Artists | Issues | CD Reviews | Interviews | Concert Reviews | DVD/Video Reviews | Book Reviews | Who We Are | Staff | Home
 

Johan Randén

Summary

Review by Gary Hill

This guy is a pretty amazing guitarist. He shreds, but yet manages to be melodic at the same time. That’s a skill a lot of guitarists just don’t seem to possess. The music here is mostly fusion, but it wanders into other territory here and there. Plus, even within that fusion heading, it covers a lot of musical ground.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2012  Volume 4 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Track by Track Review
Tres Hombres

There’s some serious fusion and funk built into this killer tune. It’s energetic and melodic and features some guitar soloing that manages to maintain a sense of spirit and soul while still shredding.

Country Maniac

We get less jazz and more shred on this one, but it’s still a melodic rather than crunchy tune. It’s a real killer song.

Sky Express

Randén slows it down for a mellower number that’s quite balladic in nature. It’s another great piece of music.

Floating Around

More melodic guitar based jamming makes up this tune. It’s a mid-tempo one that works quite well.

Eclipse

This time Randén turns things decidedly fusion-like with another killer piece of music.

E.R.T

Randén comes close to pure shred here with this crunchy number. Still, this is more rock than it is metal and it’s a great tune.

.Cheese & Miller

Funk is the order of business on this jazzy number. It’s a real killer and the bass work is exceptional. The horns are a nice touch, too.

Naga Jolika

Here is a mellower tune that’s also more fusion oriented. It’s got some great guitar soloing and is another strong piece. It’s certainly not as jazz-like as the previous number was.

Funk It!

This is an interesting title for this tune. I mean, it’s funky, but not as funky as “Cheese & Miller.” It’s not far removed in terms of musical style, though. It’s another cool fusion piece.

Wind Trees

The set is closed with a pretty and jazz oriented number that’s slow and tasty. Personally, I generally think more energetic music serves better to close a CD, but in this case, it works. It’s quite an extensive and involved tune that really covers a lot of ground.

 
Return to the
Johan Randén Artist Page
Artists Directory
 
Google

   Creative Commons License
   This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.

    © 2024 Music Street Journal                                                                           Site design and programming by Studio Fyra, Inc./Beetcafe.com