I can die a happy man now...
Just as I was getting sick of
G.O.O.M.Y. (
Get Out of My Yard - simply because I'd listened to it at least once every two day's since last August),
S.F.B.A.D.R. arrived (all the way from Tokyo, Japan) to my doorstep this morning.
Long review short: GREATEST. ALBUM. EVER.
... or one of the greatest at the very least. Paul is just at the absolute top of his game on this CD. The main Metal-style track - "The Gargoyle" - puts bands like Dragonforce to shame. That doesn't surprise me though, because Dragonforce already sucked. What does surprise me is how Paul's style has changed on this album. It's still hard rock meets classical shred, but many of the tracks actually have a lot of focus on slower melody-based playing - kind of like Vai / Satriani.
Paul talks about this in the liner notes. His goal starting out was to just do more hard rhythms and cool fast leads like his last album, but then he started writing songs by making backings and recording himself improv. humming over them until he found melodies that he liked, then he'd figure them out on the guitar and spice them up with all the usual trimmings.
The result is 11 really fun songs with tons of great licks, new Gilbert-isms, and cool live effects! Great tone, great energy, and the most interesting playing Paul has ever recorded (it's flashy, but most of all it fits the songs better than ever)!
"Eudaimonia Overture" live at NAMM '08:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFlFOct-EjE