Marty Friedman
Introduction

The solo work of the now former Megadeth guitarist is at least unusual: goodbye distortion, goodbye pounding rhythms, goodbye solos with 30,000 notes per minute. All this, however, without saying goodbye to technique, musical taste, and virtuosity. Hearing him on a solo record, as he is, precise, clear, without Dave Mustaine's voice ruining everything (excuse the cynicism), is something wonderful. Moreover, what's really important, it's not a metal album: on the contrary, it's as far from that genre as can be. I can't stand labels, but if it's really necessary, I'd call it "instrumental rock": something that closely resembles Joe Satriani's latest productions. Unlike Satriani, however, our good Marty always tries to "restrain himself", without invading the album with himself and his guitar. A "widespread disease" among guitar heroes, which he is absolutely (and always has been) immune to.

I was just talking about his "taste": I believe it is a fundamental component in the sound he has built. How can one not be struck by the epic tone of "Arrival"? By the crystal-clear solos, simply perfect? By the soft acoustic riff of "Be"? By the occasionally ambient digressions, which owe much to a certain type of classical music? Not to mention the magic of "Loneliness" and the amazing finale "Siberia"... In short, these 46 minutes of music by the guitarist of "Holy Wars..." truly impressed me: it's difficult to find, in the rock scene, a work of such originality and composure, especially in the year the album was released (1994). The tracks follow one another majestically, all unified by a sort of monumental leitmotif: the attitude remains, and Friedman has gone beyond... perhaps somewhat overlooked in the '90s era of grunge and pseudo-rock, now definitely to be reassessed. Like (almost) all the albums I talk to you about, after all...