Search - Frank Marino, Mahogany Rush :: Eye of the Storm (Reis)

Extraordinary Guitar Playing but....

Purplemaniac | Rochester, NY | 01/15/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This guy can really wail. This album contains some extraordinary guitar soloing by an exraordinary but underappreciated guitar player. That said, this is not a great album. The reviewer SM has hit the nail right on the head. This sounds like one long fast guitar solo over a plodding mid-tempo rythm section, both stuck in an endless loop going on for 62 minutes. When the album starts out, you sit there thinking, whoa, this guy can really play. But by the time the third or fourth song rolls around, the entire thing becomes excruciatingly dull and repetitive to the point where the listener is constantly checking the CD program to see how much time is left before the CD mercifully ends. That's not a good thing, folks. The moral of the story is that great soloing alone does not make for great or listenable songs. There has to be some structure and context to the soloing. The songs here are rather nondescript and totally indistinguishable from each other. There is no change in the tempo of the songs (they are all midtempo), there is no change in the tone of the guitar (that harsh metallic tone starts to grate on the ears after awhile), there is no variety of textures, there are no other instruments besides guitar, bass and drums other than a hammond organ in one song. And the nondescript bass and drums don't do anything other than provide the same machine-like boring mid-tempo backdrop to the endless guitar soloing on every song. In short, all the elements that make for an interesting album are missing, except for some admittedly fine soloing. If you want to hear what Frank Marino sounds like in his best and most diversified arena, get the excellent "World Anthem" CD. And Frank, on your next CD may I suggest: add more instruments, play some songs fast, some songs slow, play some acoustic, some electric, experiment with some different tones and timbres, and create some songs with a definite melody and a catchy riff and structure that you can play around with rather than just playing a lot of free-form endless soloing..."

Fantastic, Hypnotic, Rhythmic....

njrobbo | Bayonne, NJ | 01/01/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I think this is a great piece of work. I won't speak for everyone/anyone else, but I was blown away from start to finish. Storm Warning/Eye of the Storm is a great tune. A very solid album, great riffs & drums. Somebody get this guy a decent record deal."

GOOD TO BE BACK

Terry Knighton | ROCKY FACE GA | 01/17/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I ORDERED THIS CD FRON CANADA AS SOON AS I KNEW IT WAS AVAILABLE.I DID NOT NEED TO HERE A CUT FIRST- I KNEW IT WOULD BE GREAT!!!AND I WAS RIGHT-BUT THAT'S THE STORY WITH ANY OF THIS VERY TALENTED MANS WORK- HE IS VERY POSSIBLY THE MOST UNDERRATED GUITARIST EVER-HE HAS DEVELOPED SUCH A STYLE AND SOUND THAT ANY FUTURE RELEASES SHOULD BE SENT AUTOMATICALLY TO ANY TRUE FAN -HE'S THAT GOOD!! THIS ALBUM SHOULD DISPEL ANY RUMORS ANOUT A HENDRIX REINCARNATE!! FRANK HAS TAKEN ANY SOUNDS THAT CONNECT HIM TO HENDRIX AND EXPOUNDED ON THOSE SWEET NOTES UNTIL THEY ARE TRULY WORKS OF MAGIC-HIS ABILITY TO FUSE EVERY FORM OF GUITAR PLAYING FROM JAZZ RIFFS TO RIGHTEOUS BLUES LICKS IS A TRUE INDICATION OF HOW TALENTED HE REALLY IS. I SMILED A BIG SOUTHERN SMILE WHEN I HEARD AVALON AND THOUGHT FONDLY OF ANOTHER GREAT UNDER RATED GUTIARIST THE LATE DEWAYNE ALLMAN. FRANK HAS A SPECIAL GIFT THAT I ONLY WISH EVERY AUDIOPHILE COULD EXPERIENCE.ONCE YOU REALLY LISTEN TO THIS GUY--YOUR HOOKED- THIS ABLUM HAS A VERY FLUID FEEL TO IT AND REMINDS ME OF THE TIMES I'VE SEEN HIM LIVE- I CAN IMAGINE HEARING STORM WARNING AS AN INTRODUCTION TO LADIES AND GENTLEMAN WILL YOU PLEASE WELCOME "BACK" FRANK MARINO AND MAHOGANY RUSH!!!!!!!!!!"