Review:

on 2011-06-08 Michael_Morrison Said:

The cover of Mike Shouses CD Alone on the Sun looks hot. Its the sun after all. That might be clich? in some forms but it works here because the playing is hot too. In other words, the motif fits. Mike Shouse is a wicked guitarist out of Eastern Kentucky and alum of the well-known Guitar Institute of Technology in Hollywood, CA. Hes also a guitar teacher at the Music Institute in Lexington, KY and columnist for Music Entertainment Magazine. The focus here however is guitar, lots of guitar.

The CD opens up with a fun intro twist on the Bionic Man on the track Bionic. If this has anything to do with finger dexterity on the guitar neck and speed runs Id like to inquire on where I can get bionic fingers. The track is fast, upbeat and a great opener to showcase the essentials of what Shouse is all about. Track 2 is Man of Constant Sorrow featuring Shouses friend Gene Booth on vocals in a demi Alice In Chains sort of vibe over some ambitious acoustic guitar strumming by Shouse. I should mention that there are a number of other players on the CD on drums and bass guitar, too many to list here but kudos to all for laying down a great foundation to support Shouses guitar work. Shouses playing is exceptional throughout the CD but a couple of other tracks that stand out for me are Choices and You Can Fly. I dig Shouses feel over the groove particularly on those songs. Honorable mention goes to Dont Remember Me which again features Gene Booth on vocals and the closing track For Alex. The playing and technique on display here is definitely in the range of work by the giants in this genre (virtuoso instrumental guitar) and should be quite enjoyable for fans of great, fast guitar work.

Shouse credits guitarist Joe Satriani (Heard Surfing With the Alien and it was all over.) among his influences which also include Steve Vai, John Petrucci and Zack Wylde. Id personally add a little Yngwie Malmsteen in there too. The influences are pretty clear; I can hear all in his playing though I think Shouse has carved out enough of his own style to avoid copycat comparisons. The CD is very well put together and I love the CD+ format that includes (when viewed on a computer) tablature (wow, how cool is that?), a video and other nifty extra content. Shouses playing, packaging and the content are all top-notch. Well done.

I have a very hard ear to please and I know Im not the average, normal listener. Alone on the Sun is a really good album by a very talented guitar player. So whats missing? Its probably nit-picking but for me, the mix and production are solid but not captivating. All attention is on the guitar (obviously) and the drums are quite clear. Bass guitar, not so much unless one of the rare solo spots surface. I prefer a bit more clarity there. There are a few minor inconsistencies in the tightness of the band here and there  most listeners wont notice or care but it may be due to having different players across the 10 tracks on the album. Those little details though make it just shy of the mark set by artists like Satriani, Petrucci (Dream Theater) but overall it doesnt detract from Shouse himself. Like I said, Im nit-picking and the bar in this genre is ridiculously high. In a similar vein, some tracks have more depth and punch than others, again likely due to the variety of players on the CD and perhaps different recording environments. Give credit however to Billy Decker for mixing and mastering and also to engineer Brandon Schexnayder for maintaining a cohesive sounding album with several different drummers and bass players. Engineers often dont get enough credit for that. The other thing I would love to hear (and its often common in this genre) is more dynamic nature and variety in the backing tracks. More tone changes or a bit of odd time signatures here or there really makes an instrumental song pop when the main focus is essentially one long guitar solo.

Dont let my fanaticism over small details in the production detract the listener from the fact that Shouse is a phenomenal guitar player, perfectly adapted in this genre and style and Alone on the Sun is one entertaining album. I think Shouse will be around quite a while and all he needs is exposure (without too much sun). Now where do I sign up for bionic fingers to help my guitar playing?

J.D. Stefan
Rating: 9/10