By Justin Rosendahl
As soon as the opening notes hit, you are on the musical adventure of the year. On “Striker” he goes into a bit of a Satriani style, playing with an appearance of a whammy pedal and down to the simplistic rhythm of the song. The second song continues the same vibe that “Striker” gives. “Striker” has a bit of a jazzy fusion-styled guitar, and the intro guitar is doubled by a keyboard to create a very layered sound. “Dream In Blue” brings a very soothing sound and the melody is so emotional (Petrucci and Malmsteen…pay attention to this one).
“Heavy Heart”, the album’s first song, is by far the greatest song on the album. The song is so emotional and what else makes it a great song is that Daryl wrote the melody for the guitar in a fashion where the listener could sing the melody lines. This is without a doubt the song of the year.
The Final Word: With an awesome guitar tone, awesome production, this album not only delivers sonically, but where it counts; MUSICALLY! Attention Joe Satriani, invite Daryl to join G3 and bring back Eric Johnson and you have the makings for the best show ever!! This album could quite possibly be the instrumental album of the year!