Fantastic!
author: Brett Phillips
This is an excellent album. Some of the best music I've heard in a very long time. The songs are well written and seem to flow effortlessly with each other. Killer guitar playing on this disc. I'll be looking forward to more Fractal Garden releases :)
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Great music from a great band!
author: Julian Dwyer
Sometimes, there are albums out there that just come up and kick you right in the ass and make you listen and then keep listening. This is one of those disks. The fascinating story of two men whom have never met, yet they make music as if they're in the same house is fascinating indeed. But the music they make is an even better story! This is a great album! It is one of the best albums I have heard all year. No lie!
Don't believe me? Check out the very first track, "Gather Your MInd," with the soothing rhythms of John's keyboards and the intricate interplay with Jay's amazing guitars. It isn't the typical way to start a rock-based album, with an introspective tune like this, but it really works! It builds as the album goes along like a great novel or movie would.
The second track ups the ante with "Cold As A Ghost," but it is the songs with the fire and moodiness like the excellent "Drive" with its pulsing drums and moody keys with the excellent and well-executed and passionate playing of both musicians, and the otherworldly "Epic" that really take the album and intrumental rock in geneeral, to different heights entirely.
But if you like shorter numbers, they're here too. The intense "Fire In His Eye"-- a song about a man who's destroyed bioth physically and emotionally in a DUI. Intense is probably an understatement here. The vocals by the amazing Dave Millard is absolutely stellar here too.
My personal favorite is the lovely "Remember the Sun" with the lush and lilting Neal Schon-esque (one of the most underrated guitar-gods out there) tones is a song that is just wonderfully hummable and best, it makes you feel good.
So if you're a fan of great introspective instrumentals, excellent production, musicianship, and a rarity in today's music scene-- excellent songwriting and arrangement, Between Strangers will fill all your needs.
It is THAT good! Get it now! You will not be disappointed!
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