If you put the amazing guitar
legend Neal Schon from Journey together
with and the spectacular drummer Deen
Castronovo (Journey, Ozzy Osbourne,
Steve Vai, Hardline) and spice it up
with the bass oracle; Marco Mendoza
(Black Star Riders, Ted Nugent,
Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy), you have an
album with massive experience from
several high class hard rock bands. This
powerful trio has made an interesting
album with an unique mix with jazz and
blues-inspired virtuosic hard rock.
Neal's latest instrumental solo album
'The Calling' was an almost too advanced
album to digest, but this disc is far
easier to consume.
There is a few hard boiled jazz fusion
tracks (Exotica and So U), which demands
full attention of the listener. I fancy
that the three members splits their time
by the mic. (I didn't know that Marco
was such a good vocalist.) 'What You
Want' is a heavy blues inspired rock
track with super groovy rhythms. This is
a much more fun to listen to than 'The
Calling', because it sounds much more
fun and their musical joy is contagious
when it's blown through the speakers. In the beautiful
song 'Love Finds a Way', the trio delivers an awesome performance.
I'm a little frustrated by not having
information about, who is is singing on
each song. Probably will it be available
on the physical disc. 'On My Way', a
funky track with stunning guitars and
it has a nice beat. 'Serenity' is probably the
most "normal" classic hard rock tune on 'So U' with
quite straight forward rock sound. The six minutes
long 'Shelter' is a full-blood blues-rock song with
a big bucket of US southern rhythms. There is two instrumental songs
on this album, the jazz/fusion track
'Exotica' and the calm and tranquil song
'Big Ocean'.
This album is more commercial than the
previous album and I appreciate that
Neal choose to walk this path. Only
nine tracks, but this is a very classy
musical piece of art. Very elegant and stylish
performed rock music for the demanding
audience. 'So U' is an album that
demands several spins to sort it out. It
grows and grows and I find new
delicacies every time.
The most advanced track 'Exotica' is a
song for the heaviest rock fusion
lovers.
A given purchase if you are a fan of
adult hard rock with technical
instrumental perfection.
