Tracklist

1. Deep Down
2. Balcoon
3. Infinity
4. Ab & Co
5. Where’s the Paper
6. New World
7. Six Months Later
8. Rules of Cleaning
9. Dog’s Way
10. Too Early

Today I will be reviewing this album by Jill Yan entitled ”B4”. This is definitely a unique sounding album, with heavy bone crunching riffs complete with odd time signatures and some really melodic lead guitar work, it also does have a real progressive feel to it.

All members of this trio are great at what they do, and Yan really shines on the guitar. They have fused lots of different elements into there music, you can hear heavy metal riffs, jazz, melodic rock, progressive, funk and most of all – great shred. As stated above these songs have plenty of odd time signatures providing a very interesting listen.

I’d definitely call this a straight up fusion album, because there is a lot of styles in there as mentioned above. Yan can really rip it up when needed, but doesn’t sacrifice any melody in his playing, playing lots of heartfelt licks and solos.

This is a very mature sounding album, with every member excelling at there instrument, it proves to be a very interesting listen and a very ”edge of your seat” listen because you don’t know what’s coming next in this style of music. One minute you can be rocking out to a bone crunching heavy riff, next minute a clean jazzy solo comes in or some awesome funk groove from the bass guitar, it is quite unpredictable on the first few listens.

I’d definitely recommend this to fans of fusion guitar based music, even if your not a fan of it, its a good idea to listen and take in ideas because they may prove to interest and broaden your musical horizons. Take a listen and decide for yourself…

Copyright ©  Richard Niczyperowicz 2006

for more information, visit www.jillyan.com