Johnny Hiland - Johnny Hiland
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Free Music Notes for Johnny Hiland
Free Music Review: Chick'n Pick'n
Hit: 4 Stars
Albert Lee is still the King of Chick'n Pick'n.
But its good to see someone else do it too.
I just wished that guitar playing in Country styled music would go in a different direction for once, other than the chick'n pick'n.
Free Music Review: Lukewarm start . . .
Hit: 3 Stars
I've never seen Johnny Hiland live but I have a couple friends who have and they insist he's "the real thing" but you'll only get hints of it from his debut CD.
First, let's get this "Danny Gatton" comparison thing out of the way, in two words, "No way!" First, it doesn't do a guitar player any good whatsoever to baptize them as the next "Jimi" or "Mike Bloomfield" or whomever - that's simply a thin marketing appeal to weak minds. Second, even now, after years of listening to Danny's material I still get surprised and excited by what he could do with the slab or wood with strings the Telecaster is. Johnny Hiland plays with great precision and has wonderful chops but in this CD hasn't come up with anything I haven't heard other people do just as well and with more feeling. And he certainly hasn't shown the creativity and inventiveness of Danny Gatton.
There are a number of "non-country" sounding tunes that reek of stale rok guitar ballad/anthems (tracks, 3, 4, 8). Why Johnny, why? I don't know who these are supposed to appeal to (teen-age shred fans?) but what a mistake. There's also an up tempo rok instrumental (track 10) that, I guess, is supposed to show us that Johnny can play overdriven guitar with squealing pinch harmonics too, but the composition is mundane and the licks no where near approaching what a Joe Satriani or Steve Vai can do - I just don't get it. Then there's the inclusion of that hoary old country chestnut, "Orange Blossom Special." I guess every "county picker" feels he MUST, at some point, record his version. It's simply a showcase for "chops" but in Johnny's case, he doesn't add anything to the vocabulary of the genre and and plays the 'what you'd expect and have already heard a million times' licks and runs with great speed and precision. Play this cut back-to-back with the Hellecasters "Orange Blossom Special" on their 1st CD, "Return of the Hellecasters." Sure, there's 3 guys, but any one of their interpretations beats the pants of off what Johnny offers us.
So Johnny, I'll see you live next time you're playing out and see if what my friends are saying is true. And on your next CD, show us something the guitar world has never heard before! I'm pretty sure you have it in you.
Free Music Review: Mixed Feelings....
Hit: 3 Stars
Johnny Hiland's playing is technically flawless throughout this CD. He obviously knows every scale, mode, and guitar trick there is. He plays with the speed and absolute perfection of a computer. Is that good? I'm not sure. Maybe, maybe not. I can, however, hear Steve Vai's influence in the CD. That part is not good. And, like Steve Vai, Hiland is starting to endorse as many guitar products as possible. Mr. Hiland surely has the talent to succeed but may just need some re-direction and soul searching to get things on track. I don't think I'll pull this CD out too often.Free Music Review: Johnny, we know you are better than this!
Hit: 2 Stars
I too was slightly disappointed with this record.
First off, I really dig this guitar player. I know Johnny has a huge range of styles, but that might be his downfall in this record! It's all over the place... What's with tracks 3, 4, & 8? It's a little difficult to listen all the way through because it goes: Fast Pickin' Country A La Gatton to Sappy Hard Rock that you might hear in the background of a "Rocky" Movie.
Maybe Steve Vai and the 80's style hard rock had more if an influence that it should have. I agree with some of the other posts... there really is not much on this record that we haven't heard before... We all know Johnny is capable of so much more! This guy is a phenomenal talent, but it seems like this record was a show case of "I can do this style so let's throw it in..." It feels like an audition demo for a wedding band. It's almost like Johnny is saying, "I can play this, or this, or whatever you want."
Johnny, we want you to discover YOUR style and make a record that flows from start to finish. Make the record a complete statement, and don't skip around too much. Make a hard rock disc or make a country disc. I personally would enjoy the country stuff much more. I can take my pick on an instrumental hard rock disc anytime. Johnny, we hold you to higher standards because we have seen or heard your potential!
Free Music Review: Hairhead Schizophrenia overcomes Johnny
Hit: 2 Stars
Sometimes really good players lack judgement. I can remember getting a Steve Berlin solo album back in the 8o's expecting mindboggling fusion and what I got was some of the worse fantasy metal crap I've heard... well, until this first effort from Johnny Hiland. Turns out Johnny has some affinity for hairhead music, which is OK. Johnny's pretty young. And I can respect those guys for their talent. But please don't make me to listen to their stuff. And the cool thing is that I will never buy a Satriani Cd because on the cover it will say "Satriani" and being thus tipped off, I will know not to buy it. But Johnny Hiland didn't have any such warnings on his Cd. So what I got was three or four pretty good country telecaster tunes (which is what I bought it for because, after all, Johnny is known as a terrific Gattonesque tele player) and the rest a bunch of creepy sounding parody metal songs that gave me the shivers. If I didn't like the guy so much, I would take it back even if I didn't get my money back for it. But what I am hoping is that he will come to his senses, and either put out a second effort that sticks way, way, way, way closer to home or he'll go out and do about ten years of session work in Nashville and outgrow the hairhead thing. I'm still expecting a lot from this guy, but unfortunately this Cd just isn't where it starts.