Search - George Bellas :: Mind Over Matter

Technical, yet uninspiring

geetarfreak | Utah | 05/27/2003

(2 out of 5 stars)

"George Bellas has great technique, there's no denying that one. Unfortunately, his music is extremely boring. All of his solos are shred, and many sound the same. The "Orchestral Suite" is one of the most monotonous songs I've ever heard. I can't take 2 minutes of it. I don't care what anyone else says, he is a Malmsteen clone. I'll agree with another reviewer that it takes a tremendous amount of time to become as technically proficient as Bellas is. But, there are a lot of guys that can do what he can do. The difference is in the ability to play with feeling and purpose. Honestly, I would rather listen to Yngwie. If you like shred that never ends and makes little musical sense, this is for you. If you want to hear a neoclassical-type album where the guitar player has pure feeling and attitude, check out Greg Howe on Vatlij Kuprij's album, High Definition."

Amazing Neo-Classical Playing!

R. almeida | 11/23/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I want to start off by saying that George Bellas is one of the most highly skilled guitarists I have ever heard. I really like this CD and I think that his Neo-Classical compositions are very inspiring and creative. It seems that some other listeners don't agree with me. The reviews on this CD so far mostly say "all he does is shred," "it's nothing new," "he's an Yngwie clone," and "his music is boring." Clearly you must not play music or even know very much about it. First of all unless you are already a shred fan, this CD is not for you if you are not a musician yourself!! Obviously it's going to be boring to someone who can't appreciate the kind of skill necessary to execute the songs on this CD. He is certainly not an Yngwie clone. They are obviously in the same genre, but a clone? Bellas' style is very different from Yngwie's but I guess some people don't have the ear for this kind of high level virtuoso playing. Obviously it's not going to be anything new because the guitar as an instrument is not changing, therefore what is difficult to play on the guitar will not change. He is playing some extremely difficult pieces and that's really the whole point to this CD: to astound and impress the listener. He's not trying to make a musical statement here; not to mention you really can't go further beyond what's already been done on the guitar. So keep listening to your new wave and pretending to be innovative. Once and for all, obviously what he is going to do is shred, that's the genre of the CD. But clearly there is also feeling underneath what he is playing and he makes it very clear at some parts. I was also happy to find a variety of musical instruments playing instead of just the standard bass, drums, and guitar and I believe he gets fairly innovative at several points. I think fans of Jason Becker/Cacophony, Vitalij Kuprij, Yngwie Malmsteen (obviously), and Tony Macalpine will really enjoy this CD. So really what it comes down to is this: do you like incredibly fast guitar that you didn't think a human was capable of executing? Do you like extremely complex and tasteful melodies? Then this CD is for you! If you think that best guitar players that ever lived were Jimi Hendrix and Dave Mathews then you might want to skip this one."

GREAT STUFF!!!!

R. almeida | 08/29/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"george bellas is the most astonishing guitar player i have ever heard!!! GREAT stuff, tastefull songs, and insane guitar work... my favorite album right now... buy this... anyfan of more intense guitar will like this..."