"AMAZING! That's the first thing that went
through my brain. [Chris] is a truly gifted player, and it definitely shows
though the music"
Bassist Randy Coven (ARK, CPR, Yngwie Malmsteen)
"Chris is not just an extremely talented
songwriter/guitar-player and multi-instrumentalist, but also someone who knows
how to record, produce, and arrange songs of the highest standards. And to top
it all off, he does it all independently." 全文を読む
Peter Fundeis, Screaming
Symphony Radio
The guitar stylings of Chris Brooks are
up there with the likes of Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. His command of the
instrument is rivaled by his ability to compose a beautiful songs. I highly
recommend you check out this album.
John "Koggie" Kotzian, Ytsejam.com
"Chris Brooks is probably the
best guitarist you've never heard of, but if the material on "The Master
Plan" is any indication, it may only be a matter of time before this
Sydney-based guitarist becomes a known entity in the international guitar
scene. Armed with devastating technique, melodic sensibility and a high
command of phrasing, Brooks shows us that shred is not dead - it just got
smarter."
Chaos Review
"I just heard one of your sample clips and I'm totally blown
away! It sounds really great! Where do I buy it?"
Mark Boals (Ring Of Fire, solo)
"he [Brooks] is an amazing musician, and is a very crafty
composer also. It would have been far too easy for him to have mimicked the
Moores, Malmsteens, and Garseds of the guitar world. His playing is far beyond
such apery, this is proven by is writing abilities. His music is always in a
rhythmic flux, utilizing a high complexity level, blistering speeds, and
precision-like melodic interchange." 全文を読む
MJ Brady, Prognosis website
"Chris Books comes out scorching in this
awesome take-no-prisoners debut CD... Brooks is a virtuoso beyond any
doubt playing full out or sensitive when called for. Equal billing needs to be
given to the quality of the compositions - which bring a style mix of Fusion,
Shredder, and Prog."
全文を読む
DB Silver, Prognosis website
"An
awesome talent....and humble to boot. The drum programming is truly fabulous and
the guitar work is brilliant. Often a musicians virtuosity can actually get in the
way of the music. Where every riff in the book is placed somewhere for the purpose
of showing off rather than doing justice to the music or song. This is
not the case with the new Chris Brooks CD "The Master Plan". He
deserves to be up there with best. These tracks are wonderfully melodic and
rhythmically complex pieces played brilliantly. Why haven't we heard about him
before??"
Kathy Naunton, dB mastering
|
Reviews
in full |
Janne Stark, Sweden Rock Magazine
２００２年はギター・アルバムにとってルネッサンスの年のようにみえる。 多数のアルバムがリリースされた。 実際、たとえもし８０年代のギター・ウェイブで、耐え難いものになていたとしても、最近幾つかのより洗練された作品が日の目を見ている。
オーストラリア出身であるChris
Brooks は、明らかにリスナーの観点からみて良いアルバムを制作した一人である。 Chris
は、優れたテクニックとナイスなトーンを持っていいながら、また一番重要とされる、バラエティーに富んだ良い曲を書くことの出来る人物だ。 最初に収録されている２曲、"Kryptica" と
"Inner Lights" は、Vinne
Moore を思わせ、また彼の更にメロディックで複雑な作曲を知ることが出来る。 またChris
のリード・ギターは、Mr
Mooreのギター・トーンの影響を幾らか持ち合わせている。
"Crack In The Hourglass" は、速いプログ・リックで始まり、ソロではよりDream
Theaterを彷彿させる。 この曲では、ギターとキーボードのユニゾンをフルに聴く事が出来、そのことがギター音楽であることを感じさせない。 "Crack
In The Mirror" は、また沢山の意外な良き音楽的サプライズや聴いていて気持ちよくさせる風変わりな展開をする曲である。 "Blue
Sky Odyssey" は静かなピアノで始まり、とても素晴らしいバラードへと発展し、そこでChris
はエモーショナルなソロとアコースティック・ギターを同等に熟知していることを表している。 "Funksion"
は、多少ファンキーなリズムとよりフュージョン的サウンドをもった完全に異なったフィールドを打ち出している。 "Master
Plan Suite" は、３部に分かれていて、ピアノのイントロである"Theme
For The Next World"で開始する。 "Axiom"
は、多種のクールなリフや変化を持ったVinnie
Moore の域を感じさせる。 ３部目にあたる"The
Master Plan" は、再びChris
のプログレッシヴな面をより垣間見ることができ、より速いエレクトリック・ギターのプレイとヘビーなリフ、その一方で快活なアコースティック・ギタープレイを聴くことが出来る。 このアルバムは、確かに私が何も語っていないギター・自己愛者のアルバムに飽きてきたギター愛好者に勧めるアルバムだ。 Chris
は、明らかにこのアルバムで物語るものがあるね！
（１０点中８点）
Janne Stark
Peter
Fundeis, Screaming Symphony Radio [13-04-2002]
Sometimes it is not just a
matter of being talented or having that special recording. Sometimes one has to
be in the right place at the right time to get heard and in the case of
Australian Chris Brooks, that is probably the only thing holding his rise to
stardom. Chris is not just an extremely talented songwriter/guitar-player and
multi-instrumentalist, but also someone who knows how to record, produce, and
arrange songs of the highest standards. And to top it all off, he does it all
independently.
