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Reasons for a Decade | CD Lion Music |
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Instrumental neoclassical guitar music at it's best. Chris Steberl is an outstanding guitar player. Check out his versions of Mozart, Vivaldi and Musorgsky. |
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Reasons for a Decade | CD Lion Music |
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Instrumental neoclassical guitar music at it's best. Chris Steberl is an outstanding guitar player. Check out his versions of Mozart, Vivaldi and Musorgsky. |
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Reviews: |
Chris Steberl - 'Project Alcazar - Reasons For A
Decade
(Lion Music)
Chris Steberl - is the man behind this breathtaking instrumental paradise (who's actually
been playing since the age of 8). He's a master on Guitar, Bass and Keyboards and
has supported maestros like Tony McCalpine, Greg Howe and Dream Theatre as well as working
alongside Robert Sweet (of 'Stryper'. For this CD outing John Horman (who plays drums and
percussion in a spectacular fashion) is his other half.
If you like your music to be of the classical nature but enjoy a nice dosage of rock then
Project Alcazar more than fit the bill. I've never heard Mozart sound so good - the
gripping rendition of the '25th Syphony in GM (Amadeus) is just up there when it comes to
class. Vivaldi's Summer Concerto (3rd Movement) is as entertaining (if only the
majority of classically based music sounded as good as this - I'd listen to it all the
time if it did!!).
Included as part of the package are the man's own compositions like the bouncy,
fun-inspiring 'Silk 'n' Honey' and the mind-blowing power-metal styled 'Transmission'
which is like listening to a mix of Led Zep's John Bonham and Joe Satriani on Speed.
This album goes into my Top 10 favourite instrumental albums at no. 1 position for sure -
the best I've heard so far.
10/10
By Glenn Milligan, BA Hons CS
Project: Alcazar - Reasons For Decade
Released: 2001 (Lion Music)
Rating: 3.5/5
Wrtiting for Metal-Rules.com is interesting in so many ways. Not only do I get to review awesome Cds by some of the metal worlds best bands and interview some of my favourite metal musicians I also get to hear many different styles and variations of metal that I would possibly never get the opportunity to hear normally. One of the genres that I have discovered is very much alive in metal is the guitar instrumental arena. There are hundreds of guitar players out there releasing instrumental Cds every year and many often go unnoticed by the mainstream metal fan (if there is such a thing as a mainstream metal fan). I have to admit that I am not a huge fan of the instrumental guitar release. I guess that because for me vocals are one of the most important parts of metal but every now and then an instrumental disc does come along that does catch my attention. REASONS FOR A DECADE by Project Alcazar is one such disc. I popped it on and actually enjoyed it a great deal. Project Alcazar is the brainchild of guitarist Chris Steberl. Stebel began playing guitar at age 8 and studied guitar up to the age of 15. At the age of 24, after playing in various bands Steberl formed the instrumental band Alcazar. This band gained some notoriety and opened for acts such as Dream Theater, Tony Macalpine, Greg Howe and Foghat. On this release, Project: Alcazar mixes new material with their own versions of choice cuts from classical composers such as Mozart and Vivaldi. Steberl plays all guitars, bass and keyboards on this disc and is joined by John Homan (Magnitude 9)on drums and percussion.
"Nightmare on Bald Mountain" opens the disc in fine fashion and was the first song to draw me into the guitar mastery that is Chris Steberl. This song has an evil sounding atmosphere that full of guitar and keyboard duels. Very interesting track in that I hardly miss the vocals. Therein lies Steberl’s strength. He is not just a one dimensional shredder but is also a great songwriter. Up next is my favourite song on the disc, "TranceMission". Great double bass pounding song that leads me to wonder what Steberl would be like if he had a proper band? I say the out put would be impressive to say the least. "Vivaldi’s Summer Concerto (3rd Mov)" showcases Steberl’s love of classical music and together he and Homan give a grand showing of metalized classical art. "Sahara Skies" has a definite 70s progressive feel to it and therefore is different than anything else on the CD. Again the classical work of Mozart is featured on "Mozart’s 25th Symphony in Gm (Amadeus)". Slightly different and in my opinion not quite as good as the Vivaldi piece Steberl nonetheless shows that he is a force to be reckoned with in the guitar world.
Many instrumental release fail for the pure fact that they don’t focus enough on songs but instead try to dazzle the listener with the players technical mastery of their instruments. That is all well and good but it can only get you so far. Writing good songs is a much a part of being a good musician as being technically proficient on your instrument. If you want to hear some good songs and songwriting from a great guitar player then definitely check out Project: Alcazar.
Rick Maloney
Metal Rules!!
www.metal-rules.com
Chris Steberl's Project
Alcazar - Reasons For A Decade
Lion Music
Chris learned to play guitar at age 8 and he played in numerous bands until he founded his
own instrumental band named Alcazar when he was 24. On this new release the band brings
their own versions of classical pieces written by Mozart, Vivaldi, Mussorgsky and others.
