Jeffology

(Shrapnel)
by Jef Fritz

Another tribute album in a long line of tribute albums. This is the music of Jeff Beck as performed by a handful of the prominent fret-shredders of the last 10 years. The disc opens with a rendition of “New Ways Train Train” by Warren DeMartini, followed by Vivian Campbell‘s “Led Boots.” While both these songs are pretty good, they lack the subtlety of the Beck pieces or any really significant alternative interpretation, which is generally what can be said about the rest of the tracks as well. Thirdly, there is Paul Gilbert doing the Yardbirds’ classic “Heart Full of Soul” with the rhythmic finesse of a gas-powered wood splitter, followed by “‘Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers” wrung from the axe of Phil Collen, but I can’t say much about that one since the original wasn’t one of my favorites anyway. Skipping ahead a few cuts, there’s a most acceptable version of “Head For Backstage Pass” by Bruce Bouillet, and a few cuts after that is Jake E. Lee‘s take on “Rice Pudding” which is probably my favorite track on the disc. It dumps into a semi-faithful “Shape of Things” by Stevie Salas, a track without which this tribute would feel less complete, especially in light of the really believable vocals provided by Sass Jordan. There’s a couple more tunes, but that’s most of what’s worth mentioning on Jeffology. It’s pretty much what I expected from a guitar chronicle by the guys involved. I wonder whether it will be of more interest to fans of the songs of Jeff Beck or to fans of the other work of the guitarists on this album.