Rating: RRRR
Label: Lion Music
Review By: Alan Holloway
Nicolas Waldo might not be famailiar to many of you out
there, but the name will surely strike a chord (hah!) with a few guitar
widdlers, because he’s so much of a shredder he could be the Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles’ arch nemesis. Last seen lending his talents to Vorpal Nomad,
this is, I think, his debut solo album.
There are no vocals on ‘Master of The Universe’, so if
instrumental albums ain’t your thing this might be a good time to bugger off.
Me, I’m not the world’s greatest instrumental album fan, mainly because I find
they get too samey after a while. Then again, when one comes along that makes
you sit up and take notice it’s a great feeling, and ‘Master Of The Universe’
does just that.
Nicolas Waldo is a seriously good guitarist, but there’s
shedloads of them out there. What makes him special is his composition, plus
his ability to restrain his instincts to go full throttle all the time. I also
consider it a plus that the album clocks in at less than thirty minutes,
meaning no time to fart about or tread the same musical ground. It’s all
lively, well paced electric guitar heroics until you get to the acoustic track ‘Prince
Of Peace’, which is nice enough (and played beautifully) but I’ve never really
liked shredding on an acoustic.
‘Master Of The Universe’ is an almost perfectly paced,
superlatively played piece of instrumental rock. Short but sweet, this is a
perfect introduction to melodic shredding and instrumental albums in general.
Well done that man, for showing that the sexiest thing from Columbia is not, as was thought, Shakira, but your playing.
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