Search - Yogi :: Metta

Side man, Axe man...Front man. Introducing: Yogi

dharma69 | San Clemente, CA United States | 01/08/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"So on January 4, 2008, a rainy, rainy Friday night, instead of being in London-town watching Scary Spice ramble through "Are You Gonna Go My Way" and getting my poptastic cheesy-groove on, I was in Los Angeles-town taking in some rather ethereal sounds made by the gentleman whose name is Yogi.



Now I've seen this guy before...3 times before, to be exact, but in a capacity of a wholly different creature than Friday night. Yogi is the lead guitarist in Chris Cornell's touring band; having seen CC 3 times last year, the same goes for Yogi. And what a more than capable guitarist he is and an asset to CC's band as he and Peter (CC's other band guitarist) handle the old school Soundgarden-Thayil riffs and crunchy Audioslave-Morello funk quite nicely. Yogi has gotten a whole lot of love in the way of standing ovations from Chris Cornell's audience...including from me.



But here on this album, on his own in the live he's a different creature. He's a musician with a hell of a resumé (also a former member of The Wallflowers); one of those that's always behind the scenes yet still deep within the music. So to take in his show was to take a little of him in as, on Friday eve, he played in small room that embodied intimacy and the intimate nature of his music. His music is modern rock/pop; lyrical, melodic, may take itself too seriously, may not. If you favor the vocal stylings of Jack Johnson or Coldplay then you may favor Yogi although Yogi brings a bit more manliness to the table than Chris Martin, particularly when he opens up his voice and allows it fly.



And he brings a guitar on fire.



I enjoyed Yogi. An eve of his music is much the same as a listen-through of this CD: it's a bit of musical meditation. Classic rock sounds arranged with metta/loving-kindness, warm tones, strings and other lush harmonics etched with subliminal sex and if you don't like the lazy, falsetto groove and sugar-sweet guitar of "Inside You" well, then you're probably neutered. In the vein of interpretation, you have to appreciate "Settle For Less" and "Full Speed Ahead" (such an apropos title for that song) as Yogi gives you two versions of each song; full-blown production and stripped down acoustic and strings, flipping the fire and replacing it with quieter urgency. And speaking of acoustic, a solid 3 minutes of him riding acoustic and some overlapping vocals makes for "Disappeared" and a deceptive track that kind of snuck up on me with how charming it was.



There's a lot of beauty in the melodies, the soft touch of the string arrangements and the passionate handling of the guitar as the music, behind my eyes, tends to evoke rich color. Go ahead; listen with your eyes closed and tell me what you "see".



In truth, there's nothing groundbreaking here as with every other song that plays, you'll probably hear something or someone else that you may or may not quite be able to put your finger on. The fifth time though "Full Speed Ahead" (full version) I finally nailed shades of Jeff Buckley and "Last Goodbye"...no wonder I liked the song so much. That being said, it's the care with which he plays those familiar heartstrings along with his intimate touch that make this production worthwhile. By no means is this album a bolt of lightening; it's more like a gentle caress from a brand new lover whom you want to get to know much better."