself of enjoying one of my all-time favorite guitar slingers' best offerings for 20+ years. You live, you learn, as Alanis sang. Three and a half stars for this baby.

3.5 stars really

After "Flash", "Guitar Shop" definitely shows Jeff Beck back in his element and shows a drastic increase in musical quality. The album isn't a return to his jazz fusion heyday, however; it instead shows a movement towards more straightforward rock sounds.

Musically, much of the album combines funk, big band and hard rock sounds with flashy 80's-sounding keyboards and heavy drumming and Jeff Beck's six string musings sprinkled on top. These songs are somewhat reminiscent of Steve Vai or Joe Satriani's 80's and early 90's rock work, though with a much heavier focus on keyboards. "Sling Shot", for example, wouldn't sound too out of place on "Alien Love Secrets". My favourite of the rock tracks is "Savoy", a funkier song that reminds me mildly of the theme song from Home Improvement (Huu-eeh?)

However, there are three tracks that take on a much different vibe and will appeal a lot more to prog and jazz fusion fans. The first is "Behind The Veil", a softer, reggae groove with atmospheric guitars similar to "The Pump" off of "There And Back". The other two are even more spacey and light in true Beck fashion. "Two Rivers" is a soft, slow-moving ballad and "Where Were You", my favourite track from "Guitar Shop", is a chilling, percussion-less guitar solo piece with light keyboard accompaniment.

Altogether, "Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop" is very good but non-essential listening for prog fans, though fans of Jeff Beck and other solo guitarists will definitely want to pick this one up. I give it 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3 due to the limited prog-like content.

JEFF BECK started the 1980s with his last gasp of his jazz-fusion days, made a mid-80s dip into the world of new wave / pop rock and ended the decade with something entirely new! After the head scratching move to release "Flash" which pretty much alienated long time fans and utterly failed at landing the next album that would topple Elvis Costello's career, BECK sensibly wrote that off as a quirky experiment and moved on. Next stop? The blues, baby! Yeah ole JEFFY boy was coming full circle so to speak not only by revisiting the blues based hard rock that launched him to fame with The Yardbirds and also as a solo artist but also BECK wisely retreated back to the world of instrumental music. The result was the 1989 release JEFF BECK'S GUITAR SHOP which by the way has to be one of the coolest guitar oriented album covers EVER!

While "Flash" hosted an army of guest musicians cranking out the rockin' the synthpop gone wild, GUITAR SHOP whittles it all down to a mere trio. Of course, BECK is the star on the guitar and man does he tear it up on this album. Tony Hymas makes a reprise on keyboards along with bass pedals (no real bassist on board with this one) and new to the BECK universe is none other than Terry Bozzio of Frank Zappa, UK and Missing Persons fame. The nine tracks on GUITAR SHOP were primarily written by all three members with only a couple finding Bozzio stepping out of the office. This album seems to have been designed to remind fans that JEFF BECK is still the guitar god that graced the world with albums like "Blow By Blow" and "Wired." While the jazz-fusion was pretty much jettisoned, BECK delivers some fiery biting blues guitar performances with slinkin' slide antics and quirky masterful ways of making blues modern and fun again. It's actually not fair to say the jazz aspects had been totally thrown out. Interesting chord progressions that point to BECK's former self but admittedly were buried beneath the burgeoning heft of bluesy hard rock bravado.

The opening title track immediately screams "the genius is back" with a stealthy blues groove that allows BECK to rip out some freaky alternative blues licks that tell you that the mojo has returned after a lengthy absence. While the album is primarily instrumental on the title track and "Day In The House" drummer Terry Bozzio offers some hilarious spoken word contributions. This is an album where all three musicians are firing on all pistons with strong diverse composiitons and fiery in-sync performances that offer some of the best material in the BECK canon since "Wired." While gritty bluesy guitar licks provide the canvas upon which to paint, the colors of the palette are many and creative new life is breathed into every track on GUITAR SHOP. "Behind The Veil" showcase some reggae rhythms while "Where Were You" offers an airy molasses slow guitar sliding performance in full on the clouds dreamland mode.

And then some tracks like "Stand On It" just simply rock the house in a Stevie Ray Vaughan or Kenny Wayne Shepherd bluesy rockin' way albeit sans vocals. If the music itself wasn't cool enough, the engineering, production and mixing are top notch making this a truly Epic release (haha Epic was the record label). Really the entire album experience just screams "cool cats with tasty chops in the house!" Even some bizarre experimental funk moments seep in as heard on the intro of "Day In The House" which with Bozzio's frantic spoken word dialogue brings a bit of the Talking Heads to mind but no new wave imitating on this album as the album keeps the bluesy motifs at the core of the entire album's run making this one of the most consistently entertaining albums from BECK since his masterwork "Blow By Blow."

For jazz-fusionists who were stuck in the 70s, this probably won't scratch the itch but for those willing to move on to the new JEFF BECK paradigm, this one will make you feel like you've just heard a modern hard rock update of Albert King's "Born Under A Bad Sign," well at least the instrumental version of it! This album did marginally well and hit the top 50 on the Billboard charts but the icing on the cake was BECK's award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the 1990 Grammy's. Personally this is my favorite JEFF BECK album after the essential 2-pack of "Blow By Blow" and "Wired."