‘Drama’ by Marty Friedman
In the pantheon of rock guitarists, Marty Friedman gets overlooked. He formed the groundbreaking shred band Cacophony with Jason Becker in 1986 and played a pivotal role propelling Megadeth through the ‘90s. And over the past two decades, Friedman’s become a household name in Japan, where he moved in 2003—composing for and recording with orchestras while also releasing three well-received Tokyo Jukebox instrumental-rock albums of Japanese music. Now comes Drama, an aptly titled record of supremely melodic, exotic and often epic guitar pieces. Most of the dozen songs here emerge as mini-symphonies, with Friedman playing both vintage guitars and his own signature models. And while solid, the pair of vocal tracks (one in English, the other in Spanish) detract from the moods Friedman evokes throughout the rest of the album. Recorded primarily in Italy with drummer Gregg Bissonette (Ringo Starr, Steve Vai) and a slew of talented Japanese musicians on bass, keys, cello and violin, Drama should finally establish Friedman as one of the world’s most eclectic and finest guitar players.
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