A Blur In Time

Second solo offering from Metal Church guitarist Kurt Vanderhoof. If you are expecting Metal Church with this album, go ahead and skip to the next review now as this album has absolutely no Metal Church feel. However, it is still a decent album. I'm not blown away, but a respectable release this is. I've listened to this album several times now, and at no point during the first listen or the tenth listen did I jump out of my chair and say, "Wow! That's a killer song!" There are some good songs here, but I'm afraid there are also plenty of mediocre at best songs. The album is an enjoyable listen, but it has certainly failed to grab me thus far. By the time I'm writing reviews next month, this album will likely be out of my regular rotation. This album can best be described as a blending of 80's style melodic hard rock with classic rock elements. You will hear extensive use of keyboards as well as some organs (ala Boston's first two albums) and some synth (Tom Sawyer style Rush comes to mind right away) sprinkled here and there. The production is outstanding with the keyboards and synth at the right levels, fitting in nicely with the songs themselves. The vocals are excellent and a highlight of this album. Kurt Vanderhoof has certainly chosen a someone with a great melodic voice which is perfect for this type of music. Of course, Kurt will take some opportunities to give us some nice solos and a cool riff from time to time as you would expect. However, this album is certainly not meant to be a shred fest in which Kurt is simply showing off. The album is song based, but the songs just don't beg to be played over and over again. The best words I can find to sum it up are these: Talented musicians are playing mediocre melodic hard rock songs with excellent production. Other than Metal Church fans who need to have every Metal Church related release out there, I cannot say this is an essential purchase. There isn't a bad song on the album, but the problem lies in the fact that there are also no great songs. Vanderhoof is certainly a great metal guitarist as we have witnessed with Metal Church. I understand that solo albums offer a musician to explore a musical path different from that of the full time band. In this case, I think an excellent metal musician has proven to be just an okay hard/classic rock musician.