One of all those 80’s guitar-heroes and one of the guys that gave Ibanez guitars a face, Reb Beach was always one of the most enjoyable ones, mixing finesse and personality with technique and feel. The guy became known when Winger broke through big in the late 80’s but started out as the guitarist for Canadian AOR-singer Fiona back in the mid 80’s. When Winger broke up, Beach had a short stint in Dokken, replacing George Lynch and recorded the underrated Erase The Slate (1999). Today, Beach is both in Winger and in Whitesnake (since 2008) and he also released an album with Black Swan earlier this year, a band featuring him, vocalist Robin McAuley, bassist Jeff Pilson and drummer Matt Starr. Let’s not forget the underrated The Mob who released a selt-titled, Kip Winger written record in 2005, a project that featured vocalist Doug Pinnick, bassist Kip Winger, drummer Kelly Keagy and keyboardist Timothy Drury.
This, however, is an instrumental album – and I can honestly admit that I’m not a huge fan of instrumental guitar-records at all which is probably why I had no idea that Beach already had two solo albums to his name. It was actually pretty close that I decided to not even review this one. But there’s a couple of reasons I decided to do it any way. I’m a fan of Reb Beach and there are instrumental records that I genuinely dig – Yngwie Malmsteen’s semi-instrumental 1984 debut solo album, Joe Satriani’s Surfing With The Alien (1987), Steve Vai’s Passion And Warfare (1990) and Wolf Hoffmann’s Headbanger’s Symphony (2016) are a few of ’em. Knowing Beach’s love for melodies and melodic Hard Rock from the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s, I’d be a fool not to check it out. Said and done. Here’s my thoughts.
The album opens with “Black Magic”, a stompy and upbeat rocker with an infectious main melody where the guitar simply replaces the vocal-melody. It’s a straight ahead Hard Rock track with some Melodic Rock undertones but it’s also slightly progressive in some parts and for us who are into the later Winger albums, that’s nothing shocking at all. There are a bunch of hooks within the melody-lines which makes the tune quite catchy. Good one. “Little Robots” grooves away on a funky beat, really rhythmic. Beach’s guitar sound brings on some crunch and a slight Joe Satriani vibe and more of those prog-rock twists, some jazzy vibes and a bit of fusion – and a passage that brings Steve Vai to mind too. The tune also sports a clear chorus that catches on right away. Very good.
Released as an official audio, “Aurora Borealis” starts out stripped down, built around a piano but runs off on a chunky, rhythmic beat which makes the tune swing. The tune is mixed up with another breath of Vai, more jazz-like progressive touches and again, fusion and also an 80’s Metal guitar-twirl. On top, the main-melody brings on the catchiness which creates a great dynamic. A stellar tune. The single “Infinito” starts out slow and heavy in a darker mode. The tune then speeds up and goes for a more straight forward Hard Rock groove on a juicy beat with some chunky and robust riffing. It’s a melodic yet meaty rocker with a touch of the 70’s weaved in where the verses are a bit more held-back but with an uplifting, hook-laden refrain. Very good.
“Attack Of The Masses” with its funked-up, swinging groove takes a turn towards Classic Rock, very 70’s laden with some proggy undertones and jazz-fusion inserted structures. The bouncy rhythm struts along with the Stuart Hamm like bass-lines and brings along a one-take sounding live-feel all over. It’s a damn fine song with some direct hook-lines and I just can’t stop tapping my foot to it. A funky drum beat and bass opens “The Way Home”. Beach throws in a clean guitar riff, also on a funky note before he goes off into some distinct and melodic soloing. It’s a melodic track with prominent melodies, it’s a groover and it holds a direct refrain that makes me wish the song came with lead vocals. This is great stuff.
Starting out a bit on the down-beat side yet with a prominent melody, “Whiplash” grows into a chunky number, full of groove and swing and the song speeds up as it goes along with Reb shredding off before it goes back to its melodic ways while never losing its groove. It’s a good tune but it doesn’t really lifts off. “Hawkdance” is slower in tempo and holds a crunchy twist sound-wise with its blues-rock influence and Steve Morse like tones. The groove here is big and pumping, the beat is steady and crafty and it holds distinct melodies. Some meaty Hard Rock riffing blends in a twist of Vai as well and a big jammin’ keyboard complete with catchy melodies all over. I really dig this one.
“Cutting Loose”, also an official audio, is a heavier and more robust Hard Rock stomper, ballsy and punchy with some fat and explosive guitar-riffing on a hard and steady beat. There’s a slight glance back to his main-band Winger as well, in both riff and melodies. The main melody is right on target and leads us to another tremendous refrain that even brings on some hit-potential. Great. Closing track “Sea Of Tranquility” is on the mellow and laid-back side with a taciturn atmosphere. It’s a slow and down-beat number – a ballad, really – that’s quite smooth but never slick or glossy. The guitar melody is driven by emotion and melancholy but it also sports a feel-good vibe. A great tune.
For an instrumental album, this one is a damn good one. It’s built on melodies and songs and the fretboard-dancing show-offs takes the back seat. The tunes are written as they would hold vocals, where Reb’s guitar-melodies simply replaces the vocals. Still, Reb knows how to handle his axe and he blends his fine technique with feel and most of his playing comes off as more emotive than “look-what-I-can-do”-isms. Style-wise, Beach throws in everything but the kitchen sink – be it Blues, Fusion, Jazz, Metal, Prog or plain Rock – but only to spice it up as the core of the songs lies around the melodic Hard Rock we’re used to. My only problem is that I have a tendency to lose interest in instrumental music after a while. Which leads me to this: why doesn’t he sing? We who have heard him sing knows that he has a great voice, so why not show it here? No matter how good these songs are, they could easily had been bettered – and becoming for accessible – with vocals. Anyway, with this album I have another one to add to my “instrumental records I dig” list – and I really need to check out his earlier solo-efforts now.
7/10
Tracklist:
1. Black Magic
2. Little Robots
3. Aurora Borealis
4. Infinito
5. Attack Of The Massive
6. The Way Home
7. Whiplash
8. Hawkdance
9. Cutting Loose
10. Sea Of Tranquility
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