This is definitely one of the best CDs I've picked up this year.  I'm mightily impressed with Yogi;  the songwriting is awesome (*LOVE* the lyrics!), the arrangements are tight, the guitar is smoking (the dude can *WAIL*), and the bass and drums just *groove*.  If you're into really well put together music with intricate arrangements, great vocal harmonies, and has *A LOT* more to it than just a few power chords and some angst ridden lyrics, check out this disc -- you won't regret it.
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A fabulous debut CD.  Think King's X-style modern rock, coupled with a Keneally-esque sense of humor and tunefulness, sprinkled with some post-Reznor electronic flourishes, along with occasional detours into Zappa and Beatles territory.  Highly inventive and accessible at the same time.  The sound, production, and packaging are all major-label quality... and the music itself puts most major releases to shame.   
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I had heard some good things about Yogi, mostly from people hanging out at the King's X website, and I finally ordered this album. All I can say is HOLY SMOKE THIS IS A GREAT CD!!! There are some comparisons that can be made to King's X, Queensryche, Faith No More, etc., but it is all Yogi with his own unique, eclectic style. A very impressive first outing. I've since picked up his second release entitled "Salve" and I have heard that he will be looking to releases something next year under the band name "Half Zaftig". I can't wait. Nice one, Shawn!
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     In the liner notes to his latest album, Shawn "Yogi" Farley thanks Mike Keneally, King's X, and Steve Vai, among others.  That should give you a good idea of what Any Raw Flesh? is all about.  Farley mixes those influences into an appealing stew of quirky, clever tunes that manage to be rock, pop, prog and shred - all at the same time.
     Farley spins intricate, interlocking parts in "Throw Me A Bone," with a great, slightly dirty tone, then follows with a cool, melodic neck-pickup solo.  He fills every nook and cranny of "My Love for Lois Is Real" with single-note lines, power-chord stabs, and clangy open-string fills, but knows exactly how to orchestrate his numerous parts so that the tune never sounds overly busy.  The solo section is very Vai - complete with the requisite bass/drums breakdown and a ton of vocal-inflected wah work.  The chorus of "Firefly" almost sounds like a Living Colour outtake, from a guitar and vocal standpoint.  Throughout Any Raw Flesh? Farley shows a knack for playing a truckload of inventive music without being intrusive.
     Any good guitar?  Yeah.

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