Search - Gary Lucas :: Skeleton at the Feast

More Than Just Jazz

Stephen Hendel | new york | 01/30/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"i love all of gary's music and think it is an extraordinary mixture of rock and jazz and alternative. you appear to be only featuring him in jazz; you should also refer people interested in his music to rock and alternative as well as jazz. this is not so much a review as a request that you carry his records also in the rock and alternative categories because to put it just in jazz does a disservice to his potential audience."

Jazzy Spacerock

Kort Kramer | South Florida, USA | 04/23/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This live album is unique to Gary's other efforts. His masterful use of multiple distortion, echo, reverb....etc. devices creates music that you'd never believe came from just one guitar. I play this music when I'm working on my art, it triggers those creative centers and really gets me going.
If you are a fan of spacerock or jazz, or just good unique music, pick this up."

Feast fit for a king 10 stars

Jennifer L. Metcalf | USA | 03/09/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Only recently have I been turned on to the music of Gary Lucas, and I am wholly immersed in his resplendent repertoire. "Skeleton at the Feast" is one of my favorite albums, not just of Gary's, but of all-time. His creations practically defy description with words. One doesn't just hear his music with ears; you experience it within your heart and soul.This is an album of solo guitars, both electric and acoustic. I've never particularly been a fan of solo electric guitar because I often find it simply raucous. I have no idea how Gary does it, but his guitar sings with a voice all its own, serenading a sweet, psychedelic melody that is like a drop-dead gorgeous woman innocently sauntering by you - you cannot help but turn your head to see if she's for real. Part of the album is dedicated to the music that Gary Lucas and Walter Horn wrote for live accompaniment to the 1921 German Expressionist film "The Golem." It's all hauntingly rich, stupendous surrealistic music, but one song is dangerously infectious: "The Junker and the Jewess." The first time I heard the song, I was cast completely under a spell under which I never wish to retreat. So sweet, so strange, so whimsical, so innocently devious - all of Gary's quirky but charismatic notes appear to be smiling in unison at their performance which seductively overwhelms the bloodstream. It may be impossible to listen to this song without the score being conducted on the body's muscles. It is that powerful."Christmas in Space Medley" is too amazingly beautiful to believe without listening to it oneself. "Bells" is so sweetly haunting, like it really is being broadcasted from space. It serenades the soul to paradise as you obediently follow along the dreamy path that it seems to carve especially for you. "Little Drummer Boyee" comes alive with Gary's special touches of punches of blues or jazz interjected with a brilliant stroke that only he can master. "Are You Experienced" has Hendrix's name on it of course, but Gary makes it all his own not by demanding that you listen but by irresistibly mixing combinations of his own style into the melody.This is the album that prompted one critic to call Gary "A TRUE AXE GOD." The proof is in the pudding, and this album has been seasoned to perfection. Go ahead -- dig into the fabulous feast. You'll be begging for more."