Cliche ridden shredder angst
I recently picked up an album of Tony,Sheehan and Chambers and it was the bomb.

So going through the bins over at Rasputin's,I saw this one on sale and said why not.

Gave it a run through on my drive home and the term that came to mind was Yngwie!

Dude a bad jerri curl and sounding like Yngwie is not a good way to make a classic album.

I give kudo's for the chops of all the players involved,but this is just cliche shredding at it's worst.

Dated sounding and aimed at the shredder wannabe's.

If you like this style,go for it,but this is not a keeper for me.

Tony's masterpiece!!!!!!
This is a must have cd for ANY guitar player!The melodic heights Tony acends with this type of neoclassical shred genre is very impressive!!It so good ,after I heard I went out to get other TM cds and was dissapointed that they did not come close to this high standard.The vocal and majestic sound is wonderful.He is not the fastest shreder,but does let loose at times.Deen Castronovo plays on most of the songs does a masterful job on the drums.This cd still sounds Great today!

Ambivalent
I would give this album 2.5 stars if there was such a rating. I also realize I am in the minority here. Yes, Tony Mcalpine is an exceptional musician, technically he can match up to anyone out there. Still, I had trouble listening to this CD and wouldn't pick it up again after the first listen for quite some time. I finally had to give it more of a chance. So what didn't I like. The repitition of it all, the frenzied tempo, the poor sound quality, it seemed souless for the most part. Yes, he's a shredder but for every track?? I simply find it tiring. Please, calm down Tony. Lay down some slower, melodic tracks and really express yourself. I found the music to be technical and cold. His sound from track to track was pretty much the same, and not just the tempo. Mostly, the sound quality was akin to a bullhorn type of sound in a large auditorium. The guitar sounds thin and never varies from one track to the next. There is a rhythm track behind his guitar playing but I challange you to pick it out. The sound is muddy, there is little separation of sound. Compare this to Steve Vai or Satriani where you can hear each instrument clearly. Their sound is just so much more compelling and easier to listen to. And with Vai and Satriani there is just so much more creativity, each track is a work of art, the sound for each track is distinct. There is a surprise element where you don't know what to expect next. Not true with Macalpine. Technique and musicianship should not be confused with creativity. Yes, I still listen to this CD and there are high moments, but all is said and done, it leaves me wanting and dissatisfied (except for Autumn Lords and Porcelain Dolls).

Shred Guitar Manifesto
For those who like me spent the eighties with an electric guitar in their hands this album is something that put a tear in their eyes. I searched for this one for years but for a reason or another I never could find it. This evening I saw a copy of this one in a record shop I rarely visit and I immediatly ran to pay it and to go at home as fast as I can, at the speed of light to listen to this one as soon as possible. Oh! What a marvel this record is! Shred guitar at its best, it is a reference recording. Macalpine never played so lucid, never composed so well again. The melodies are great and the solo are balanced and absolutly perfect. But this album is not only the greatest in his discography, it is one of the greatest shred guitar albums of all time because the compositions are great, because there is the enthusiasm of doing something that was really new at the time. There is a sense of true freshness allaround. Sure it is a flashy, show off music in a sense (think about the Chopin Opus version put here for good measure), but it is great music!! In those days playing great music and being able to REALLY play, to be virtuosos was the thing. Today music is only about nice bottoms. Gosh. Talking again about serious music and shred guitar, someone in the past used to say that Macalpine (and even Vinnie Moore) was a Malmsteen clone. Were they deaf? Macalpine is so different! I love Yngwie of course but Tony is another completly original artist, the only thing they had in common was playing great "guitar-song" even if Yngwie wrote a lot of stuff with lyrics, when Tony was recording only instrumental stuff. Anyway, if you are a guitar kid who grew up in the eighties you know what I'm talking about if you're reading this. You can't stay without this record in your collection. This one with Moore's Time Odissey, Shawn Lane's Powers of ten, Malmsteen's Rising force, Vai's Passion and Warfare, Satch's Surfing with the alien (all the Van Halen stuff of course and few more) define what shred guitar has been. It's a manifesto of an era. A beautiful period! I love this one. Really. I love it. It's amazing music.

a top three neoclassical shred album
When I first heard this album (borrowed from a friend), I was electrified. I'd never heard neoclassical guitar before--and I'd never heard such drumming (Deen Castronovo and Atma Anur). The songwriting is some of the best neoclassical instrumental guitar composition ever done. MacAlpine is a very, very good technician also; and with guests such as "Mr.Scary" himself, George Lynch (of Dokken), the playing here is superb. And then Castronovo's drumming in particular elevates it to another level--first time I heard it, I simply could not believe what I was hearing. How could someone drum with such speed and precision and compositional flair?! He matches the guitar intensity perfectly. Overall, if you're a fan of neoclassical shred and you don't own this album, you're probably living in a cave. BUY IT. TODAY.