Review Summary: Gus G presents his third solo effort to the world, which turns out to be anything but a "brand new revolution".
The problem with many solo albums from metal musicians is that they tend to be a mere shadow of said musicians' talents. It's almost as if the bigger band to which they contribute is of more importance both musically and conceptually than anything else released by the individual instrumentalist. Sure, there's a few exceptions, but this problem seems to have recently become bigger and bigger. It's happened to Ol Drake (Evile) and George Kollias (Nile) among others this year, and maybe time will tell if Firewind's and Ozzy's right-hand guitarist, Gus G, will suffer the same consequences. The fact of the matter is, however good you think latest album
Brand New Revolution is, it probably won't end up being as important as the man's work with Firewind, Ozzy or indeed Dream Evil.
So, the real question bugging Gus G enthusiasts is: Does
Brand New Revolution live up to the man's talents and preceded reputation? Well, of course it does. The guy practically writes riffs and solos in his sleep. Hyperbolic as that sentence may be, you shouldn't be shocked at the amount of guitar-related ideas Gus G comes up with nowadays. After all, his musical CV is full of those ideas, and his recent solo material (three albums' worth now, incidentally) proves that more than in any other of his musical projects.
Brand New Revolution is filled to the brim with songs which utilize the man's instrumental strengths, most notably scorching hot opener "The Quest" and the classic metal leanings of "Come Hell or High Water" and "If It Ends Today". These three tunes develop Gus G's insanely talented work ethic for producing some of the most memorable riff/solo work in the power metal world, even if his talent borders on self-indulgent wankery.
Indeed, "The Quest" as a song is so good that the rest of the album fails to surpass the quality-or even touch the surface. The problem with Gus G's latest solo album-and it's a big one, believe it or not-is that after "The Quest", most of the songs are simply as monotonous and as far from groundbreaking as they come. Sure, Gus G still plays somewhat like a guitar pro, but the likes of the title track, "Burn" and "We are One" end up being more cringeworthy than they are effective. The mid-paced stomp of Gus G's guitar prowess doesn't work with the shoddy vocal delivery of guest vocalist Jeff Scott Soto (a decent singer in his own way) and the frankly juvenile lyrical content-which really should have been focussed on as much as the instrumental side of things. It's a real shame to say that Gus G is literally the only thing keeping
Brand New Revolution from becoming even more average than it mostly is.
There are other songs which hint at a promising improvement, most notably Elize Ryd (Amaranthe) and her appearance on the electronic/industrial-tinged "What Lies Below", and the two nice ballad-like songs in "Behind Those Eyes" and "If It Ends Today", and almost make you believe Gus G has put some heart into the songwriting again. The album does regain the man's strengths towards the end, where guest vocalist Mats Levén tackles the 80s AOR stomp of "Come Hell or High Water" and excellent closer "The Demon Inside", two tracks which really hit home how good Gus G can be when he puts some actual oomph into things. However, by the end, it also feels too little too late, and realistically,
Brand New Revolution does little to distance itself from the other Gus G works or indeed any other solo album by a metal musician. The best thing that can be said about Gus G's third solo effort is that it proves furthermore that he's a very talented guitarist-but that's about it. If you're more of a fan of his work with Firewind or with Ozzy, it can safely be said you won't missing anything if you don't listen to
Brand New Revolution. If you worship the ground Gus G walks on, it goes without saying you probably already own this record.
