Review - The Great Kat's Beethoven's Guitar Shred DVD

Wow! It's a wild ride when you review a DVD such as The Great Kat's Beethoven's Guitar Shred! And when I say wild, I mean WILD! 

You won't find anything like it, that's a fact. Watching this video and following The Great Kat brings me to different topics, ranging from the video material itself, the music selection and The Great Kat's guitar playing and image.

The Great Kat has brilliantly created this aura of genius and she is not shy about it. She makes a great case study for creating a brand and promoting it. Specially in the Internet Age we live in. She has managed to build something many independent artists should look up to as an example. By this, I mean the strategies and concepts she has brought together to create The Great Kat.

But the music material in this DVD? I am a guitar player and have listened to guitar shredding for many, many years. All I can say is the guitar playing is impressive, but not unique. The world is full of amazing guitar shredders with great chops but without a unique sound (just search YouTube). Unfortunately, musically she falls under this category. However, this is The Great Kat and cannot be ignored!

The music selection? I am a fan of Beethoven myself (I aso grew up listening to his music among other classical composers). For me, it's always interesting to hear versions of Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight Of The Bumble Bee, Beethoven's 5th Symphony, Paganini's Caprice #24, Bach's Brandenburg Concerto #3. Even if they're played at mind blogging speeds using a Jackson Flying V through a cranked up Marshall 100W JCM and presented with lots and lots of blood (or should I say specially when they're played through a cranked-up Marshall amp!).

The DVD brought me back to my teenage years when I was a hardcore fan of neo-classical guitar players such as Yngwie Malmsteen, Timo Tolkki, Randy Rhoads, Jason Becker, Marty Friedman, Vinnie Moore, Michael Angelo Batio, to name a few. The Great Kat's speed seems to be in that league. Well, except for the blood and guts flying everywhere...

Back to the DVD, I would have really liked to see takes lasting long enough to see her finger motion. There's only quick flashes in it, so you can't really appreciate her playing. I'd love to comment on her technique, but then I couldn't find any material online where I could fully see it, because it sure sounds like some fast shred.

The Great Kat claims to have a desire to bring classical music to the masses. To be honest, I don't see how her versions could be considered "masses-friendly". Well, except for the thousands of metal guitar shreadheads out there!  Hopefully, those who listen to her will end up getting some records of the original stuff.

At a recommended retail price of $9.95, it sure is some interesting material. I wouldn't persuade you to stay away from it. But only if you have a very open mind, a strong stomach and are a hard core fan of gore, shred metal, S&M and are up for a wild ride. Remember when I say wild ride.

~Ernesto

For more on The Great Kat, go to www.greatkat.com

New guitar album of the week: Jack Rose's Luck In The Valley

It's sad when artists gain some notoriety only after they die. I'm not sure if this is the case of Jack Rose, but I can say his name appears more often after his sad passing on December 5th, 2009.

From Jack Rose, something that always caught my attention was the authenticity and honesty of his sound. He was known to record "live" in the studio, with no overdubbings or artificial embelishments. I've also read many of his tracks are first takes. The result is very gratifying for music and guitar lovers.

Here is a video featuring some of his playing:

I think it's safe to say he was a guitar player who created instant converts, me being one of them. This February 23rd is the release of his last album: Luck in the Valley

From the official description:


"Luck in the Valley is the 10th album from Jack Rose. The album continues the exploration of pre-war American music with a set of brand new material featuring The Black Twig Pickers, Glenn Jones, Harmonica Dan and Hans Chew along with a handful of solo pieces. This recording set out to capture the energy and feel of the classic three-track shack recordings by the Wray Brothers & Mordicai Jones. Luck in the Valley was written and recorded over a period of 9 months and finds Rose employing new themes and techniques."

For more on Jack Rose, click here.

New guitar album of the week: Jim Campilongo's Orange

Classic yet original, I think that's the way to describe Jim Campilongo's music. This master of the Telecaster just released Orange, an album in Campilongo's signature jazz-country style.

If you are not familiar with his work, you can expect intimate performances very focused on the subtle aspects of playing. Well, enough talking:




Yes, I forgot to mention his incredible tone. That's a '59 Telecaster through a Fender Princeton, but you can find more details here. There's also a signature Tele announced this year at NAMM.

For more on Jim Campilongo at TopOfGuitar.com, click here.

New guitar album of the week: Lionel Loueke's Mwaliko

One of the features I look for in guitar players is their originality. Not just the ability to sound unique, but their ability to do it tastefully (of course, music is subjective so I'm talking about my own preferences here).

From that perspective, it's really uncommon to find guitar players like Lionel Loueke. Originally from Benin, he eventually made it to the U.S. and continued his musical education at the Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz and the Berklee College of Music.  

I am familiar with two of his recordings: Virgin Forest and Karibu and I'm looking forward to hearing his latest release, hitting the stores on February 9th: Mwaliko.

If you're not familiar with his music, take a look at the video below. It is very representative of his guitar and music style. I really like the way he blends African sounds with jazz. His acoustic guitar playing really catches my attention as well as the rhythm in his music.

I hope you find his music intesting. For more on Lionel Loueke at TopOfGuitar.com, click here.

New guitar album of the week: Joe Satriani Live in Paris - I Just Wanna Rock

Joe Satriani is one of those rock guitar icons who know how to deliver consistent performances. And this week guitar fans will have one more chance to experience his virtuosity live. I Just Wanna Rock was recorded and filmed in Paris in 2008 and it features some of Satriani's classics as well as new material.

I've had the chance to see him live many times and it's always a great guitar experience (depending on your tolerance for high frequencies, though).

Here is a video featuring an interview

There are two separate releases.

One is a 22-track CD.

The other is a DVD.

For more about Joe Satriani on TopOfGuitar.com, click here.