Andy Timmons -"Recovery"

 

A great, yet underrated guitar player, versatile, melodic, jazzy and heavy when he feels the composition needs it. Andy Timmons was the guitar player for DANGER DANGER but has a strong body of solo works in the last decades. In this his latest effort he continues to mix guitar shredding, jazz complexity, melodic rock and a love for the 90s maestros, especially Macalpine and Satriani and a sweet tooth for Michale Schenker and his taste for melody.. His personal sound has strong influences from melodic guitarists like Schenker, Roth  and Macalpine but has a more US approach to the whole sound.

'Recovery ' covers a lot of territories from laid back jazz, soundtrack music to shredding  but is most of all a healing album, letting the listener go with the flow.As Timmons himself states , “Healing is a constant we all navigate.  And of course, music is the key to all this: It has been my safe place to express and heal throughout my life.”. This phrase, represents the spirit of the album

Timmons reconvened with the players who contributed to Electric Truth in 2021 for the Recovery sessions: Lemar Carter (Joe Bonamassa) on drums, Travis Carlton (Robben Ford, Steve Gadd, Larry Carlton) on bass, Deron Johnson (Miles Davis, Stanley Clarke, Alanis Morrissette) on keyboards and Jeff Babko (Steve Lukather, Larry Carlton, Jimmy Kimmel Show) on keyboards.

He moves swiftly from opening jazzy "Elegy For Jeff"   to "Recovery" with its Middle East influences and the Macalpine tone . His sound is versatile depending on the feeling and his purpose, never letting the listener distract. He even has a song with vocals to spice things up a bit in".Something Good’s Gonna Come" a slow melodic rock tune with CHEAP TRICK and pop rock, written all over it.

"Love > Hate"  is a tune with cinematic climax and a strong main melody, "Where Did You Go" has an Italian aroma, "Between Brothers' is an up tempo, high speed fusion rock tune, then some fingerpicking on "Lost In This World" a mid tempo ballad, groove and swing at "It Doesn’t Mean Anything", slow jazz moves at  "Why Must It Be So", a tribute to Schneker at the epic "Almost Home" and for the closing,a slow pace  cinematic instrumental, "Arizona Sunset" with a killer vibrato.

If you are aware of his work, just listen to the new album, you know his high standards. If you don't know this guitar player extraordinaire and you are into melodic rock and jazz /fusion guitar playing get a grip on him, you won't be disappointed.

7,5