| Reviews in full
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.
Progressive World.net
Reviewed by: Stephanie Sollow, June 2002
Australian guitarist Chris Brooks has released
his debut solo album The Master Plan. You
won't find anything new here. That is, Brooks isn't taking the guitar-based-rock
format into new territory -- he's emulating Vai, Satriani, Johnson, etc., not
Fripp (for example). But, on the other hand, I don't feel he's taking the tried
and true artists' songbook and repeating it. Brooks names
John Norum, Kee Marcello, Paul Gilbert, Brett Garsed and Vinnie Moore as his
main, and early, influences, adding that later it was Richie Kotzen, Frank
Gambale, Allan Holdsworth, Joe Tafolla, Vai, Jon Finn, Shawn Lane, "and
groups like Garsed/Helmerich, Liquid Tension Experiment, The Johansson Brothers,
and Dream Theater." You'll hear all that here, though I can only speak
specifically to the LTE and DT elements as being in his sound.
Brooks' guitar style and sound will, more often than not, recall Johnson and
Satriani, specifically -- at least for me. The middle section of "Inner
Light" made me think of Neal Schon's work with Journey ... not that it
recalled any specific Journey song, but Brooks wails away in a manner similar to
Schon's. For the most part, these are high energy pieces, that zip along. They
aren't just shred fests -- the songs have a beginning, middle, and end --
structure and direction. The dips and dives and diversions take you on a sonic
journey. Though I have not had the chance to do so myself, it is the kind of
album you want to take on the open road. There are a few phrases at the end of
"Crack In The Hourglass" that sound familiar, a nod perhaps to another
well-known instrumental -- that I wish I could name (it may be "A Summer
Place").
"The Master Plan Suite" is a three track suite, that begins with
"Theme For The Next World" which is a keyboard - acoustic guitar
piece, that lasts barely a minute. It leads into the driving "Axiom."
On this track, Brooks achieves the feeling of twin leads, he playing each on a
different guitar. There were points where
I thought of Dream Theater - with the keys, guitars, percussion sounding very
much like the interplay between Petrucci and Portnoy (though I'm not sure its
Rudess as keyboardist I'm thinking of here). "The Master Plan"
finishes of the trio of tunes, and it is a punchy, metallic workout. Brooks mixes it up with some acoustic passages; some
artier, solidly guitar-rock passages; and some passages that seem right out of
the prog-metal-double-bass-and-all school. Just about a tour-de-force
performance.
"Blue Sky Odyssey" takes a different approach, beginning with a
rather nice, though fairly standard, keyboard intro. Brooks brings a different
tone into this by playing a few passages with a loose-feel steel string acoustic, before returning to the electric.
"Funksion" feels a bit like Edgar Winter's "Frankenstein,"
though not quite as heavy. It's short, but fun. You can almost guess that Brooks
has a good time playing this.
"Only Time" has a romantic feel to it; it's slower paced that the
other pieces on the album. It's the kind of piece that comes at the end of the
picture, when the protagonists have made up, and come to some resolution about
their relationship and looking ahead. It's contemplative and reflective... oh,
you know, I thought a bit of Guns N' Roses "November Rain," but I know
there's a much better reference. Perhaps it's the inclusion of piano that
recalls that track. This does it much better as it doesn't go into over-the-top
theatrics. Brooks' "Only
Time" is, however, quite an effective and affecting track, very well
played. Brooks mixes the acoustic and the electric nicely, each able to make
certain statements within in the piece.
You'll think Tony Levin made a brief guest appearance on bass in "Tales
From A Distant Sky," which closes the album. But it's Brooks for this brief
passage. The track fades out, then fades back in in a rather spacey manner.
All in all, Brooks' debut is a winner. If you like guitar rock with a
metallic edge, then, like me, you'll like this release. One suspects that with a
few more albums under his belt, we'll be adding Brooks' name to the "guitar
god" pantheon.
Prog4you.com
This instrumental album by Australian guitar whiz Chris
Brooks, is sure to please fans of the 80's guitar heroes, but who like a
more modern, even mix with other instruments. Chris has a very detailed bio
available online at www.chrisbrooks.net
so I won't go into further details here. Suffice it to say, this album is the
result of a very detailed, laborious journey, and the great care he has taken
compositionally and in the performance of every instrument is clear from the
first few bars of the Dream Theater tinged opener "Kryptica". Yes
folks, he does play every single note on this album, and it's all very
skillfully laid down. One of the things that I really liked about this album is
the fact that, while Brooks is definitely a shredder, he is more careful than
most in his selection of notes. Most of his solos are constructed around
pleasant and interesting melodies buried beneath the usual trillion notes a
second style of embellishment favored by these guitar mutants, and he seldom
loses track of the original themes (exceptions to this occur during half of the
solo to "Crack the Hourglass", but it's really nowhere near as
strident as in the work of other, much better known guitar demons, and besides,
fans of the Vai's and Satriani's of this world have grown used to solos that
take all sorts of liberties against the basic human thirst for simple melody, so
they'll have nothing but pure ear candy with this one).