His debut release, titled The Master Plan, is an instrumental extravaganza of
progressive/metal/rock/jazz/fusion with an array of styles fused together in 10
different songs totaling just over 42 minutes. The focus throughout his
compositions is primarily on the guitars but there are also some magnificent
keyboard leads and fills. Chris nominates some of the greatest guitar virtuosos
of all time as his influences but although one can find elements of many
throughout The Master Plan, there is no cloning going on. As a matter of fact I
would like to go a step further and say that Chris Brooks is on his way of
developing a new side arm to fusion which is in parts heavier than anything else
going around at the moment. Imagine the same speed and heaviness of a Yngwie
Malmsteen but fuse that with Planet X or Explorer's Club and voila, you got a
new breed of instrumental/progressive metal.
I would also like to mention that Chris played all of the instruments on this
recording and the CD has some of the best sounding drum samples which must have
taken him years to program. I do hope that he will find a real drummer to
complement these great compositions in the future.
(score 10/12)
MJ Brady, Prognosis website
After having heard some demos a while back from Chris Brooks'
website, I was very excited about hearing the final product of his debut release
The Master Plan. As great as those song clips were, my expectations were
well exceeded when I first listened to this cd all the way through. From the
Land Down Under, Australia, the land that also has brought us some of the worlds
very best fusion musicians (Gambale, Garsed, Donati, Fierabracci, Aliano,
Indaba, DeLuc), it seems as though there is something in the water down
there. Chris Brooks, acknowledges some of these influences as well as many
others such as Vinnie Moore & Yngwie Malmsteen for inspiration while
coming up as an aspiring musician. Though I can say, he sounds nothing like any
of these artists, perhaps his studies at the Australian Institute of Music in
Sydney, gave him the tools to express his musical personality and
identity.
I can attest, that he is an amazing musician, and is a very crafty composer
also. It would have been far too easy for him to have mimicked the Moores,
Malmsteens, and Garseds of the guitar world. His playing is far beyond such
apery, this is proven by is writing abilities. His music is always in a rhythmic
flux, utilizing a high complexity level, blistering speeds, and precision-like
melodic interchange. The fact that he performs all the instruments is also an
amazing feat in and of itself, as the music is such, that nothing less than
highly competent professional virtuoso types would be capable of keeping up with
the demanding changes and progressions.
I am reminded of some of the more challenging artists coming of age such as Cyril
Achard, Michael Harris or Dave Martone, also there are times when I am
reminded of Liquid Tension Experiment, or Planet X. And yes, he is worthy
of this lofty company of musicians. From beginning to end The Master Plan
produces music of the highest caliber, how Chris plans to upstage this debut is
going to be a challenge, but knowing this is his first solo project, hopefully
the best is yet to come. A MUST for technical, instrumental fusion
listeners!
DB Silver, Prognosis
website
As much as anything track 1 .
Kryptica reminds me of Al Dimeola's The Wizard from his Land of
the Midnight Sun debut CD. And like DiMeola did in his debut, Chris Books
comes out scorching in this awesome take-no-prisoners debut CD.
The guitar playing is beyond measure here - inventive and technical - to the
first degree. Brooks is a virtuoso beyond any doubt playing full out or
sensitive when called for. Equal billing needs to be given to the quality of the
compositions - which bring a style mix of Fusion, Shredder, and Prog. A fine
guitarist with less than fine music bears watching. But marry one up with first
class music and you have a 'must-have' CD. The Master Plan is just such
a recording.
