Chicapah After garnering universal accolades for the brilliant "Blow By Blow" album, Jeff Beck's status as being much, much more than a gifted rock and roll guitarist blossomed. Those select musicians dwelling in the lofty penthouses of jazz/rock fusion now had no choice but to acknowledge him as one of their own and he understandably attracted the attention of the likes of Jan Hammer and Narada Michael Walden, both formerly with the legendary Mahavishnu Orchestra. Still taking advantage of the unmatched guidance and production skills of Sir George Martin, Jeff went about the business of following up what many consider his best album ever. "Wired" is the perfect title for this record because the high-voltage electrical charge generated by the all-star band Beck assembled for this project gives you the impression that they had a coaxial conduit linking them together. The opening song, Max Middleton's wild "Led Boots" lets you know up front that this isn't going to be some kind of easy-listening MOR fare with its edgy, syncopated beat slapping you up side the head. Drummer Walden and bassist Wilbur Bascomb lay down a rhythm track that is tighter than the Jazz Archive petty cash fund while Jeff supplies a ferocious guitar solo overhead. An added bonus is that Jan Hammer's synthesizer lead at the end sounds amazingly like an electric violin. Walden's "Come Dancing" follows and the infectious groove here is at least partly due to guest Ed Green adding a second drum kit to the beat, creating a funkathon of mammoth proportions. Hammer supplies some very realistic keyboard horn sounds to accompany Beck's incredibly fat guitar licks. After an interesting detour into some rock and roll landscapes during the middle section Jeff and Jan each perform hair-raising rides that will have you shaking your head in disbelief.

Next is a fantastic arrangement of Charlie Mingus' "Goodbye Porkpie Hat" in which Beck magically coaxes every beautiful tone imaginable from his Gibson Les Paul. Here you get a lesson in why Jeff is one of the best ever to pick up the instrument as he displays his immaculate technique and draws on every nuance of his unique style, doing full justice to this bluesy-jazz classic. "Head for Backstage Pass" starts with a torrid bass solo (it was written by Bascomb) before the crackerjack band (led here by drummer Richard Bailey) joins in to create a short but very funky ditty for Beck to set ablaze with his fiery runs. Hot stuff.

One of the highlights of the album is Hammer's eclectic "Blue Wind." The astounding thing about this particular cut is that it's just comprised of Jeff and Jan and nobody else. Hammer provides the intense drums and synthesizers and Beck, of course, unleashes his jet-fueled guitar. Not only does the song feature a contagious melody but both virtuosos get to stretch out on three individual solos, each one topping the other as they create a landmark tune that ranks with the greatest in this genre. It's not to be missed. Walden's "Sophie" follows and it's the most unusual number of all on the album. It starts like a ballad with a complicated but pleasing theme as Jeff utilizes his guitar's tremolo bar like the master he is, then the tune segues into an up-tempo, joyous mood where Max Middleton works absolute wonders on his clavinette. I'm not sure I've ever heard another keyboard sound like this. They then repeat both segments before Beck and Middleton do fierce battle back and forth to the end with Narada playing his ass off on the drums rumbling underneath.

Walden composed the final two tracks, as well. "Play With Me" is yet another funky jazz venture that has a good feel to it but, other than playing on the melody line with Jan, Jeff doesn't even play a lead. Now, don't get me wrong, Hammer does a fine job in the spotlight but the song really doesn't go anywhere exciting. Beck chooses to end things with a quiet number, "Love Is Green," in which he plays both acoustic and electric guitars as Walden supplies the piano and Wilbur the bass. It's a very pretty tune, to be sure, but rather forgettable in the long run.

After getting a writer's credit on four of the cuts on "Blow By Blow," I find it curious that Jeff didn't contribute a single track to this album. Perhaps he just felt the others' material was better than what he had. Not that it matters all that much considering the excellent quality of the music contained here. But what Beck DOES do by the truckloads is deliver some of the best guitar work you'll ever hear. While I don't consider it to be as consistent overall as his previous masterpiece, it still competently holds its own as a powerful, sizzling jazz/rock fusion recording that you can impress your ears with.

FunkFreak75 The bromance continues between Jeff and producer extraordinaire George Martin and the whole Mahavishnu scene. The results were amazing with the previous album, the Grammy Award winning Blow by Blow, but for this project it's the Jazz-Funk side of the Jazz-Rock Fusion scene that has Jeff enamored and excited, thus the employ of Narada Michael Walden--who has written four of the album's eight songs.