All in all, this album came as a pleasant surprise to me, and I would like
to wish Chris Brooks
continued success in all of his future
projects. Check it out!
Reviewer:
Luis Nasser
Review Date: 6/28/02
Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Metal Coven http://www.metalprovider.com/metalcoven
This
is the debut solo album of the Australian guitar virtuoso Chris Brooks. I can
describe his style as adventurous instrumental hard rock with progressive
influences. You can hear that Chris is inspired by the great guitar players and
progressive rock/metal bands of the eighties and nineties, but Chris has created
a style on his own. Some instrumental records begin to bore after a while, but
“The Master Plan” includes so many breaks, tempo changes and melodic
passages that makes this album one of most exciting and also one of the best
instrumental albums of the last five years. Chris did not only play the guitar,
he also plays all the other instruments and he even produced the album on his
own. I think this album will not only satisfy fans of instrumental rock music but
also fans of progressive metal (listen to the title song) and melodic rock
(“Only Time”) will enjoy themselves listening to this album. Chris Brooks also co-wrote and
played on two songs on the last Mark Boals album “Edge Of The World”, so
Mark Boals has also discovered this multi-talented musician. This album is very
recommended for everyone who loves great music. 90%
by
Ronny Elst (2003)
Detritus
newsletter
It is very hard to receive a work of a guitarist, because most of them
are self-indulgent albums, of guitarists that are mere Malmsteen
clones, with no creativity and fast playing. However, there are a few
times when I find myself surprised with the quality of some of these
works. Fortunately, Chris Brooks' THE MASTER PLAN fits into the last
category.
The Australian guitarist comes with an independent work in
his first solo album. Even working in a "do it yourself" routine, the
production is amazing, as well as the performance of Chris, working on
all instruments. Working in a similar path as guitarists like Tony MacAlpine, Chris works on furious scales and riffs, blending with some
fusion hints here and there, capturing the attention of the listener
for the whole album. The creativity of Chris on the melodies is
noticeable in songs like "Kryptica," an excellent surprise at the
beginning of the album, going from mellow harmonies to shredding and
heavy playing, all in less than one minute. It is all so surprising
that one may think there's a full band behind THE MASTER PLAN. Chris'
excellent job in the keyboard parts is shown in songs like "Crack In
The Hourglass," with some astonishing synth leads and harmonies.
The
variety of styles keeps the album fresh until the end; "Funksion" is,
as the name states, a funky theme with some acrobatic guitar parts,
while "Blue Sky Odyssey" is a true representative of charming guitar
ballads, with some inspired acoustic guitar work, progressing into a
wild guitar work and a duo guitar/keyboards. In certain parts of this
song, Chris reminded me a lot of Dream Theater's John Petrucci. The
masterpiece in this album is actually the "Master Plan Suite," divided
into three sections. Starting with the soft, short, keyboard driven
"Theme For The Next World," the suite flows into "Axiom," a
heavy song
with mindless timing, full of rhythm changes, nervous. To conclude the
suite, "The Master Plan" is an atmospheric theme, with some trippy
guitar/keyboard work.
The only complaint I have about this is album is
that it does not last longer. If you are a Tony MacAlpine, John
Petrucci or Vinnie Moore fan, and enjoy a creative, well-crafted work,
you should definitely check Chris Brooks. At last, if you wanna get
Chris' album, visit http://www.chrisbrooks.net
for more information;
it will be a surprise for you as it was for me. - Rodrigo
FRIDAY THE 13TH Fanzine
I am not a big fan of instrumental albums but saying that this new and very
talanted guitarist from Australia called Chris Brook is an awesome player,
the best I have heard to come out of Australia by far!! As a debut the
production is excellent and so is the playing and is a must for any fan of
Tony Macalpine, you just have to listen to Chris and you'll hear Tony for
sure. This album however could have been given 5/5 if there had of been a
awesome singer that was involved in this recording. Chris also plays guitar
on the new Mark Boals CD if your interested to know who the guitar player is
on Mark's new album. I can't fault this album as far as the guitar playing
is concerned, only default is the fact that there is no vocals - pity
really. I can also hear from Dream Theater (Images & Words) in the music as
this is a Progressive album.
Check out: Kryptica, Inner Light, Crack In The Hourglass, Blue Sky Odyssey,
Axiom, The Master Plan, Tales From A Distant Sky. Great album by Australia's
new hopefuls, best of luck to Chris he deserves it!!
Jason Brown friday13thmetal@hotmail.com
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