If there is a flaw here it is that Brooks elected to play all instruments. It is
impressive the way he delivers - I am especially surprised at the quality of the
drums - it does not sound like a guitar player composed or played them. But the
flaw - if it truly exists and is not in my imagination - is that the non-guitar
parts lack a bit in personality. Maybe it is just me because a listen to Axiom
dispels any question that the man can handle himself at a top level on every
instrument he plays especially drums.
There are many prog elements throughout many of the songs which means that this
recording should be received well by prog-metal fans. Fusion fans will find
highly technical music for all instruments here - each well performed and
exceptionally delivered. Shredder-types will meet a new guitar hero. Chris
Brooks ROCKS.
|
Fan
Feedback |
Just can't say enough great things about your playing and the new album.
Just listening to "The Master Plan" song and your mixture of speed
soloing and feeling is absolutely awesome (checking out the CD for the 3rd time
today).
- Kevin Fettig re: The Master Plan (by email)
...........................................................................................................................
Chris is definitely in the same league as the Vai's, Petruccis, Satches,
Yngwie's etc - an absolute MONSTER player !!!
But what I can't get over is how much better the CD sounds compared to the
samples from Chris' site. Not just in terms of sound but there is so much more
to the songs as well. You can't really appreciate it unless you hear the CD.
Some of the songs take little unexpected twists and turns that you don't hear on
the samples, which makes it very entertaining listening.
SonicBlue (on the mike portnoy forum)
...........................................................................................................................
extremely
well done! You technique is amongst the
best I've heard (and I regularly listen to the likes of Michael Romeo, Shawn
Lane etc.) but what strikes me most is that all fast parts and solos fit the
song. Your soloing is very melodic unlike most the other insane shredders
Rdna
(on the mike portnoy forum)
...........................................................................................................................
Just got
done listening to Chris' album for the first time, after staking
out the mailbox this morning. I won't go into too much detail on each individual song, but if you were
blown away by the samples available on his
site, they are a very strong representation of what the entire album is like
- blistering guitar work that doesn't overshadow the underlying compositions,
and blistering guitar work that is NOT a substitute for strong melodies and
structured themes. Throughout the album's ten tracks, the guitar serves to
enhance the songs, instead of the songs merely being there to display Chris'
chops.
Absolute highlights for me were the all out relentless opener Kryptica,
the LTE reminiscent grooves of Blue Sky Odyssey, and the track that has
had me bopping since it was first previewed here early last year Funksion.
My only complaint with this track is that it could be 168 hours longer - I can
listen to stuff like this all week.
I encourage everyone who hasn't already, take the time to check out the
samples and order this CD. Talent like this not only needs, but deserves
support.
Just B (on the John Petrucci forum)
...........................................................................................................................
Ok so Im
listening to the samples yet again, and let me say this is one of my most
anticipated CD's ina looooooooong time! Thanks for delivering to me what I had
hope 6DOIT would have. While DT collects dust, I'll be crankin Chris Brooks! Man
the keyboards kick ass! I love the backing keys and the key solos, and the tones
are MINT! I am impressed like I havent been in a loooooong time. Give yourself a
pat on the back bro, and dont worry I'll be pointing ALOT of friends I know
online to your site!
DrumRman
(on the mike portnoy forum)
...........................................................................................................................
OMG - you're really freakin good man!
Tabs
(mike portnoy forum)
...........................................................................................................................
VERY
impressive indeed... This is some awesome stuff, Chris... Great chops, your
sense of phrasing is REALLY good, which helps to make the shredding sound cool
and fresh all the time and not become boring like Yngwie and others... And the
interplay with the keyboards is good too...
Adriano F. Giacomini (mike portnoy forum)
...........................................................................................................................
wooo...
YEAH BRO you definitely rock!! GREAT JOB!!
Ricky
Garcia
(mike portnoy forum)
...........................................................................................................................
Chris,
you're a phukin amazing player! Great melodies, great technique and killer
phrasing. I also like your modal approach to rock playing á la Vai, Satriani
and Petrucci. Keep up the good work!
RalphMalph
(mike portnoy forum)
...........................................................................................................................
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