Steve Morse - Major Impacts

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Music reviews of Major Impacts

Music Review: Steve Morse Major Impacts
Rating: 2 Stars

I have real problems getting into and enjoying this album. It is a tribute album with Morse writing and arranging tunes, and playing them apparently in the styles of his favourite axe-heroes. My problems with this album are as follows:

1. I think he is aiming at the musos by playing specific makes of guitars(?) and employing some of the more subtle techniques of these guitarists (rather than some of the more obvious trade mark riffs or styles). I thought I could recognise (for instance), Clapton or Beck or McLaughlin a mile off, but I have some problems recognising them in Morse's interpretations.

2. I think he fails to recognise that the art of the Beatles (Harrison), Stones or the Byrds was to create 3 minutes singles with the minimum of fuss and without outstaying their welcome: so 5 minute plus tributes based on some riffs repeated too often, drag mightily.

3.I like his semi-scholarly reviews of his heroes in the liner notes. However, I got really annoyed with the Celtic opening of the Jimmy Page tribute, which owes much more to the British folk guitarist Bert Jansch (without acknowledgement here), than Page who extensively borrowed from an arrangement of Blackwaterside found on Led Zep 1 (but first found on a 1966 Jansch album).

4. More often as not the timelessness of tunes of several of these axe-heroes, also came from the input of the rest of their bands. The Steve Morse Band rarely lend themselves to sounding like Cream, or the Jeff Beck Band etc (maybe Mountain though). Hence on several tunes we quickly end up with a Steve Morse piece. This may make for greater subtly, but it tends to miss the point of this type of record.

5. Perhaps Morse is a better guitarist than many of his axe-heroes but reluctant to provide a greater musical study of these guitarists to show the obvious breadth and depth of their uniqueness. Instead you have the accomplished Steve Morse, largely being Steve Morse rather than anybody else.

A disappointment.

Description of Major Impacts

Hard Rock & Metal CDs

• Music > Styles
• Jazz
• Pop
• Rock