Shawn Christie - Forever Summer
Rock, Fusion, Progressive Metal
New Jersey, United States
Overall Impression: Blistering technique meets dazzling musicality in Shawn Christie's powerhouse of a guitar instrumental "Forever Summer", a stunning virtuosic display of intricate lead guitar work and style-infused creativity. "Forever Summer" offers listeners an exciting cavalcade of flawlessly performed alternate picked runs, liquid smooth legato lines, stunning rhythm guitar work, wildly expressive phrasing, and impeccable sweep picked arpeggios, all the while providing audiences with a well-written and melodically captivating arrangement that is both highly engrossing and profoundly thrilling from start to finish.
Strongest Point(s): Having grown up listening to many of the virtuosic guitar heroes of the 80s and 90s, I understand the importance of being able to effectively balance technique with both feel and strong writing, and it's crystal clear that whilst "Forever Summer" offers plenty in the way of jaw-dropping guitar technique and fretboard mastery, it's never at the expense of melody and feel-rich phrasing, and it's clear Shawn has spent considerable time not only honing his technique but his compositional skills too, ensuring that his outstanding virtuosity is always being funneled into meaningful and highly musical avenues. "Forever Summer" is abundant in many a catchy hook and memorable melody, ensuring there's a definite feeling of cohesiveness in the arrangement that allows many of the track's distinct ideas to not only feel deeply connected with one another but thematically strong and well-developed. Whilst the track establishes itself as a predominately hard-rock-based instrumental, it's great to hear some other styles be implemented into the song, specifically the excellent jazz-fusion interlude that occurs from 2:18. Not only does this inject even greater variation and character into the track by allowing it to explore even more harmonic, melodic, and tonal ground, but also serves as a clear testament to Shawn's wide-spanning stylistic inspirations as well as his deep sense of genre knowledge.
Target Audience Appeal: Lovers of virtuoso guitar styles will absolutely appreciate what "Forever Summer" has to offer.
Artist target suggestions: Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, George Lynch, Andy Timmons, Steve Morse, Nick Johnston, Blues Saraceno, John Petrucci, Kiko Loureiro, Neil Zaza, Paul Gilbert, Marco Sfogli, Reb Beach, Tony MacAlpine, Bumblefoot
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About the Reviewer:
Andre Avanessian is a freelance session musician, composer, and sound engineer based in the U.K. Having studied music production and composition at a degree level, he has taken his passion for all things audio-related to a level that has allowed him to become both a competent musician and performer. Being a self-confessed "Guitar Nerd" Andre has been continually studying the guitar as well as teaching it, helping students learn the instrument, develop their songwriting, and become more proficient in home recording.