Paul Gilbert & Freddie Nelson - United States (CD)

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Who doesn't know Paul Gilbert? One of the few remaining true guitar heroes of our time! Since I was stupid enough to miss his gig here in Athens, I am trying to fill the gap that was created with various techniques. One of these techniques is listening to his latest release, an album he created along with vocalist/guitarist/producer Freddie Nelson, who also co-produced this CD along with Gilbert. So, let's get it rolling…

I will avoid the classic biographical intros and get to the point, since if you don't know Paul Gilbert you should run to the nearest record store and carefully study all his RACER X and MR. BIG works. So, when Paul Gilbert got tired of instrumental albums and decided to return to vocal music, with Freddie handling the vocal duties. This collaboration has already hit the stores.

Just to clear things out from the beginning, this is not a Metal project and has actually nothing to do with Metal. This acts more like a presentation rather than a review. Now that we are clear I can move on. The main influence of their sound is definitely QUEEN, from the guitars to Freddie's voice, which by the way is more than amazing. His vocals have a wide range and his totally Mercury way of singing the vocal melodies is incredible! I don't think that Gilbert's guitar work needs comments, and I am damn sure that all of his fans will love him here, too. Even though this is not the classic fast and technical Gilbert you remember from RACER X and stuff. This is more of a QUEEN meets radio friendly Hard Rock with a great dose of melody, catchy choruses and great arrangements. A great work has been also done on the sound giving a really hard rocking attitude to the songs.

I guess that people who are searching for more easy listening works will find many things in United States (a name which was inspired by the united states of mind these two artists share, and of course to reflect their origin). I really enjoyed listening to this album and I guess that rockers will enjoy it, too. Give it a shot and you won't be disappointed.