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SAGUITAR
CD Reviews
„A
Good Collection of Songs from the Master Guitarist”
„Saguitar“
– Alvin Lee
This
is a rather eclectic mix of songs from Alvin Lee, as it
includes an assortment of Rockabilly, Memphis, “Midnight
Blues” and more (even rap). It sounds as though some were
leftover material from past projects, resuscitated here on “Saguitar”.
The
mood changes frequently, from track to track, but no matter,
taken individually this is a fine collection of songs, with
Alvin’s voice and guitar playing in great form throughout.
There
is a lot of stuff here and it sounds better with each listen!
From
September 23, 2007
Herb
Staehr
“Saguitar”:
Move Along …. Nothing To Hear - Here”
Alvin
Lee Rapping? Well I guess I’ve heard it all now. As I sit
here and tap my keyboard, I find it difficult to write what I
truly feel about this album. After all, I’ve seen Alvin Lee
live twice, as well as Ten Years After. I’ve purchased and
repurchased most of the Ten Years After catalogue several
times in my life. So, Alvin is like an old friend, but loyalty
to my music purchasing brethren forces me to come clean.
While
Mr. Lee’s guitar playing is somewhat crisp, the backing
instruments, meaning drums and bass sound wooden and
unremarkable. While this normally wouldn’t be a problem, it
does drag Alvin’s guitar work down with it. Also, the
drumming sounds mechanical and uneventful. It’s my
understanding that a drum machine was used throughout this
recording (bad idea). Also, while there are many styles of
music here, the rockers all sound the same and are basically
indistinguishable from one another. There are a couple of okay
tracks:
“Motel
Blues” and “Blues Has Got A Hold Of Me” are bona-fide
blues incursions and Alvin does his best Elvis impersonations
on “Midnight Train” and Memphis”. But most of the stuff
here is forgettable. That includes the awkward and
embarrassing tune “Rapper” (white men can’t jump or rap
apparently.
All
in all, this recording has a “basement” feel to it. And
while it’s none of my bees-wax what Alvin does at this stage
of his career, it’s my business when he puts out musical
drivel like “Saguitar” and expects to be remunerated for
his effort. One would expect that as one of the “Elder
Statesman” of the Second British Invasion, Alvin would be
crafting gems at this point by using studio musicians, or big
name producers and song writers. There is none of that here.
Instead you get Alvin Lee “Rapping” Save Your money.
From
Chris Justin
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