Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop

Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop is much more than an instrumental album and perhaps much more than anything else that comes to mind.

It is not a simple showcase of ability and technique nor a mere assembly of hackneyed riffs and solos shot at the speed of light. It's none of that. Here, it borders on the absurd, but in the most positive sense of the word: after listening to this work, one is left astounded; there are no words to describe what Beck has managed to accomplish with the guitar and how naturally he was able to put his soul, his passion, his energy onto vinyl. There's not a note wasted, no "fillers," each song has its purpose and differs from the previous one because of the touch Beck is able to infuse into each, employing different styles not only from song to song but within each individual composition, even touching on semi-reggae sounds in "Behind The Veil," which still turns out to be one of the best of the lot, with its dreamy guitar giving the piece a unique, in its own way epic atmosphere. It also goes through true guitar blasts like "Big Block" and "Stand On It" with searing solos and explosions of tapping, all without ever approaching the tastelessness typical of senseless show-offs like Steve Vai and Malmsteen, just to name the first two that come to mind (and I almost feel ashamed to associate Beck with these two characters). Infinite class from Beck, as demonstrated by the title track "Guitar Shop" with a riff that is somewhat ingenious and at times seems to blend with the keyboards of a frenzied Tony Hymas. To get an idea of what Beck is capable of pulling out of a Fender, just listen to 3 that is 3 seconds of the song in question: minute 2.05, 3 seconds that are worth a song, damn it. A hair-raising experience. It must be noted the earth-shattering drums of Terry Bozzio (and a mention of him was more than necessary: impeccable, if not astronomical, his work on the drums which turns out to be an authentic added value to the album, as if Beck's wonders were not enough).

Believe me when I tell you that if the album were composed only of the songs I've mentioned, it would be enough to define it a masterpiece (overused word, but in this case, I wouldn't know how to define such wonder). But there's something indescribable missing, a gem of rare beauty, a slap from which I have not yet recovered. I am talking about the emblem of the album, but what am I saying, of an entire career, namely that work of art that to call it a "song" would be absolutely reductive: "Where Were You." A crescendo of emotion and pathos with Beck seemingly singing and crying through his guitar, becoming one with the instrument, producing sounds that transport his mind in unison with ours to unknown destinations. There are no words to describe such magnificence. The sensation is that of a blind man regaining sight but losing the ability to speak. Too much grace indeed. And Beck himself has declared that "Where Were You" is his composition that represents him the most, encapsulating in it all his artistic vision of music expressed in 40 years of activity, and that one day he would like to be remembered precisely for that song which, by the way, is not a song since it is impossible to classify it under a "genre" of belonging: blues? jazz? fusion? no way, it's Jeff Beck, ladies and gentlemen.