LICK THIS
Guitar 2001 Magazine Compilation
Review by Barbara Bales

If all-instrumental originals featuring independent, not yet famous guitar shred-meisters from around the country are up your alley, then have I got a compilation CD for you. LICK THIS is the brainchild of Guitar 2001 Magazines publisher/founding editor, Michael Knight, an accomplished axe-wielder whose melodic, aggressive composition, "Arctic Sun," is included.
The production values on LICK THIS are of professional quality, and the CD contains a variety of styles: heavy metal, jazz, fusion, progressive, funk, baroque and classical. Everyone of the guys featured has got it goin' on, with a great tone and a rich vibrato. (I say "guys" because there are no grrl guitarists here. Lilith Fair this ain't!)
"Mr. Destructo" is an fusionesque piece executed quite well by guitarist Carl Roa from the quirky and talented Queens-based group "The Magic Elf." He totally digs in.
Even if you've never heard "Igor's Revenge," how could you not give it a listen, especially when the guitarist calls himself Dr. Frankenshred? He's got speed-of-light fingers which race around the fretboard. Fraught with minor scales, "Igor's Revenge" has a Transylvania feel, if you know what I mean.
The baroque-inspired "Moriches Sky/Dream Of Love," by Long Islander guitarist Steve Speelman, begins acoustically, then turns electric. "The Storm," Pennsylvanian Mike Gallagher's contribution, is beautiful, brimming with trills, octave leaps and harmonics.
There's scratching, shrieking and "wahwahing" too, in both Scott Hughes' composition "With An 'E'" and in The DeMarco Brothers' "Graphic Nature."
If you want to hear plenty of skill and 'tude, check out LICK THIS. Contact Guitar 2001 Magazine Compilation CD, c/o. Knight Music Productions, P.O. Box 651, Floral Park, NY 11002. Phone: 516-328-7940; www.guitar2001.com or www.musicpress.com. -Barbara Bales