01. Altitudes
02. Perpetual Burn
03. Mabel’s Fatal Fable
04. Air
05. Temple Of The Absurd
06. Eleven Blue Egyptians
07. Dweller In The Cellar
08. Opus Pocus
For the love of music, Jason Becker decided to challenge the greatest instrumentalists by showing us the limits of his instrument for just over 40 minutes.
The intro to the album is great art. The guitar is resplendent in this piece; it shows off the most beautiful facets of itself. We sometimes have the impression that Jason Becker wants to compete with the great composers of the 18th and early 19th centuries in his way of playing the guitar, especially with the track “Air”. It’s a double-edged sword; the result is not necessarily the most interesting, nor the most impressive to listen to for someone who knows nothing about the instrument. In any case, it’s not the part of Perpetual Burn that moved me the most.
We have the impression throughout the album that the guitar maestro tried to teach his guitar to express itself, the impression that he made it go through all the chords, all the combinations it has, to extract the best possible guitar solos. At certain moments in the album we have the impression that he is making his guitar sing as if it were the last day he was going to spend on Earth. It’s often impressive, but at times it can be a little redundant.
Because yes, the album has its flaws. It’s good fun to make your guitar scream for 40 minutes, but sometimes the guitar isn’t the only one to be exhausted, the listener is too. In my opinion, he lets the ultra-fast guitar solos last too long at the beginning mostly, which leaves no respite for those who listen to his album. Fortunately, he calms down a little as the album progresses, which not only allows listeners to breathe a little, but also to admire what else the guitarist can do.
Towards the center of the album, the music runs out of steam a little in my opinion; I get the impression that the guitar must catch its breath after so much work, but even if it allows for a break after these first trying tracks, the music that follows is less interesting. It gives the impression that the album has an ultra-fast start, an ultra-rapid end, but then apart from “Air”, the album is a little empty in the middle. There is a hollowness that the album leaves the listener with, and which makes you lose the rhythm a little.
But despite the flaws, the album is still quite impressive. It ends on the same note as at the beginning: a guitar that sings the praises of its own music. However, this time it is done with a little more class than at the beginning; the album’s opening was much more demonstrative of the power of the guitar, while the instrument concludes the album with a little more finesse in this apotheosis of notes.
After listening to this album, the qualities of the guitarist are not debatable; he is a master of his instrument and he knows it. He wants to rank alongside legendary guitarists, and if he has to take his instrument to the last corners of its capabilities, then the musician doesn’t hold back. In short, this is an album demonstrating the limits of the instrument, caressed for 40 minutes by the guitar tamer Jason Becker, who offers us a fairly impressive show, but above all an appreciable album.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 7 |
| Production: | 7 |
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.