Search - Impellitteri :: The Very Best of Impelliteri: Faster Than the Speed of Light

Suprising

Blaise Giannone | New Haven, CT United States | 03/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The first experience I ever had with Impellitteri was his speed soloing video. I have just about every shred instructional video and I wasn't blown over by it. It sweemed on the video as he approached speeds "too fast" it seemed as though he lost accuracy/cleanness,and some of the speed runs were very beginer double triplet fingerings sped up lightning fast, so I kind of dismissed his work which was a mistake. This greatest hits album is exellent. The guitar work is beautifully written, theres no silly shred like you can sometimes get from speed pickers but very melodic neo classical riffs. Chris also plays in different tempos at different speeds which is a true sign of virtuosity. Some shredders can only play really fast at one speed and if you slow it down they lose it. another great thing is the rythms. The song writing is acually great. Great hooks, great vocals, and makes good musical sense. I found myself "pumped" after listning like I used to be after blasting ACDC back in school. You can tell a lot went into these songs. He takes the Racer x platform and expands it by making better songs while keeping Paul Gilberts technique, which is what these songs demand. He then takes Yngvie's prasing and expands it to be more technical, with less unnessesary notes in which Malmsteen gets criticised for often. All in all it's an absolute shame that Chris's name is often left out in the likes of Paul Gilbert, Michael Angelo, or Malmsteen. He should be given the same respect and attention. I'm going to buy all of his work now that I heard the greatest hits. His playing is a conglomerate of every aspect of what a shredder should be. I just hope theres a video available where you can see him play live with that great band."