NEIL
ZAZA - Staring
at the sun (1999 Nuerra Records)Neil Zaza - Guitars
Steve Smith - drums
Ross Valory - bass
Timothy M. Bradford - keyboards
Guests: Stu Hamm (bass), Michael Lee Firkins (guitars) and Robin DiMaggio (drums)
Staring at the sun is a great album. If you like Joe Striani melodic lines and progressions , here you'll find a guitarist whith a great sense of melody and a great technique.
I Spy opens the dances with a James Bond like riff which will get into your head and never leave it!!!!! Horns for even more fascination. This one will make you bang your head for days, that's sure. Here comes the solo and I'm speechless. Truly rocky, truly melodic, and then a volley of sweeps : sorry you'll have to lift your jaw from the floor. Please Neil come here and give me some guitar lessons!!!!
Lift is a happy song with a great melody. It will lift your ears and soul, that's sure. Awesome technique once more!!!!
Lost in Your Dream starts with a dreamy mood, with piano and a bluesy guitar. The man can cover all diffrent styles, that's for sure!!! Wonderful chorus, you can learn so much about melody by listenin' to this guy! What a song!
Zen, Karma, and Other Good Things has a great mood, very oriental soundin' but with a groove from hell!!!!! The man has this way of playin' rythm which will catch you, there 's nothin' to do with it! And wait 'till the chorus: oh my God what an openin'!!! The solo? Clearly great!!!!
The Wonder of You is a Prince-like ballad. Great chorus once again, I think I don't need to tell you this again. The man has a great tone too!!!!
New New Math is a metall-ish song with another groovy riff! Wha wha-ized harmonics to start the solo, and rock on!!!!
Rain has another dreamy mood, and it's very malinconic. The title reflects perfectly the feelings Neil will show us. This song is exactly how you feel in a rainy day, may it be rainin' outside or inside you.
Every Thought is a melodic song which once again shows Neil control of the instrument and tone. Magic fingers. The man can not only rape the fretboard with soarin' leads, he can also write damn good progressions and clever songs!!!
Baking @ 350 Degrees is a short country interlude. It rocks man!!!!
Fargo is one of the best songs I've ever heard. Melody everywhere, and I just don't know where our Neil found that progression. You'll love that tune, I bet on this! He also plays another volley of sweeps which will force you to lift your jaw again off the floor. That's not my fault. Country fingerpickin' at the end. So has the man some weakness in his playin'??????!!!????
Angel is a piano based song. Wonderful. Neil's soul shines through.
Definition is another majestic soundin' track. Once again Neil wrote a progression which is perfect for his ultra-melodic playin'. Volley of legato too, just not to forget we're here to have fun on our sixstrings too!!!! :)
Purple Rain starts with a classical arrangement for violins and then kicks into Prince's most famous ballad. Neil clearly entertains himself while jammin' on this awesome progression. A vocabulary of phrasin'. There's a lot to learn here too.
One of the best instrumental albums ever written. You just understand why there's an instrumental genre:
this songs don't need vocals, they've just so much soul into them, they're perfect the way they are.
Neil speaks with his guitar, and he says wonderful things. This is an album which touches you deep into your soul.
Rating: 9-1/2.
(reviewed by Max)