Insane guitar duo, and my favorite band Rodrigo y Gabriela (RyG) have released a new live album called Live in France.
It basically captures their latest tour, and most of their second studio album 11:11 (minus Atman, Logos & Master Maqui).
The good
RyG are the only band I know of where I at the very least like every song they have released. I absolutely love their music, and Live in France is no exception.
Five songs stand-out:
Hanuman (dedicated to Carlos Santana) – This rocking first track will get your blood flowing
Gabriela’s Solo – Gabriela is easily one of the most incredible guitarists playing today. Her approach to playing rhythm guitar while filling in percussion blows me away even after years of watching her play. Most guitarists, I can watch and feel confident that if I practice my ass off, one day I could play like that… I have never once felt I could, or ever will be able to reproduce a single bar of her work. Ever. Needless to say, her solo is spectacular.
11:11 (dedicated to Pink Floyd) – Spacey and beautiful, whenever I listen to this song I find myself wishing it would last for 20 or 30 minutes.
Rodrigo’s Solo – The dude can shred, and this solo rocks. Most shredders play on electric guitars with a ton of distortion, Rodrigo does it on an acoustic guitar without distortion. If you don’t play guitar, let me assure you, what he does is incredibly difficult.
Tamacun – My favorite track on the album, Tamacun is a party in song form.
The not-so-good
This may sound ridiculous, but I’m upset that there isn’t more on this album.
I saw RyG on this tour at Radio City Music Hall, and two of the standout performances for me were Atman performed with Alex Skolnick, and Orion performed with Metallica’s Rob Trujillo. I desperately wanted recordings of those performances on this album, and I’m very disappointed by their absence.
To be blunt, as great as Live in France is, the show they put on in New York was better.
The bottom-line
This album is so good that my only complaint is that it isn’t longer. RyG manage to create difficult and unique music that is also very intense and beautiful. It’s a rare feat.
Regardless of your musical tastes, I think you will find something to love on this record.
The Geek Whisperer 