Some people take a few weeks to write, record, and release an album. Some take a few months. But there are also those who work on it for several years. One of them is Anthony Garone. A musician I, to be honest, had never heard of until recently. Partly because I had been sent his latest album OK, But Why?. An album on which he is pictured with the instrument he masters best. His guitar, to be precise. It is a good thing, too, that there are multiple photos featuring him and his guitar, because nowhere is it actually mentioned which instrument he plays his music on. His guitar, that is! It took Garone 19 years to release a new album, as his previous album dates back to 2007. So almost two decades. But I think it was more than worth the wait for his followers. For those who do not know who Garone is, just like myself, I can tell you that he was born in 1982, is an entrepreneur, author, musician, and technologist from Mesa, Arizona. He runs a music YouTube channel Make Weird Music with over 40 thousand subscribers and over 3 million views. He got a wide notoriety in the ambient of guitar and progressive rock world with his internationally acclaimed book "Failure to Fracture: Learning King Crimson's Impossible Song". Anthony is a virtuoso, highly accomplished and talented guitarist whose musical mastery is widely praised by guitar masters such as Robert Fripp, Steve Vai, and Mike Keneally. OK, But Why? is a collection of Garone's best compositions on which he has worked for nearly two decades. The 14 songs on the album are audibly inspired by progressive icons such as Gentle Giant, Steve Vai, King Crimson, and classical structures by Bach. In addition to the 11 original compositions, the album contains a rhythmic reinterpretation of two movements from Bach's Concerto for Violin and Oboe (BWV 1060) and a fresh rendition of Robert Fripp's Erudite Eyes. The music that you hear combines complex arrangements with unusual time signatures, rhythmic structures, and melodic hooks. Guitars, intricate counterpoint, and unorthodox song structures take center stage. The project features contributions from no fewer than 20 guest musicians, including well-known names from the prog and fusion world such as drummers Morgan Ågren and Owen Dueck. Bassists Michael Manring and Andy West. Pianist Gabe Garone. Guitarists Tom Monda, Gretchen Menn and Jan Zehrfeld who provided several solos. And the list goes on and on. Too many to mention. If you delve a little deeper into the 14 tracks, it stands out that the first 5 are instrumental pieces where the musicians' virtuosity takes center stage. They generally play their instruments quite fast. And the songs sometimes sound a little more intense due to the heavy guitar parts. This is followed by 4 tracks where the vocals come to the fore. These are more song-oriented and bring some calm to the musical whole. Next, it is time to pay tribute to Gentle Giant with the track Pune. This is done very skilfully with great guitar and keyboard parts, just as this band strived to achieve in the seventies. Even the multi-layered vocals feature, as was also a hallmark of this band. Next, it is the turn of the two instrumental Bach arrangements. These also sound very skilful, and here the keyboards come more to the forefront alongside the great guitar parts. Finally, two more instrumental tracks follow. The first Crush is returning to what you could hear at the beginning of the album. The last one Tingz is very short (59 seconds) and features the bass of Robbie Mangano. In summary, it can be said that the album OK, But Why? is certainly worth listening to. Especially because there is enough variety in the tracks, ranging from musical masterpieces to more song-oriented numbers. The music never gets boring because there are no fillers or pointless long listens. And that is what we want on an album. So, well done Anthony Garone, even though it took almost two decades. ***+ Henri Strik (edited by Dave Smith) Where to buy? |
