Schon; Neal: The Calling

Neal Schon has an amazingly packed discography outside of his day job as the guitarist and ringleader in Journey, with collaborations with everybody from Bob Marlette, John Waite and Jeff Scott Soto to Paul Rodgers, Santana and Sammy Hagar. Seven years on from his last solo release I On U, Schon has reacquainted himself with two other names from his past, onetime Journey drummer Steve Smith and keyboard player extraordinaire Jan Hammer, with whom he released two albums in the early eighties. With Schon handling all guitar and bass duties, the only other musician to make an appearance on The Calling is jazz piano player Igor Len, who lends a more organic feel on the odd occasions that Schon isn't going full pelt. As you'll gather from that list of contributors, The Calling is a fully instrumental affair, allowing Schon to genre hop and self indulge, while still impressing and engrossing the listener.

A quick squint through the track titles will let you know that "Carnival Jazz" is a little bit jazzy, "Six String Waltz" is indeed a song to take your partner on the floor to, with a singing-like guitar solo style. Although "Transonic Funk" fails to live up to its title by shuffling along with more flunk than funk about it. However that aberration aside, The Calling is an album that satisfies fully both through scintillating performances and stunning melodies. As you'd expect from a fret-burner's instrumental album, the guitar's the star here, with Schon flexing his six-string muscles at every opportunity. Yes, as expected, there are times where Satriani, Moore and Timmons are brought to mind, but it is to Schon's credit that his tone and texture shine through often enough to ensure you'd never confuse his playing for anybody else's.

The passionate, slow burn of "Song Of The Wind II" tugs at the heartstrings as well as the guitar strings, while "The Calling" kicks the album off in uncompromising style with Schon, Smith and Len all jousting for supremacy - creating a melodic maelstrom that captures the imagination from the off. Add to that the dramatic "Back Smash" where the guitar is slain again and again, or "Primal Surge" where the keyboards shine alongside some thumping bass and the full on jazz of "Fifty Six", where Len gets a chance to dominate, while Hammer Moogs it up, and The Calling becomes an album that jumps from style to style while never sounding disjointed. That all said, the best moment possibly comes from the simple, beautiful guitar only "Irish Field" which beautifully illustrates the touch and finesse that Schon truly possesses.

The Calling follows the golden instrumental rule of write great songs, play them phenomenally well and the lack of a vocalist is soon forgotten. Making for an excellent exhibition of musicianship and style working in harmony to make for one of the best instrumental albums you'll hear this year.

Track Listing
1. The Calling
2. Carnival Jazz
3. Six String Waltz
4. Irish Field
5. Black Smash
6. Fifty Six
7. True Emotion
8. Tumbleweeds
9. Primal Surge
10. Blue Rainbow Sky
11. Transonic Junk
12. Song Of The Wind II

Added: October 4th 2012
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: SchonMusic.com
Hits: 5682
Language: english

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