GUS G. – Quantum Leap [2-CD version] (2021)

FIREWIND, OZZY OSBOURNE, et all guitarist GUS G. said about his forthcoming solo effort ”Quantum Leap”: “I wanted to avoid making a boring album that’s 45 minutes of ‘widdly widdly’!” And he succeed.
That GUS G is a really, really good guitar player is obvious. Fortunately, Gus G. is also a gifted songwriter, and so while this undoubtedly conforms to many of the same tropes and tricks that will delight fans of balls-out shred, ”Quantum Leap” is also an album that has melody and memorable ideas in plentiful supply.
Much like Marty Friedman’s solo work, the Greek’s instincts are always to create something enduring, rather than just assault listeners with technical showmanship.
And while Gus G. is a metalhead, he drops here some AOR moments, melodic ‘heavy-pop’ and even some ’80s retro-synthwave sounds!

You can hear that vividly in opener “Into the Unknown”, wherein the guitarist can hardly be accused of reining in his dazzling abilities, and yet its dizzying five minutes are as easy to whistle along to as any of the anthems he has written as a member of FIREWIND (nine albums and counting!).
“Quantum Leap” is a CD that promises to thrill those who worship STEVE VAI’s “Passion and Warfare” and JOE SATRIANI’s “Surfing with the Alien”, such is the way it skitters across a spectrum of melodic metal styles while still delivering hooks galore.

But Gus G. is also a metalhead to his bones, and so even when surfing on a wave of gleaming AOR (title track “Quantum Leap”) or drifting serenely along in mellifluous prog mode on “Enigma Of Life”, these songs are always underpinned by muscular ensemble performances and a sense of vibrant, plugged-in bravado.
The album’s finest moments are wonderfully elegant demonstrations of prowess: “Judgement Day” is a rugged, lurching squall of murderous riffs with a killer, tear-jerker chorus; “Demon Stomp” is a steroidal glam metal beat-’em-up with some insane soloing from the man himself; “Force Majeure” is half power metal hurricane, half RUSH-saluting throwdown.

And, as if to prove that “Quantum Leap” is both smarter than the average shred record and firmly at the cutting edge of things, “Night Driver” hops onto the downtempo synthwave bandwagon with genuinely blissful and cinematic results. The gleefully overwrought balladry of “Not Forgotten” is also, in spite of itself, weirdly compelling.
He can really play, this guy. Three-dimensional shred: it’s the way forward.
Highly recommended

CD 1: Quantum Leap
01. Into The Unknown
02. Exosphere
03. Quantum Leap
04. Chronesthesia
05. Enigma Of Life
06. Judgement Day
07. Fierce
08. Demon Stomp
09. Night Driver
10. Not Forgotten
11. Force Majeure (feat. Vinnie Moore)

CD 2: Live in Budapest 2018
01. Fearless (Live)
02. Mr. Manson (Live)
03. Letting Go (Live)
04. Cold Sweat (Live, Thin Lizzy Cover)
05. Force Majeure (Live)
06. Money For Nothing (Live)
07. Thrill Of The Chase (Live)

Gus G. – All Instruments