Sea Of Tranquility



The Web Source for Progressive Rock, Progressive Metal & Jazz-Fusion
  Search   in       
Main Menu




Keneally, Mike: Hat (remaster)

Hat was former Frank Zappa Band guitarist Mike Keneally's first solo album, originally released in 1992. Exowax Recordings is now reissuing this long out of print gem, with remastered sound and a bonus DVD filled to the gills with interviews, rehearsal & live footage, additional audio tracks, demo material, and plenty of other goodies. Been a long time in the making you say? Well, hell yeah, but it's finally here, so be sure to spend some quality time with this killer package. The DVD material is a hoot, with some great live footage of Keneally and his band from a club in 1993, as well as a recent studio session that shows the musicians ripping into some of this older material. The main Hat album is classic, Zappa inspired zaniness with a blistering mix of pop, fusion, and complex prog rock. As always, Mike's guitar skills are front and center, but his vocal skills and keyboard talents are also on display throughout this CD. On hand to help out are a variety of musicians, the main ones being Doug Lunn on bass, and drummers Toss Panos & Alan Silverstein, among others. Hard to pick favorite tracks here, as there are so many of them (25 to be exact), with quite a few short little ditties, but the quirky "Spearmint Pup", "Ugly Town", "The Car Song", and "Rosemary Girl" come to mind first as standout pieces, but the entire album as a whole is a real blast. Keneally's guitar playing is smoking hot here, sure to appeal to anyone who loves Zappa or Steve Vai, as he mixes a hard rock style with avant-garde, fusion, and prog quite nicely.

So what are you waiting for? Get your ass over to your favorite CD vendor and pick this absolutely essential release up, and pronto, as quantities are limited.


Track Listing
1. Your Quimby Dollars At Work
2. I Can't Stop
3. Ugly Town
4. Open Up!
5. Dhen Tin
6. Spearmint Pup
7. Fencing
8. Always Man
9. My Immense Superiority Over The Silverfish
10. Eno And The Actor
11. The Car Song
12. Heaven Likes You/Apple Pie
13. Backstage With Wilson Phillips
14. Here Is What I Dreamed
15. Here Is Why
16. Performing Miracles
17. Spoon Guy
18. And That's Why It's Called Spunk
19. Johnny One-Note/The Exciting New Toothpaste From Mars
20. Day Of The Cow 1
21. Snowcow
22. Day Of The Cow 2
23. We're Rockin' All Night With The Tangy Flavor Of Cheddar
24. Rosemary Girl
25. Lightnin' Roy

Added: August 2nd 2007
Reviewer: Pete Pardo
Score:
Related Link: Mike Keneally Website
Hits: 6085
Language: english

[ Printer Friendly Page Printer Friendly Page ]
[ Send to a Friend Send to a Friend ]

  

[ Back to the Reviews Index | Post Comment ]

» SoT Staff Roundtable Reviews:

Keneally, Mike: Hat (remaster)
Posted by Scott Borre, SoT Staff Writer on 2007-08-02 08:21:43
My Score:

I spend a lot of time on forums, posting, reading, discussing various musically oriented topics. Questions such as, 'Best lead guitarist!,' 'Best album ever!', 'If you were stuck on an island with only one album which one would you choose?', are all too common and I've never really had a good answer to any of them. Well, I'm not about to say that Mike is the best guitarist, that this is the best album ever, or that this album is what I'd choose to have with me on the island. But I can say that this album is one of the greats, and so is he, and I wouldn't question the taste of anybody who would answer those questions with 'hat.' and 'Mike Keneally'.



© 2004 Sea Of Tranquility
For information regarding where to send CD promos and advertising, please see our FAQ page.
If you have questions or comments, please Contact Us.
Please see our Policies Page for Site Usage, Privacy, and Copyright Policies.

All logos and trademarks in this site are property of their respective owner. The comments are property of their posters, all other content © Sea of Tranquility

SoT is Hosted by SpeedSoft.com