Chriss adds to these classics pieces his own variations plus improvisations and puts them
into a neo classical power metal coat. If you are a fan of high speed fret work,
breathtaking solos and thundering double base drumming you going to get a spontaneous
orgasm listening to this album. Chris is an extraordinary, incredible, astonishing,
wondrous,
stupendous, sensational, miraculous, breathtaking, inspiring, and utterly mind-blowing
highly talented player. Of course you can say that he isn’t original but his playing
sparkles and wouldn’t mind seeing him operate in a band situation. So fans of Yngwie
Malsteen can run to the nearest record to purchase this disk. (8)
Chris Steberl's Project
Alcazar - Reasons For A Decade
LION MUSIC
Shredding sparks of neo classical compositions come flying out of Ohio
USA thanks to an incredibly gifted new guitar played called Chris Steberl. His theory's
add up to seven tracks of superbly constructed guitar monsters with superbly arranged
classical pieces. This is a mighty accomplishment for an unsigned artist who has had to
finance the recording himself, so credit where credit is due, Steberl knows exactly where
and when to impress the listener and not to impress and just let the melodies flow, which
keeps this album fresh and exciting.
The best tracks are the opening track 'Nightmare On Bald Mountain', see if you can spot
his influences, I hear elements of Michael Fath, Shawn Lane, Eric Johnson, Jason Becker
and Marty Friedman in his music, in fact 'Nightmare' features some chunky chopin riffage
that could almost be the band Cacophony featuring the afformentioned Becker and Friedman,
there is so much musicality playing throughout this song, as you can probably tell this is
not your usual guitar album, check out 'Sahara Skies' another gorgeous song that plays
with satisfying effect thanks to the added inclusion of the piano which is played by Chris
himself. The feel of this song gives off European influences, also in -smegging- credible
is 'Mozart's 25th Symphony In Gm (Amadeus).This is where the classical compositions come
into full force, this song is quite fun and changes mood every so often, keeping the
listener interested and entertained right to the very end, lets also not forget the
relaxing 'Silk 'n' Honey' with it's gentle and calming theme reminding me of Eric Johnson.
Sterberl's playing is extraordinary, incredible, astonishing, wondrous, stupendous,
sensational, miraculous, breathtaking, inspiring, and utterly mind-blowing, I really like
this album and if your a fan of this style of music then you will appreciate the skill and
passion of Chris Steberl's work which almost breaks previously held land speed records.
You can catch Chris playing tribute to Jason Becker on "Warmth In The Wilderness" out now via Lion Music.
Nick Baldrian
Project Alcazar ‘Reasons for a decade’ (Lion Music)
Dietro al moniker Project Alcazar (nulla a che vedere con gli Alcazar autori dell’hit-tormentone estivo ‘Crying at the discoteque’, naturalmente...) si cela un affiatato duo di talentuosi musicisti provenienti dall’Ohio, personificato dal polistrumentista Chris Steberl (impegnato con disinvoltura nelle parti di chitarra, basso e tastiere) e dal versatile John Homan dei prog metallers Magnitude 9. I sette brani interamente strumentali che compongono questo ‘Reasons for a decade’ scorrono in modo piacevole, grazie ad un uso misurato e mai fuori luogo della consistente tecnica individuale dei due: lontano da stucchevoli dimostrazioni fine a sé stesse il lavoro offre diversi spunti di interesse, sapendo fondere efficacemente passaggi neoclassici a momenti più orientati a sonorità rock-fusion. Non a caso lo stile di Steberl richiama a tratti quello di Michael Romeo nei frangenti più neoclassici, come la divertente riproposizione dell’estate di Vivaldi o della sinfonia numero 25 di Mozart , riallacciandosi invece al Satriani di ‘The Extremist’ e ‘Crystal Planet’ in brani più easy-listening e ritmati come ‘TranceMission’ e ‘Neptune Island’. Steberl antepone comunque in ogni pezzo il gusto per la melodia o l’atmosfera allo sfoggio di pura e fredda tecnica, non disdegnando l’utilizzo della chitarra acustica nei frangenti più calmi e riflessivi, come nel caso di ‘Sahara Skies’, che alterna delicati passaggi acustici sorretti da atmosferiche tastiere a battute decisamente più ritmate con tanto di percussioni in primo piano. Dunque un lavoro riuscito e scorrevole, pur nella sua brevità (poco più di mezz’ora di musica), che mette in luce le qualità di questo Chris Steberl, musicista assai valido di cui sentiremo ancora parlare in futuro, magari inserito nel contesto di una vera e propria band.
VOTO: 80
Michele Monterosso