REB
BEACH - Masquerade
(2002 Frontiers)Reb Beach: vocals, guitars, piano, organ
Tommy Bellin: bass
Dave Throckmorton: drums
Masquerade is Reb Beach's first solo album. Reb was a driving force behind Winger and Dokken, and is now touring with Whitesnake. So now you maybe have an idea of how good the man is.
The album starts off with Dark Places , a good rock tune which shows that Reb has matured a lot as a guitarist, as a songwriter and also as a singer. Kip Winger is a great musician in my opinion, and I think that Reb has learned a lot from him also as an arranger.
Masquerade starts with a cool harmonics lick that is typical of Reb's playin, as he played one also in his album with Dokken. Masquerade is a great song, one of those which will fix into youe head for days... Reb's soloing is tremendous as always.
Ghost is my favourite track. Unusual tappin' at the very beginnin', catchy guitar melody, groovy rhythm, great guitar sounds, and cool vocal melody. Damn, Beach is not only a guitar god, he's also an accomplished songwriter. Great solo too.
Better Shade Of Grey has an underwater guitar sound, full of reverb. Cool break at 2:00, very heavy and groovy , in the best tradition of hard rock guitar. Natural Harmonics and whammy bar frenzy for this solo too. I have also recently discovered that Reb plays harmonics in the same way that Mattias Eklundh does, which is without usin' the pick to make the note sound: he just hammers on into a natural harmonic with the bar depressed, and then raises the pitch by releasin' the pressure on the whammy bar.
Bleed is a ballad, startin' with acoustic guitar and then expodin' into a distorted chorus. I love Reb's distortion, so clear and so heavy. Another great solo, with the 'Gilmour double bend', which always sounds soooo cool. Great climax. And great playin' over the chord changes.
Fanatic has a medioriental sound turnin' into a dropped D riff which will shake your bones. Turn up the volume! Cool octave chorus, showin' that Reb appreciates also the modern guitar playin' and its solutions and clichés.
Red is a funky-metal number. Obviously very groovy... Cool solo, very energetic, with the usual good dose of tappin'... After all Reb is one of the masters of this technique.
Sorrow Stained Eyes is another slow ballad, but a rock one!!! Great chorus, which reminds me alot of Winger. One of the best tracks. Shows great arramgement skills. Our compliment to Reb for developin' so much his musicality.
A great rock album, with great sounds and mixing. Reb is also a good singer, has improved alot as a guitarist (!!!!)
and he knows how to write a good song. A complete musician.
Rating: 9
(reviewed by Max)