Pedersen; Roger: More Is More

Love shred? Love Roger Pedersen. I mean that's it, there's little left to say really, as this second album from the Norwegian guitar abuser More Is More does exactly what shred should....shred! There's no doubt this boy can play, with a million notes a minute firing at your head so quickly you barely have time to hear them all as RP's fretboard melts from the eager attention.

So will non fret frothers love this too? Equally easy to answer - no.

Harsh, maybe, but after hearing "songs" (even the press release calls them "advanced instrumentals") such as "Antivirus" or "Hail In A Hurricane" it's hard to get away from the feeling that you've stumbled in on some instructional guitar warm up DVD where dextrous fingers are the aim of the game. The very fact that the album is called More Is More, or that one track is named "GuitarDrumBizarreThing" should describe the level of restraint on show here. But that was never the intention, so much so that the lack of focus on melody as an essential driving force on this album is never better felt when one of the less blurring tracks is simply called "Melody". That said there are a few moments of less more is more and more less is less of more in a more or less kind of way with "Surfing With An Umbrella" alluding to a Satriani song over technique ethos not employed elsewhere, while "Northern Lights" highlights Pedersen's acoustic skills and "Summerday" brings the bright breezy attitude its name suggests.

Rather oddly the album finishes with a decent slice of Euro-pop-rock where Johannes Stole provides some classy, easy going vocals. It isn't a song that's gonna change the world, or blow your socks off. However coming at the end of an album that challenges you to keep up (and truth be told maintain your focus) the harmony vocals and tight, bright riff simply feels lost, even if they are more than welcome. Interestingly Pedersen has chosen to promote this song as the "single" from the album and while it is the only track on MIM that could possibly fall into that category, if you buy More Is More on the strength of hearing and liking it, you'll be sorely disappointed in and confused by the rest of what you'll find here.

Which takes us full circle. Love shred? Love Roger Pedersen.

Track Listing
01. Circus
02. Anrivirus
03. Hail In A Hurricane
04. Northern Lights
05. Wasps
06. More Is More
07. The PingPongSong
08. Melody
09. Sufing With An Umebrella
10. Popcorn Anyone?
11. Summerday
12. GuitarDrumBizarreThing
13. Say My Name (Radio Edit)

Added: June 8th 2013
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Roger Pedersen Online
Hits: 1849
Language: english

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