Audio Cassette review:
Adrian Legg - Guitars & Other Cathedrals

Adrian Legg - Guitars & Other Cathedrals

Band: Adrian Legg Title: Guitars & Other Cathedrals Rating: Release Date: 01 July, 1991 Media: Audio Cassette Tracks: 1: Thump the Clouds 2: Cajun Interlude 3: Irish Girl 4: Midwest Sunday 5: Guitars and Other Cathedrals 6: Montreux Ramble 7: Tracy's Big Moment 8: Divorcee's Waltz 9: Tune for Derrol 10: Nail Talk 11: Reckless Love 12: Pass the Valium 13: Dying Embers

Customer Reviews Good Solid Effort With Some Minor Problems He is one of those players that seemlessly fuses amazing technique with great songwriting, hence resulting into something interesting. Adrian Legg is one the best acoustic guitar players since Leo Keottke. Something that not only keeps you're attention, but has a certain quality that it sticks in your head. "Guitars and Other Cathedrals" is an overall good album, but like I said in the title of the review it has, in my humble opinion, some minor problems. The biggest problem, to me, is the way he used effects on some of the songs. Acoustic, to me, shouldn't be tampered with. Maybe a splash of reverb or delay here and there, but not too much. It sounds like on one song that he is using some sort of chorus, which sounds awful and annoying. He didn't do this on EVERY song, but a couple. Aside from that minor complaint, which I thought it ruined a couple of songs, it was a really good album. The title track, which would be, "Guitars and Other Cathedrals" is absolutely amazing. "The Irish Girl," "Tracy's Big Moment," "Nail Talk, and "Thumb the Clouds" were some of the highlights to me. The title track is worth the whole admission, though, because he really shows an array of his technique and memorable playing from the heart. I recommend this to anyone who is already a fan of Adrian Legg's. If you're just getting into Adrian Legg, then check out "Waiting For A Dancer" before you check this one out. Amazing technique and even better compositions If you see him live you will alter the question to "okay so that's how he does it, but how does he make it work so well?". Adrian Legg is one of those guitarists that other guitarists listen to and think "how does he do that?". You see, what he does is this. He has built his own guitar with a special tuning mechanism using banjo tuning pegs which he can use to retune any string extremely quickly and with perfect accuracy. So while he is playing, even while he is plucking the strings with his right hand or holding down notes with his left hand, he is constantly tuning this and that string up and down with whatever hand is free, and without any breaks in the rhythm. The result is the kind of fluid up and down bends you would expect from a pedal steel. His accuracy and fluidity in doing this is amazing to hear and even more amazing to watch. In 1999 he was voted "guitarist of the decade" by Guitar Player magazine. Okay, so that's technique, but even great technique does not necessarily produce good music and, as a previous reviewer has rightly pointed out, too much technique for technique's sake often gets in the way of the music. Thankfully Adrian Legg doesn't fall into this trap. At least not on this album anyway. He writes all sorts of styles of music, each in a way that perfectly fits the style, and only uses his strange techniques when it makes the music better. In fact, there are only three or four of the songs on this album where he uses that particular guitar at all. On other tracks he uses various steel strung or nylon strung instruments, but always in a way that fits the music. The greatness of his compositions even outshines the greatness of his technique. The result is a collection of tunes that span a wide range of styles and feelings. There are some really beautiful tunes, one highly complex multi-faceted composition, quite a few dynamic onslaughts and even some touches of comedy. I wouldn't necessarily agree that he plays all styles perfectly though. For example the long title track, which at first seems a bit rambling and directionless but has grown on me to reveal itself as possibly the best song on the album. Despite its wondrousness, I can't help wishing I could hear it played by someone capable of the precise emotional expression of a top Classical guitarist like Julian Bream. It's wonderful in its composition but, despite Adrian Legg's technical brilliance in many areas, not quite perfect in its emotional expression. Having said that, there's no way even Julian Bream could attempt some of the other tunes and neither could he have written them. This is one of my very favourite CDs and better than any other fingerstyle album I have heard. Religious His playing is spiritual, passionate, and amazing. Listening to Adrian Legg one can easily see how he regards guitars as cathedrals. The majority of this album is Legg alone on his guitar playing his unique brand of finger picking style. He is fast, yet melodic; complicated, yet relaxing. Hypnotizing. A joy for the ear. Legg is superb on mixing different styles of music together. From these styles he has developed his own sound. There are many great cuts on this album that display this musician's ability at playing and composing. He is able to change playing styles to help create tension in addition to note choice, moving fluidly from arpeggios to strumming as in "Tracy's Big Moment" and the title track. "Divorcee's Waltz" is a waltz that has a bit of Irish and Country flare to it, while "Nail Talk" is simply peaceful. "Cajun Interlude", "Pass the Valium (with Knobs On)" and "Reckless Love" have his trademark "out" sound and are probably the most rocking tunes on the disk. His thirteenth track is a mere four seconds of blank space labeling him as a possible triskaidekaphobic. Legg give us thirteen great musical tracks that leave you dazzled and peaceful at the same time. This is a great place to start listening to Legg as this was his first release on the Relativity label, and is probably the earliest album of his that you can easily find. If you like guitars, musicianship, and laid-back music (not quite jazz yet not quite new age) this is an excellent album. . You can see a complete list of all Adrian Legg discography, or go back to the Adrian Legg tabs