Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Andy Timmons Band
Label: Self-released
Release: 2016
Running time: 53:05
Rating: 4/5
After the famous Simon Phillips (ex-Toto), one of the most interesting drummers in the world, if not the best, or at least the most accomplished, fired up his Protocol project again, Andy Timmons became a regular on stages around the globe once more, and not just on the North American continent this superb guitar ace comes from. In just three years, Timmons played Slovenia with Protocol twice!
The man is known for working with successful American hard rockers Danger Danger at the start of his career, for his colorful solo discography, and also because other musicians have loved having this guitar wizard on stage with them. Among them are names like Olivia Newton John, Kip Winger (Winger), Paula Abdul, The Beach Boys, Paul Stanley (Kiss) and of course a whole string of peers from the world of the six-string bible, such as Steve Morse (Deep Purple), Mike Stern, Paul Gilbert (Mr. Big) and Eric Johnson.
This time Andy didn’t put just his own name on the album. He tacked on an »extension«: a band. So he wanted to put out a record that hits more compactly, where the building blocks sound more balanced and sit more equally within the arrangements. Andy’s two loyal sidekicks, who back the guitarist on all his solo albums, play on this one too, bassist Mike Daane and drummer Mike Marine, while Rob Avsharian also contributed drums on half of the new album’s tracks.
What’s interesting about Andy Timmons’ latest effort is its incredible variety of ideas and the real punch of its lead motifs. Even on first listen they come across as seriously infectious, even invasive, and so they stick in your head fast. These motifs are so strong in their expression that some tracks have none of the classic guitar solos you’d normally expect from such a »guitar Conan« as Andy Timmons (Winterland, Sanctuary). And more than that: in those tracks they aren’t needed at all, so you don’t miss them. Andy felt that himself and ruled that he wouldn’t pepper every song with solos after all. As always, Timmons put all the cards of his artistic expression on the hunt for great musical value!
This time Andy Timmons strictly follows his instincts. To make the mood he wants to create with his guitar playing land the way he intends, he follows the lead motifs. The songs hold to a verse-chorus structure, and in the mid-eight passages Timmons, instead of solos (in the typical sense of the word), often reshapes the lead motif with just a series of chords, which of course allow for the odd improvisational detour, but the compact format of the songs isn’t sacrificed for even a second. Put superficially, it’s a kind of »soloing with chords«, something Alex Lifeson (Rush), for example, leaned on heavily over his career, and for Timmons it’s no novelty anymore. So in place of the classic solo you’d expect, there’s a harmonic ornament made up of a sequence of chords, or a simple single-note line that keeps the musicality high. Of course there are also tracks dosed with acrobatics straight out of the famous scriptures of Timmons’ six-string theory. One is the title track, which is also the album’s backbone since it’s the most dynamic of the lot, and another is Welcome Home near the end of the album.
Although the guitar rock on this album is tied mostly to the melodic hard rock field, the softer and more sophisticated parts in particular hint that Andy Timmons is also a master of jazz virtues (the closing On Your Way Sweet Soul, for example), and he knows how to knock on melancholy’s door too, through an extremely interesting weave of neoclassical and blues elements in the exquisitely refined and soulful The Next Voice You Hear. So Timmons is very economical in how he serves up notes, and over the years he has been »mellowing out« in that respect. He follows the axiom that less is more, relishing the decay of individual tones. He places his notes deftly and concisely, and plays each one with exceptionally delicate softness, with filigree finesse. That’s why »The Theme From A Perfect World« is an extremely listenable album, especially considering we’re talking about an instrumental record. Everything is absolutely subordinate to melody and the evocation of emotional states, which Andy Timmons uses on this album to speak to the listener without any major obstacles, guiding them through this exceptionally high-quality album, with which Timmons the musician has definitely passed his maturity exam.
Andy Timmons Band – Winterland:
Line-up
Andy Timmons – guitar
Mike Daane – bass
Mike Marine – drums
Rob Avsharian – drums
Production
Andy Timmons
Track list
01. Ascension
02. Winterland
03. Theme From A Perfect World
04. Sanctuary
05. The Next Voice You Hear
06. Lift Us Up (Something Wicked This Way Comes)
07. That Day Came
08. Firenze
09. Welcome Home
10. On Your Way Sweet Soul
