Adrian Belew Side Otwo

Adrian Belew’s long and winding career as an innovative guitar visionary enters yet another new phase with the pending release of Pop-Sided, the Covington native’s first solo album in 10 years. But don’t think the ever-restless singer-songwriter and prolific session guitarist has been sitting on his hands over that time: he created FLUX, a fascinating iOS app that plays random snatches of his sonic creations; he toured multiple times with the Adrian Belew Power Trio, which featured songs from across his versatile four-decade career; and he continued to contribute singular guitar parts for artists like Nine Inch Nails.

Adrian Belew - Mr. Music Head (1989)
EAC AccurateRip | APE, IMG+CUE, LOG | 264,2 MB | MP3 CBR 320 Kbps | 95,5 MB | Complete Scans (300 dpi) | 17,5 MB
Prog Rock, Rock | Label: Atlantic | Catalog Number: 781 959-2 | Time: 45:41 | RAR | RS.com

On Mr. Music Head, guitar virtuoso Adrian Belew serves up a pure pop-sounding album, and does a satisfying job to boot. He puts his guitar to good use, at times sounding experimental, but only doing so to add color to his three-minute tunes. On "Oh Daddy," his daughter Audie shares the singing on this light, cheery little number. With "Bad Days," the piano is the main instrument, projecting Belew's emotions quite fittingly. Belew's fondness for animal rights is the main theme behind "Hot Zoo," and "Cruelty to Animals" is an assortment of animal noises heard amongst background instrumentation, reminding listeners that he hasn't abandoned his avant-garde style completely. While Belew's voice isn't really his largest asset, it's not unlistenable, and along with the multitude of instruments used on every track, each song carries its own persona. Past work with the Talking Heads can be heard from start to finish, showing up by way of certain staccato rhythms and well-constructed melodies. Hearing Adrian Belew in a pop sense is surprisingly enjoyable, even if he can't leave his experimental string bending behind entirely. AMG

Adrian Belew - Desire Caught By The Tail (1986)
EAC AccurateRip | APE, IMG+CUE, LOG | 142,3 MB | MP3 CBR 320 Kbps | 68,5 MB | Complete Scans (300 dpi) | 15,2 MB
Prog Rock, Experimental | Label: Island Records | Catalog Number: 7 90551-2 | Time: 33:12 | RAR | RS.com

Adrian Belew used his third release to blatantly demonstrate his love and talent for avant-garde guitar work, but many of the tracks on Desire Caught By the Tail take his passion for boisterous distortion, warped notes, thick sound, and highly experimental playing methods into absurdity. But those who appreciate the many facilities that an electric guitar can perform, musical or otherwise, will feel right at home with Desire's eight tracks. There's no question that Belew is a master at what he does, and even though cuts like "Laughing Man," "Z," and "The Gypsy Zurna" are indeed unorthodox, there's a certain attraction to the way he creates music out of, well, non-music. There is a method to Belew's madness, and there are moments on the album when his phrasing and note control create some fascinating effects and textures, but a whole album's worth may be a little much for even a die-hard guitar fan. The laboratory-styled essence of "Guernica," "Portrait of Margaret," and "Beach Creatures" are Desire's most favorable pieces, since it's here that Belew seems to put a bit more universal appeal into his experimentation. AMG

Adrian Belew - The Experimental Guitar Series. Volume 1: The Guitar As Orchestra (1995)
EAC AccurateRip | APE, IMG+CUE, LOG | 219,4 MB | MP3 CBR 320 Kbps | 103,7 MB | Complete Scans (300 dpi) | 24,4 MB
Prog Rock, Experimental | Label: Discipline Global Mobile | Catalog Number: DGM 9611 | Time: 50:40 | RAR | RS.com

As interesting as it may sound, The Guitar As Orchestra rides along a straight track and doesn't offer much by way of liveliness or intrigue. Not taking anything away from Adrian Belew as a prominent guitarist and experimental guru, the flow lacks any colorful meandering or subtle pleasantries, and the novelty wears off after the first couple of tracks. Belew's idea for the album involves replacing orchestral instruments with only a guitar, thus producing classical music with different variations and styles of guitar playing. Using only a Fender Stratocaster and a few guitar synthesizers and processors, Belew creates classical passages and movements that resemble, almost identically, music otherwise made by piano, violin, and the sort. A great idea in theory, but the result is rather humdrum and is absent of any flare. Titles such as "Alfred Hitchcock's 'Strangers on a Train' Starring Robert Walker" and "Portrait of a Guitarist As a Young Drum" may sound enticing but are compelling in name only. Belew's talents can be much better appreciated on his other solo albums, like Desire Caught By the Tail. AMG

Adrian Belew - Op Zop Too Wah (1996)
EAC AccurateRip | APE, IMG+CUE, LOG | 354,1 MB | MP3 CBR 320 Kbps | 117,2 MB | Complete Scans (300 dpi) | 50,4 MB
Prog Rock, Experimental | Label: Caroline Records | Catalog Number: 7243 8 42151 2 5 | Time: 55:54 | RAR | RS.com

Op Zop Too Wah is a typically idiosyncratic and entertaining effort from Adrian Belew, demonstrating equal amounts of unparalleled guitar virtuosity and maddeningly pedestrian songcraft. Occasionally, Belew hits upon thrilling compromises between the two extremes, but just as often he meanders, missing his targets as frequently as he hits them. Nevertheless, the mediocre material is redeemed for his dedicated fans by his stellar guitar skills and the wide variety of sounds he can coax out of his instrument. AMG

Master US guitarist, who has played with Frank Zappa and David Bowie, Talking Heads, Nine Inch Nails and Paul Simon. He is also long-time musical partner of Robert Fripp, leader of British Prog band King Crimson. This concert from November 2008 features Adrian fronting his Power Trio at a festival event in Leverkusen, Germany, the results being broadcast Europe-wide by Rockpalast. The trio includes bassist Julie Slick with her younger brother Eric, young discoveries from Philadelphia and together a phenomenal rhythm section. The set list includes new originals, material from Belew's solo career and his work with King Crimson, interspersed with two segments of interview footage.

"Return to the Dark Side of the Moon" is a star-studded prog rock tribute album to one of rock's all-time greatest bands and albums. Producer Billy Sherwood has reassembled many of the same players from Back Against the Wall for his latest Pink Floyd tribute, and the result is the same - professional renditions of the songs, without a lot of experimentation. As a result, the songs aren't that remarkably different from the originals. Features performances by Adrian Belew (King Crimson), Robby Krieger (The Doors), Colin Moulding (XTC), Tommy Shaw (Styx), Rick Wakeman (Yes), John Wetton (Asia), award-winning actor Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange) and more.

It's a bold concept; take Pink Floyd's iconic Dark Side of the Moon (Harvest, 1973) and reinterpret it in a big band jazz setting. With upwards of forty million copies sold, every note, every nuance of Floyd's eighth album is so firmly entrenched in the minds of the band's legion devotees that to tamper with the work in any way is to leave oneself open to facile criticism. French-Vietnamese guitarist Nguyên Lê, however, is nothing if not adventurous. Lê has already demonstrated on Purple: Celebrating Jimi Hendrix (ACT Music, 2007) and Songs of Freedom (ACT Music, 2012)—his tribute to classic pop and rock songs of the 1960s and 1970s—that he can breathe new life into old material without being overly reverential.