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Marty Friedman > Music for Speeding > Reviews
Marty Friedman - Music for Speeding

A mixed bag with a few mistakes - 80%

Xeper, December 30th, 2003

This was my first solo album of Marty's, but since I worship his work on Rust in Peace like everyone else, I had high hopes (especially because, let's face it, the album title sounds really cool, if faintly cheesy).
It opens up with "Gimme a Dose", an adrenaline-fueled riff monster with a stomping bass drum part (love those walking quarter notes!) and gorgeous melodic leads with the obligatory shredding midsection. Off to a booming start.
Next up, "Fuel Injection Stingray", continues the metalness with more heavy riffing, leading into some sweet harmonizing which morphs into a cool solo section of course. Really badass riffing here.
"Ripped" starts out with a shredding drum intro-this guy's fast as hell, and then leads into one of the most technical songs on the album, sounds like something you'd hear on Derek Sherinian's Black Utopia album, but with guitars instead of keyboards taking the forefront. Great melodic leads in between oddly-timed passages and staccato transitions-these guys can play, and don't you forget it. A brief mellow creepy-sounding interlude then goes into some surprisingly intricate guitar work between slashing back into the tune.
"It's the Unreal Thing" is more badass heavy riffing with a walking bass drum part (so tasteful, I love it, makes it sound so much heavier), and then we have a weird keyboard-backed lead for a few bars with an almost jungle-sounding drum part, but it's on acoustic drums so it's quite bearable, and then BAM, back into that stunningly heavy riff. Megadeth would be so jealous.
And at this point, the album falls apart. "Cheer Girl Rampage" is a fucking joke in my opinion, but it was meant quite seriously...which is why I think it's a joke. Electronic J-pop. No joke. Sounds like Sailor Moon battle music, and sure there's some shredding present, but you can barely hear it over the squealing keyboards and ringing drum machines. Now I see what Friedman meant when he said he wanted to explore more pop-oriented territories (read: electronic garbage) instead of staying with Megadeth. This song is really such a dramatic turnaround from the previous 4 numbers, I actually checked to see if it was the same CD (not like I'd changed it or anything), I was that stunned. Godawful. Not a wise decision on Marty's part, nothing metal about it either, but it's simply not good.
Next up, "Lust For Life" is a pretty cool Queen-esque ballad with some nice harmonizing. Then comes "Lovesorrow", another ballad number with cheesy backing keyboards-not really my thing. "Nastymachine" opens with more goddamned drum machines and keyboards, sounding like raver jungle video game shit. God, I hate this shit. It's SO out of fucking place on the album, too! The whole song reeks, so let's skip it. "Catfight" opens with-you guessed it-electronic drums and spoken word, then goes into a RIFF, thank heavens! Back to heavy riffing territory and harmonizing with GUITARS, at last. Solid song, with some crunchy riffing in the middle, tasty. The odd keyboard effect here and there, but mostly guitar, so it's safe, haha (I jest, I like keyboards, just not cheesy ones). "Corazon de Santiago" starts out very mellow, almost Pink Floyd-ish with very ambient sounding guitars and swelling harmonies, and then distortion kicks in on top of it and we're treated to a majestic lead, the kind Marty should be doing more often. Cool song. "0-7-2" is just a short little keyboard/orchestra shredding interlude that leads into "Salt in the Wound", another heavy rocker that reassures you your money wasn't really wasted. Very heavy riff at 0:42, and you notice that the bass drum sound has gotten oddly quieter at this point in the album. *shrug* Then some cool synchronized playing between guitar and snare drum accents, and into another ripping solo. Finally, we have "Novocaine Kiss", which is really a cheesy 80s-sounding power ballad with dinky keyboards in the background, even if the guitar leads are tasteful. Weak way to end the album, in my opinion.
So basically, other than "Cheer Girl Rampage" and "Nastymachine" (the two duds on here), the album's pretty solid. Only those 2 serious fuckups and a weak closer, but overall I don't regret buying the album, and it's probably worth your money if you're a big fan of guitar rock type stuff. I'm checking out his Dragon's Kiss album next though, I'm told it's more metal, which is usually a good thing for me.

Interesting new direction for Marty - 85%

Heian, June 30th, 2003

I was waiting for this album with a fair share of ambivilance. It definitely sounded odd. Marty had just left Megadeth because he felt metal was too creatively limiting, but yet here he was with a new solo album claiming that it would be a heavy album that would satisfy fans of his heaviest solo album, Dragon's Kiss.

Amazingly, that's exactly what he's managed to pull off. I remember that my first thought upon hearing the album for the first time was "Marty left Megadeth to do this?!?" If The World Needs a Hero sounded like this, everyone would be hailing it as the second coming of Megadeth.

To be fair, this album isn't heavy in the traditional Megadeth sense, or even in the same sense as Dragon's Kiss. Marty's interest in pop music shines through in many of the songs, with periodic keyboards and machine-generated percussion. There are also some very heavy sections that sound downtuned. You can tell that Marty is experimenting with a wide variety of sounds instead of sticking to the same guitar tone and power chords the whole way through. As usual, his solos and melodies are performed at blistering speeds when appropriate, but unlike some guitarists he's not out to prove how fast he is (although he can shred with the best of 'em).

The electronic influence on many of the songs reminded me of Joe Satriani's album Engines of Creation. If you liked that album, then you're almost certain to like this one. On the song Cheer Girl Rampage, there's even some clear J-Pop influence, which sounds good to my ears even though I find that genre to be positively wretched. If the thought of electronic or pop influences makes your stomach turn, then you're probably not going to like this album.

All in all, it's a fresh direction for Marty and a good sign that he's not falling into creative decay. If you're a fan of his earlier works, I'd definitely recommend this album. My favorite tracks are "Gimme a Dose", "It's the Unreal Thing", "Nastymachine", and "Cheer Girl Rampage". If you're looking for more of a straight-up metal album instead, check out his first solo album Dragon's Kiss, which is also awesome.