Friedman, Marty - Music For Speeding

Year of Release: 2003
Label: Favored Nation
Catalog Number: 2260
Format: CD
Total Time: 45:29:00

Good lord, Marty Friedman is a phenomenal guitar player! It is obvious to me he did not show what he was very capable of in the structure of a band; he played great, mind you, just not like this.

Oh yeah, he was in a band called Megadeth, heard of em'? Yeah, thought you may have. Fate reared its ugly head and band mate Dave Mustaine suffered some physical setbacks, and that band was history in a heartbeat. Well, they had some great years with a lot of good music to offer a huge fan base worldwide, but I have to wonder if everyone was aware of all the talent that Marty possessed in those talented fingers of his? Little did I know that this guitarist, a humble god of the six-string, was just waiting for the right time cut it all loose and show his feathers like a proud peacock. He has other solo albums but I would be willing to bet not as impressive as this one.

Oh, I must have listened to Music For Speeding at least four or five times, then I decided to write about it. I could not stop listening to this CD! I suppose it does not hurt that I love instrumental rock music but this was an exceptional listen.

"Fuel Injection Stingray" sounds like Surfing With The Alien era Joe Satriani. The title is perfect for the music, it moves along as fast as the car with a constant flow of fuel via Friedman's masterful guitar strokes. I am just beside myself how good this album is. This review would get ridiculously long if I was to gush about each track, and believe me that would be easy to do. Just the titles of the tracks sound inviting?"Ripped," "Lust For Life" and "Novocain Kiss," come on! Who would not want to give this CD a spin knowing it is Friedman playing guitar? I would say you were temporarily insane if you passed on buying this disc, it is without a doubt one of the most killer instrumental rock albums that I have ever heard before, and I mean that sincerely.

Friedman plays all lot of different styles and with taste, even when he rocks hard. He pulls a few rabbits out of his hat along way while coming at you fast, hard, slow and easy, and to put it bluntly?with rock yer ass off straight shootin' no bullshit rock. Some of the metal reminded me of favorite Black Sabbath material. He brews up a recipe for success in my estimation. My ears do not lie. If you have not listened closely enough to this man's guitar genius, listen to this, you will feel like a truck hit you then backed up and ran over you again. That kind of slap in the face realization you get after hearing this CD makes you want to listen to it repeatedly. It will keep you comin' back for more, I promise. As the title of the album gives notice, beware if you are playing this while you are driving, you may end up with a few speeding tickets.

Tracklisting:
Gimme A Dose (3:45) / Fuel Injection Stingray (3:27) / Ripped (4:24) / It's The Unreal Thing (4:02) / Cheer Girl Rampage (3:59) / Lust For Life (4:25) / Lovesorrow (4:25) / Nastymachine (4:27) / Catfight (3:56) / Corazon De Santiago (3:50) / 0-7-2 (0:40) / Salt In The Wound (2:02) / Novocaine Kiss (3:47)

Musicians:
Marty Friedman - guitar, programming, shamisen, sequencing
Brian Becvar - keyboards
Jimmy O'Shea - bass
Barry Sparks - bass
Jeremy Colson ? drums
Ben Woods - flamenco guitar
Jason Moss - additional programming and enjoyable noise

Discography:
Dragon's Kiss (1988)
Scenes (1992)
Introduction (1995)
True Obsession (1996)
Music For Speeding (2003)

Genre: Rock

Origin US

Added: May 4th 2003
Reviewer: Keith "Muzikman" Hannaleck
Score:
Artist website: www.martyfriedman.com
Hits: 2596
Language: english