Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 02/26/2002
The title sums it up perfectly: 22 tracks of nearly all-instrumental, mostly original guitar music that is at once over the top, wild, intense, silly, screeching, humorous, and beautiful. The thirty-something Swede, a
Frank Zappa disciple, recorded
Freak Guitar on an eight-track in his bathroom with little or no effects (despite the outrageous sounds you hear). Most of the cuts are heavy and intense doses of headbanging material filled with lightning-fast shredding and mind-boggling runs up and down the fretboard. A few songs, though, stand out from the rest and serve to break up the somewhat tedious pattern (
Eklundh himself -- in the informative and entertaining self-penned liner notes -- says, "Listening to this record from the beginning to the end nearly drove me insane."). There's the fastest version of
"La Bamba" you're probably ever going to come across. There's a reeling, upbeat, pseudo-
folk music theme that incorporates a 9/8 time signature. There's
Kiss meets
Django Reinhardt in a hilarious acoustic version of
"Detroit Rock City." Best of all, there's a jazzy original called
"Squirrel" that features warm, multi-layered harmony vocals. This song is just plain cool.
Freak Guitar is a must-have for six-string nerds, but anyone who loves and appreciates groundbreaking music from a truly talented player will find plenty to smile -- and laugh -- about.
~Ann Wickstrom, All Music Guide
;)
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