1. "Led Boots" (4:03) hard rockin' and funky, this oddly-timed and syncopated music credited by bassist Wilber Bascomb is a bit tough to access. The bass, drums, and clavinet play are so aggressive and, at the same time, syncopated to almost form a line of defense preventing any listener inside the melodies or structures. Jeff's guitar playing, both rhythmically and in the lead passages, are about as hard and aggressive as you've ever heard them--and they're impressive!--but there is very little melody to grab onto. The same goes for Jan Hammer's Moog solo in the final minute. An impenetrable wall of sound. (8.75/10)

2. "Come Dancing "(5:55) this layered presentation of coordinated instruments from Narada Michael Walden comes across as a mega-funked pseudo dance tune that will attract neither sing-a-long listeners or dancers. It's as if The Ohio Players tried to play Bob James' jazz-rock. (Max Middleton's Fender Rhodes play reminds me, over and over, of Bob James' approach to that same instrument.) Wilbur Bascomb's bass remains true to the funk without ever getting funky (no embellishments) while Jeff and Jan's leads are impressive, interesting, and, at times, "cute" (generating smiles). (8.875/10)

3. "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" (5:31) Jeff displaying his one-of-a-kind incredible touch on the guitar while Max Middleton, Richard Bailey, and Wilbur provide the support for their rendition of this Charles Mingus classic. The the rhythm section is awesome--each filling the space with brilliantly creative nuances--this is Jeff's show, pure and simple. (9.125/10)

4. "Head for Backstage Pass" (2:43) Wil Bascomb's second contribution to Jeff's album sees another rockin' funk jam on which Jeff's rock skills are on full display while Wil and Narada flail away on their prospective instruments. Interesting to hear Jeff duelling with himself in the second minute. I don't think I've ever heard that before! It's a very solid and surprisingly engaging tune despite it's syncopated rhythm track. (9/10).

5. "Blue Wind" (5:54) this Jan Hammer tune is a duet: there are only two musicians performing here (thanks to multi-tracking and the engineering genius of George Martin). The composer plays drums, bass (a cool wobbly synth), and leads on multiple synths--all of which are quite impressive--while Mr. Beck plays a lot of rhythm guitar in support with some lead time using an unusually treated guitar sound. It's actually quite good--quite accessible and enjoyable. (9.125/10)

6. "Sophie" (6:31) Narada Michael Walden's second song contribution sounds very much like the music that Michael will be putting together for the next five to ten years for his solo projects: very accessible, melodic and rock-oriented. It starts out very slow and sparsely populated but then slowly builds in both instrumental palette and intensity until 1:00 when Narada leads the band into a jump start into another rollicking cruising song based on a slowly ascending arpeggiated five or six note chord progression. Max's clavinet and Rhodes and Wilbur's staccato bass playing do an excellent job pairing up with Narada Michael to hold down a very dynamic rhythm track beneath the lead performances of Max's keyboard synth (a Moog?) and Jeff's guitar. In the third minute the band stops to restart, same motifs only performed in more abbreviated fashion. This next section is where the individual band members really shine--all of them--while supporting Jeff left-channel electric guitar dynamics and Max's excellent Moog(?) soloing. Again, the instrumental performances are much better, more interesting, than the overall song--plus, Jeff's guitar play is not his usual mind-blowing "how does he come up with that" stuff. (8.875/10)

7. "Play with Me" (4:10) Narada's third contribution to Jeff's album is a funky rocker with some stunning soloing from both Jan, Max, and Jeff--often together, at the same time. A typical catchy Narada Walden melody keeps one engaged and interested. Very solid but, like a lot of NMW compositions, the song is rather one-dimensional--relying more on the hopes that its heavily-repeated main melody will be a winner. (8.875/10)

8. "Love Is Green" (2:30) the fourth and final song composed by Jeff's drummer is slow and melodic, with Narada's piano doubling up the isolated main melody lines with Jeff's acoustic guitar while woven beneath is Wilbur's bass. There is, of course, some wailing electric guitar and synth taking over the melody for a bit in the second minute, but mostly it's a fully formed and quite lovely piano and guitar duet. (9.125/10)

Total Time: 37:17

This is one of those albums that impresses without conjuring up a desire to come back for the joy of the listening experience.

B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of funky power Jazz-Rock Fusion. The musicianship is amazing--everybody firing on all cylinders--but the compositions are often lacking multiple dimensions and/or engaging chord and diversified melodies: the producers are banking on impressing you with the dynamic performances of the individuals more than constructing engaging grooves that might make your feet and hips want to move.

Sean Trane Another highly acclaimed album from Beck, but I never understood why it was so highly regarded. Yes this album is probably the utmost of technicality in terms of guitar playing: Beck almost goes out of his way just to make things more complicated, but this album is colder than the South pole in the dead of winter. Actually I find it very easy to pinpoint where things went wrong on this album (even if I am the only thinking so). The fact that only two players played almost all the instruments (and of course the usual studio guest), this doesn’t make a group effort, but a Beck showcase with little else than pure pretension and virtuoso ideals. Such were the times where DiMeola and others thrived to play faster than McLaughlin (the obvious target), and in the process of trying to emulate him forgot to play the instrument and came out as soulless.

While Beck made some bold cover choice (Pork Pie Hat???), I can't say that his gambling is paying off. Most of these tracks are sounding way too calculated and the best one around (Blue Wind by a mile ahead) is much better in its live form two years later. Spohie and Come Dancing are pure bore IMHO, and the closing Love Is Green just a filler.

Possibly one of jr/f’s most over-rated albums around with its predecessor, and strangely enough, many fans forget the upcoming Live album. Again, I’d like to stress I stand in a minority regarding this album, so please don’t blindly follow me on these two, make your own mind on them. For this album however, I will stoop lower than the three stars, because I think it is reserved for dedicated fans only.