REVIEW: Neal Schon - I on U

Chameleon. That is the best word to describe guitar virtuoso Neal Schon. The man moves gracefully from rock to ballad and from emotional melody to ear shredding sting with ease as fulfills his "day job" in the band Journey. Most people know Neal in this - his best known role - as he supports the soaring vocals of Steve Perry and more recently Steve Augeri.

Journey has been very active in recent years but if you are a fan of Neal you know that he is not sitting on the beach soaking up the rays in between tours. He traps himself in his studio and devotes his waking hours to music — and not just Journeyesque melodic rock, but jazz, fusion, rock, new age and metal and he does it all with ease.

I'll soon be reviewing Neal's new hard rock outfit called Soul Sirkus where he teams up with long time band-mate and Journey drummer Deen Castronovo for a rockin' romp back to the glory days of rock. And boy does he shred.

Anyway, my purpose here today is to review Neal's (other, other) project — his 6th solo album called I on U. The disc is somewhere between a instrumental new age journey and instrumental melodic rock in the vein of Satriani, Vai, Johnson and Zaza. The bottom line is that this album is a masterful melodic gem for all ears. Whether you are an aspiring guitar god or just appreciate good melodic music, this album is for you.

My favorite thing about listening to this album is that it is truly an "album" of music. I can't single out one track to be my favorite — and I don't mean that in a negative way. I mean that this album is so good that it is an enjoyable experience from start to finish and you can't just single out songs as good and bad. It could almost be one long song that flows between moods and the vibe is kept consistent throughout somehow by Neil's consistent tone, smooth tempo changes and always amazing melodic story telling.

Article Author: Christopher Auman

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