It is nearly almost impossible to stand out in today's world of shred guitarists, especially with the largely popular heavyweights such as Vai, Malmsteem, Pettrucci, McAlpine, Morse, and Howe (Greg or Steve) among many others who apply their axework to respected bands in the metal or prog vein.
Award winning guitarist
Anand Mahangoe offers something different, but yet providing a familiar sound to the axe attack we all know and love so much, he mixes the technical endurance of
Rush with the melodic force of Satriani creating a smooth blend of guitar mantras, making his six string into the musical frontman for
A Man's Mind.
Opening up with "
Return from the Red Banana World," a track that sounds like it could have been part of
Rush's well-known
Gangster of Boats (their inside joke) trilogy, jamming with the rest of the groups tight chops, offering an aggressive take on fusion guitar work, which is followed up with the
Flying in a Blue Dream-era
Satch track "
Attack of the Horrible Space Babes," the Deep Purple-esque "
Get In," and "
Midnight Chaser" where the music itself, besides the title, brings to mind a car chase scene in a movie. Like many guitarists, he has that sweet tooth for technical pieces, where key and time signature changes dominate cuts such as "
What's on a Man's Mind," the gloomy "
Mimi Goes Hype," and "
Boys with Toys;" but of course, no guitarist can stay away from more mellow material, where the urgency to create the finite plectonics to more eased back proportion is usually never passed on, and
Anand's approach to this vibe is found in "
Mysterious Ways," "
Far Away," "
Side by Side," and the acoustic (and self-prophetic) "
Another Side of Me," with all those tracks floating within the thick atmospheric approach.
With all songs clocking in on an average of four-and-a-half-minutes, there is no overzealous jamming, just
Anand getting to the point (along with the occasional stand out points with keys and fretless bass). It might be hard to believe that with an instrumental record that
A Man's Mind is song oriented, where the riffs provide the hooks and so on and regardless of any comparisons, this reissue of his debut record is one of the strongest guitar records I have heard in a while and it is a shame it has not come to light earlier.
Written by
Hashman Sunday, February 13, 2005
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