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04 September 2003
Eric Johnson, Souvenir (Vortexan Music)
Eric Johnson is the guitar nerd's guitar nerd. He became popular with the avid Guitar World reader set in 1990 with the Grammy-winning record Ah Via Musicom, featuring the single "Cliffs over Dover". Considered by some as one of the world's greatest guitar players, Johnson certainly has a distinct sound. But sometimes being a technically sound, even brilliant, player can't save the day. For all his gifts, Johnson delivers a flat, lifeless record that sounds more like a new soundtrack to the old Miami Vice television series than anything worthy of the high praise heaped on the guitarist. Trying for a spacey rock sound, Johnson falls flat on numbers like "Space of Clouds" and "Paladin", which for all their complexity don't add up to much but Fender masturbation. And his cover of the Beatles' "Paperback Writer" is downright embarrassing. Does the world really need another version of this song? Especially one that sounds like it's been funneled through Rush? The answer, of course, is no. The most hardcore Eric Johnson fans may find even they don't need this souvenir.
— Mitch Pugh
.: posted by Editor 9:13 AM
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