Eric Johnson
Ah Via Musicom

Here I am trying my hand at my first review on DeBaser, with much humility and curiosity about how it will be evaluated.

Noting that Eric Johnson appears on this site only with "Venus Isle" (great album) and for his work with G3, I thought something about this album needed to be said; I'm talking about ''Ah Via Musicom'' his second studio effort, dated 1990, by the Texan guitarist. Many, upon hearing the name of this album, immediately think of a track called ''Cliffs Of Dover''. I believe I am not mistaken in stating that this is Johnson's most well-known track, a concentration of solos and guitar lines that many guitarists have learned by heart, never tiring of listening to and playing it! Rightfully, this song was awarded the title of ''best rock instrumental performance'' at the 1991 Grammy Awards, prevailing over pieces like ''Kind Of Bird'' by the Allman Brothers, ''Masquerade'' by Yes, or ''Where's My Thing'' by Rush.

It's precisely ''Cliffs Of Dover'' that opens this work (actually the first 'track' is ''Ah Via Musicom'' but it's a very brief launching pad for the next one). The third song is ''Desert Rose'', also one of Eric Johnson's most well-known, a sung piece with two solos that only confirm this guitarist's talent in often resorting to pentatonic scales without ever falling into the mundane. Right after, there's ''High Landrons''. I won’t dwell much on this song, (second of the four with lyrics on the album) it’s easily listenable... that's all; it might appear a bit commercial but it has some elements that partly remove this adjective.

Next is ''Steve's Boogie'', a piece intended as a tribute to Austin pedal-steel guitarist Steve Hennig, the melody is a mix of country and boogie striking for the energy it manages to transmit in its mere 2-minute duration. The next piece ''Trademark'' is a blues at a slow but compelling rhythm, where one witnesses (and it's not a unique case on the album) a wonderful clarity and elegance in sound, and the Austin artist’s ability to switch from 'clean' to distorted without losing these aspects. The seventh track is ''Song For George'', dedicated this time to George Washington, an elderly Texan guitarist and friend of Johnson. ''Song For George'' is a piece performed entirely with only the acoustic guitar tuned in 'double dropped D' (that is with the first and sixth strings lowered by a tone, hence to D) which shows how the American artist is able to compose excellently even on acoustic (however, the track that better showcases his acoustic guitar skills, in my opinion, is ''A Song For Life'', found in the album ''Seven Worlds'').

With ''Righteous'', we return to discussing blues, done as God commands, and always with the addition of that touch of originality typical of Eric Johnson, a very loaded piece that, in my view, deserves to be listened to and especially observed in live execution. Following are ''Nothing Can Keep Me From You'' and ''Forty Mile Town'' the last two tracks containing lyrics and, regarding the first, a very catchy melody, but beyond these aspects, one finds themselves yet again appreciating the finesse and clarity in execution even of brief solo phrases between verses. The album closes with the calm instrumental ''East Wes'', the third track of this work dedicated to a musician, in this case, the great jazzman Wes Montgomery.

In conclusion, an album that I highly recommend to guitarists who are not well acquainted with this artist, but grasping the overall aspect of ''Ah Via Musicom'', I can say that it contains the right ingredients to provide 40 pleasant minutes even to those who are strangers to the guitar world.