At the age of 18, Paul Gilbert caught the attention of metalheads and guitar geeks alike with his supreme shredding skills in Racer X. In the 35 years since, Gilbert shifted his focus from metal to just about every other musical style under the sun. Aside from being the longtime guitarist for hard rock supergroup Mr. Big, he’s invested his time and energy into a solo career that is not for the faint of heart. What began as an listener friendly foray into the world of power pop turned into a spastic smorgasbord of shred guitar. Yet even the term “shred” has loose meaning when talking about Gilbert’s fourteenth studio album, Werewolves of Portland.
Unlike the metallic brand of shred Gilbert specialized in on Racer X’s Street Lethal (1986), his current playing style draws more from progressive rock, jazz fusion, and blues. Or perhaps a harder rocking spin on 70s Jeff Beck would be an accurate descriptor. The opening track, “Hello North Dakota!”, fits this bill perfectly as Gilbert goes to town on his whammy bar. Cuts like “Professorship at the Leningrad Conservatory”, “Problem-Solving People”, and “Werewolves of Portland” also blur the boundaries between avant-garde and accessible. Though not as chaotic as Buckethead compositions, one can’t help but feel a kinship between Gilbert and everyone’s favorite masked shredder.
These blasts of insanity are countered by more restrained tracks like “I Wanna Cry (Even Though I Ain’t Sad)” and “(You Would Not Be Able to Handle) What I Handle Everyday”. Both songs are bluesy jams that seem to lean more on improvisation than structure, though I could be wrong. There’s also the tender Gary Moore tinged ballad, “Meaningful”, and my choice cut, “Argument About Pie”. The latter is heavy, dramatic, melodic, and has a funny song title to boot! In fact, all of these song titles are pretty quirky.
If you haven’t figured out by now, Gilbert’s sense of humor is as zany as his playing. Would I go as far as to call his work the musical equivalent of shitposting? No, because it’s not intentionally awful…or unintentionally awful, like so many who fall into the “shred” category. But it is made with a complete disregard for what anyone would think about it, whether it be good or bad. So while a handful of these tracks catch my attention, while others sound like potential background music for a Target commercial (“My Goodness”, “A Thunderous Ovation Shook the Columns”), it makes no difference one way or the other.
Although Werewolves of London is far from the most intriguing entry in the Gilbert catalog, it is worth a listen for those daring enough. If you’re an ardent worshipper in the Cult of Gilbert (which likely also means you have a goatee and are subscribed to Guitar World) and have taken offense to anything said in this review, feel free to leave your hate mail in the comments below. And if you’re Paul Gilbert himself, all I can say is stay strange my friend.
5 out of 10
Label: Mascot Records
Genre: Progressive Rock
For fans of: Buckethead, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai