MICHAEL ANGELO BATIO „Hands Without Shadows 2: Voices”

Music: Shred Metal
Website: http://www.angelo.com
Country: USA
Duration: 60:16
Cool Songs: Clapton Is God, EVH, For Jimi: All Along the Watchtower

There will be no intro, Just like that – I don’t know what to write In intro to review of this album. This Cd is In my hands for a long time, I am listening it, it litters my desk, sometimes is falling of it to the ground and I don’t know what to do. Let me explain. Michael Angelo Batio is very specific type of shredder – with style based mainly on speed he is more and more a showman, rather than a musician. But we can’t tell that his recordings don’t have any character and his show-offs on his double and quarto guitars also made me say “wooooooooooow”. And he is only guitarist I know who plays equally good on right-handed guitar and lef-handed one. But this doesn’t matter. Album, which I am going to review gives me so mixed feelings. You may ask why, mainly because tracks are in majority – a covers. Fantastic covers, but… covers, and I can’t run from saying that they are fantastic, because original versions were fantastic. Some are as good as older versions, like Clapton’s Laila, track made from Pantera riffs or the one with Van Halen riffs, even Symphony of Destruction of that gingerhead, even that majority of its body is processed into something else. Other ones, and I mean especially track made from Metallica riffs is awfully screwed up – Unchanged Metallica riffs with Batio giving here and there half seconds solos ruining whole atmosphere and concept. Lets go away for a moment from guitars, and look at vocals case. Yes, vocals – this is first Batio’s record with vocals, and when I heard that some time ago I thought he will bail more than Hoey on his “American Made”, but I listened to the CD and I must admit, that this sounds pretty good. More – I can’t imagine this album without these vocals. Vocalist is very nicely imitating voices of original vocalists. Other thing is that the rest of the instruments – we can talk about them as one, just is, I cannot write about them anything more. They do not present anything special, about which I could write anything, that is both good and bad – they are not that good nor that bad. But let’s get back to guitars – on this album Batio is struck with some neo-classical complex. We can hear on this record some exerpts from various classical tunes implemented in tracks. But he chose worst tracks to do it. Of course, neoclassical passage is the best way to show your speed of soloing, but in Clapton or Megadeth? WTF?

Whole CD is good, besides mentioned elements we can listen to it with smile and I think I will return to it from time to time. Style of Batio’s shredding is not liked by everyone, but everyone has to admit that he is specific kind of guitarist. Note I am giving to this album is low mainly for the one thing I accuse this record – tracks gathered here were written and played some time ago, and then they were great, and still are great, because they represent great music. There is no sense in recording again such great tunes, because there is a little chance that it will be greater, and big chance that it will be much worse. If not taking this thing into consideration, I could set note 2 points higher.

note: 5/10

Tracklist

1. Dial in that Frequency
2. Tribute to Dimebag
3. Clapton Is God
4. Metallica Rules
5. EVH
6. Symphony of Destruction
7. For Jimi: All Along the Watchtower
8. Tribute to Randy 2: You Can't Kill Rock And Roll
9. On the Double
10. MAB Forum Shreddathon

Line-up

Warren Dunlevy, Jr. – vocals
Michael Angelo Batio – guitars, bass
Joe Babiak – drums