GUITAR TREK

The final album of guitar virtuoso PAUL BRETT's 3 disk contract with RCA, "Guitar Trek" is by far the most obscure. It was met with a dearth of promotional effort, but it's hard to know whether this was because Brett had already signed on to produce a K-Tel record, its predecessors were fracturing the cutout bins or their day, or it's the least inspired of the three.

Nothing is missing from Brett's technique, which is more focused on acoustic guitar in a rock setting, but most tracks do seem almost like placeholders for exhibits of the man's awesome fretting power. His ability is such that he can overpower pieces that other guitarists might complement better. Here and there we find snippets of what was generally better developed on prior albums; for instance, "In Search of Aztecs" hearkens back to the suite "Interlife" while failing to capture the ensemble effect that really propelled the flow of those choice 16 minutes. "Alternative 12-string" at times approximates works like "Calypso" and "Silent Runner" off "Eclipse" but tries out too many concepts for its own good in under 6 minutes. Gershwin's "Summertime" does not revive the magic of Brett's prior adaptation of Brubeck's "Take Five", but perhaps it is just not as fresh or appealing a number to begin with.

The three tracks that work the best do so for different reasons - "Forever Autumn" succeeds as much because the Jeff Wayne composition is so brilliant as anything, but one must give substantial credit to Brett for treating it sensitively and imbuing it with his own identity, while leaving its spirit intact. "Even when the sun shines" expands upon the courtly folk of "Overture for Decadence" off "Eclipse", but incorporates more rock aspects, consistent with the album as a whole. Finally, the closer "Blood on the Frets" actually parlays the guitarist's prowess into the realm of country, bluegrass and rock and roll all at once, succeeding brilliantly.

I wouldn't particularly recommend this to you unless you are a big fan of PAUL BRETT and acoustic guitar prowess, but, if you do happen upon it smothered in a musty corner by multiple copies of "Interlife" and "Eclipse", you might want to dust it off and go where this man has gone before. 2.5 stars rounded down.