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THE JOHNNIE K BAND - KEEP ON PUSHIN'
INDEPENDENT
METAL TO INFINITY
Akron, Ohio-USA inhabitant Johnnie K. started with pulling guitar strings at the young age of 15. As years passed by, this six string magician practised his fingers to the bone - as I see Johnnie's way of playing right now, this is once again the proof that you have to practise very hard to reach the top. Johnnie has enormously much pleasure while shredding his guitar - the face expressions I noticed on the DVD he sent along with the promo CD speak to the imagination. A natural born musician is what this person is all about - skilled to the core with explosive guitar tactics, Mr. J. really rocks the house down for sure!
Well, The Johnnie K Band is the name of his latest project - with an album like ''Keep On Pushin''' I am really pleased. Yeah I know, maybe I fall into recurrence about my respect for great guitar players but also this time, I refuse to step back from that point of view. He brings on fantastic guitar moves, ranges from Classic Rock / Metal to Fusion, Blues and even Jazz. Actually to describe by myself as: Tony MacAlpine meets Satriani / Frank Marino / Jimmy Page meets bands like Genesis / Yes / Marillion.
''Keep On Pushin''' - an album with nine songs on the list offers a lot of diversity. Not only instrumental compositions - also a few songs with a singer are on the list but about these, I'm not really pleased. I will focus myself on Johnnie's brilliant riffage / solo's so will all dignity for the vocal parts - I'm actually not a big fan of this kinda vocal use. All to do with personal preferences, about the rest of the musicians, I honestly have to reason to explain. The puzzle fits perfectly, the musicianship seems okay.
'Mahogany Man' is a nice work dedicated to one of the pioneers of Classic Rock, Mr. Frank Marino... damn, those were the days this guys came on strong with many fantastic song - one of my faves is definitely 'Ain't Dead Yet'! Also a brilliant song from the Johnnie K Band is 'Crying Hearts' - a track that breaths the truth about the senseless war, pain and agony. A hearfelt, straight from the heart song played the acoustic way, actually the truth of a world gone mad! 'Stand Alone' is a composition where each one of the musicians show its skills. Keyboards, bass and drums work on full strengths - great up-tempo rhythms to make my favourite song of the entire CD. The sound quality could be better worked out ... not bad but it sounds a bit measured to me.
Perhaps worth to mention is that the band also uses guitar synthesizer and talk box... to the question if I am a fan of it I have to say no. I really like to hear Johnnie chopping strings in a natural way instead of using tools like this. An album breathing a lot of style - I'd like to recommend to a wide range of music lovers, mainly the Classic Rock fanbase with a heart for guitar virtuoso should be order without hesitating. More info at: www.johnniek.com or www.myspace.com/johnniek MY POINTS: 85 / 100