Label: Armoury Records/Eagle 2014
Review by: Urban "Wally" Wallstrom
Armoury Records/Eagle are about to re-release (February) the first five instrumental solo albums by Derek Sherinian (Kiss, Alice Cooper, Dream Theater, Yngwie Malmsteen, Billy Idol, etc). This one, "Inertia", originally released at Insideout Records for the European market in 2001, gets the 2014 midprice treatment and expanded liner notes. I'm not really a big fan of all-instrumental albums, but Derek Sherinian's album "Inertia" really struck the right chords for me already back in 2001.
This is just a fun mixture of jazz fusion, prog, metal, and pretty much everything in-between. And what about the rest of the musicians on this CD? Well, with a lineup of drummer Simon Phillips (also co-producer/co-writer), Tony Franklin (bass) and the two legendary guitar players Steve Lukather (Toto) and Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne), it simply can't go wrong or bad... now can it? Add that Sherinian runs like a possessed demon over the keys and you'll get one of the best instrumental albums of the early 00's
You can also find a cover of the Edgar Winter Group classic, "Frankenstein", which I never expected that someone would cover ever again. Then again, many of the tracks here (like "Astroglide") do show a lot of influences from bands such as Edgar Winter Group and Emerson Lake and Palmer (ELP). Don't expect this to be 'ELP' all of the time though, since with players such as Lukather, Franklin, and Sherinian, you'll get a very melodic side too. Tracks like "Inertia", "Mata Hari" and "Evel Knievel" are filled with melodic melodies, powerful riffs, and metal fusion. Liner notes by Sherinian, Phillips and Lukather. The latter believe this to be "a highlight in my discography and among the best recorded work of my whole career".
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