Walsh, Marty: The Total Plan

You may be familiar with guitarist Marty Walsh as he worked on the Supertramp albums Brother Where You Bound and Free As A Bird. He also toured with the band. His new solo album had its beginnings all the way back to 1993 but unfortunately the project was put on the back burner. In 2003 Walsh decided to continue with the album and enlisted a total of twenty-eight musicians to lend him a hand including the always busy Billy Sherwood. After much file sharing over the internet his new album The Total Plan has finally seen the light of day.

The opening track "Like A Rock" is a fantastic guitar centered number with a hint of fusion in Walsh's playing. The synth solo from Nick Manson is a great fit adding plenty of colour to Walsh's excellent guitar work. "Feeling Free" is another fine instrumental track showing Walsh's skill and melodic sensibilities. Often instrumental albums fail to hold my attention but that is not the case here. Walsh's playing is melodic and fluid and his solos tasteful and dynamic. A nice organ solo from James Raymond near song's end completes the package. The funky blues of "Groove Mechanics" features a sinuous groove that is plain infectious while "Fuel" rocks in a basic sort of way but is still enjoyable and the sax solo from Paul Jefferson is a nice compliment to Walsh's fiery guitar.

The rest of the tunes are just as good making The Total Plan a solid instrumental rock album that hits all the right notes. While Walsh is an excellent player he never overdoes it always keeping the melodies close at hand. Hopefully his next album is just around the corner.

Track Listing:
1. Like A Rock
2. Feeling Free
3. Groove Mechanics
4. Fuel
5. Coast To Coast
6. Inside The Rain
7. The Duke
8. The Road
9. Back Pages
10. Now Is The Time

Added: September 10th 2014
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Artist's Official Site
Hits: 1615
Language: english

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