GURU – Red (2016)
GURU is without a doubt the best Spanish Melodic Hard Rock / AOR band nowadays, and this is confirmed on their brand new CD “Red” to be released tomorrow. The group debuted with a fantastic album in 2011, followed by their second effort ‘White’ (both featured here on the blog), and seems they have chosen to continue with colors to name their albums.
Conducted by founder, mastermind and awesome guitar player David Palau – who also sings in great form on some tracks and produces the whole thing – Guru is at this point not only the greatest band in the genre around the Iberian peninsula, it is one of the best acts all over Europe.
The musicianship in Guru is top class, second to none.
David Palau’s playing (latin Grammy winner 2012) is simply outstanding. With a technical yet really emotional six-string style influenced by Paul Gilbert and Steve Lukather, the man drops on this CD some truly terrific melodies, precise riffs and breathtaking clean solos.
Bass player Jordi Vericat is a monster foundation builder akin Billy Sheehan, well complemented by solid new drummer Joan Barbe, while main lead singer Dagarod (ex- Manuel Seoane’s Magic Kingdom) has a potent modulated throat.
For “Red”, Guru have decided to write all lyrics in Spanish language, but this is not a barrier to enjoy these awesome tunes ready for the arenas.
If Mr. BIG is your favorite band, be prepared to enjoy this 11-track CD mostly in this vein.
Just check the pumping opener ‘Rockstar’, the catchy ‘Ella’, the excellent midtempo AOR ‘No Puede Ser’ and the acoustically filled ballad ‘Quedate’. Four initial tracks showing variation and great playing.
More Mr. Big-like rockers come with ‘Hipocrita’ and melodic rocker ‘Solo Tu’, but I think where Guru really reach their peak is on title track ‘Red’, an greatly elaborated melodic hard rocker with a fine chorus and a superb – I mean terrific – guitar work by David Palau, both in the rhythm as in the fantastic middle section where he sounds like Paul Gilbert mixed with Steve Lukather, and the interplay with the keyboard bring to mind Toto.
Guru is an awesome melodic hard rock band where musicianship is top class, driven by the skills of guitarist David Palau.
The songs on the band’s upcoming third album are in the best Guru tradition; catchy, with melodious choruses and sharp riffs. However, compared to their 2 first efforts, songwriting is not stronger like before. A couple of tracks are a bit pedestrian and surprisingly, production is not flawlessly like in the previous CD, especially the drum sound.
Anyway, “Red” features some really good melodic hard rockers with an ’80s feel akin Mr. Big / Toto. So, how to not like it?
01 – Rockstar
02 – Ella
03 – No Puede Ser
04 – Quedate
05 – Hipocrita
06 – Solo Tu
07 – Red
08 – Mientes
09 – Despertar
10 – Que Me Dejes Hacerlo
11 – Buenos Tiempos
David Palau : Guitars, Vocals
Dagarod : Vocals
Jordi Vericat : Bass
Joan Barbe : Drums
BUY IT !
www.gururockband.com/precompra_red.html
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