For those of you who visit this notorious website regularly you may know that I really liked - a 100% euphemism indeed - The Cloud Of Unknowing (2022) and Quadrivium (2023, see review). The two previous albums of guitarist Nick Fletcher. A Longing For Home is Fletcher's musical development of ideas that were heard on Quadrivium, and it is the third instalment of a trilogy of albums which are conceptually linked, based on spiritual, philosophical, and scientific beliefs. Without further ado I can truly say that Fletcher has done it again, just as on his previous masterpiece he plays a really mean guitar here, thus making A Longing For Home a 100% amazing guitar album indeed, showcasing Fletcher's wonderful ability and skills in playing electric guitar and I can only agree once more with Steve Hackett, who stated: "Nick Fletcher is the best jazz/rock guitarist in the U.K., his fluency is outstanding, I consider him a real star." This stunning new solo album contains a couple of highlights that give me goosebumps every time I listen to them. Her Eyes Of Azure Blue, the longest track of the album, is also the milestone and centrepiece here ; a real romantic guitar song with amazing hooks, melodies and solos that sometimes remind me of "our" Dutch guitar hero Jan Akkerman and even the still very underrated guitar picker Jeff Beck. Her Eyes Of Azure Blue is extremely melodic, with shifting tempos and soaring guitar solos galore and I often find myself pressing the repeat button for this wonderful track. Another goosebump track is Crossing The Sacred Threshold, an impressive mix of jazz, rock and progressive fusion that displays Fletcher's formidable, expressive guitar playing. Opening track Satori also belongs to the highlights of this album, as this one is a remarkable jazz/prog fusion song; again, amazingly melodic and stuffed with glorious guitar solos indeed, so play it LOUD and get your air guitar out of the closet and try to play along; but not really, as that is truly undoable, for sure! However, finally, Nick "treats 'the listener to the ethereal To Hear The Angels Sing and that one is really, at least for me, a 100% superfluous track, as it features melancholic, dreamy siren-like classical, wordless "singing" by Olga Dikajee Karpova; not a good way to end this impressive album. Overall, A Longing For Home is an amazing, progressive instrumental album, with the exception of the mediocre tenth track, where Fletcher mixes jazz, prog, rock and classical musical elements and fans of Alan Holdsworth, Jeff Beck, Jan Akkerman, David Gilmour, Steve Vai and Steve Hackett, will find much pleasure in listening to this album indeed. Without To Hear The Angels Sing, A Longing For Home, would have received five stars indeed, but it will end up remarkably high in my top list of the year for sure. Listening tip: Satori. ****+ Martien Koolen (edited by Dave Smith) Where to buy? |
