Paul Gilbert

King of Clubs (Mayhem)
by Martin Popoff

Mr. Big’s sprightly sparkly axeman paints his world in the rainbow hues of his main influence and lifelove, The Beatles, slotting into line another product thereof. King Of Clubs buzzes comfortably on a shelf populated by Cheap Trick, Enuff Z’nuff, Elvis Costello, and Joe Jackson records. And of course, given a past bookended by shred machines Racer X and Mr. Big, Paul Gilbert exhibits a certain Vai-cynical disdain for the process, marbling the record with punctuations of light-speed Zappa zaps.

But a fair dose of this is cloying, annoying, trite, and way too precious, “Girls Who Can Read Your Mind,” “Vinyl,” and “Girlfriend’s Birthday” sounding like The Records (uh, actually a fabulous old skinny tie band who you don’t remember). So if you can accept Gilbert’s girlie emotions, thereby controlling the hysterical sugar fix associated with these highly-arranged, chops-proud Enuff Z’nuff songs, you’ll be in for a sonic treat built of the man’s sweet vocal work and even sweeter six-string inflections, again, Gilbert containing his own rainbow in those bluesy, blurring hands of his.
(1290 6th Ave. New York, NY 10104)