Flamenco a Go-Go

Last updated
Flamenco A Go-Go
FlamencoAGoGo.jpg
Studio album by
Released2000
RecordedHome Studio
Genre Flamenco, blues, dance
Length55:23
Label Ark 21
Producer Steve Stevens
Steve Stevens chronology
Situation Dangerous
(2000)
Flamenco A Go-Go
(2000)
Memory Crash
(2008)

Flamenco A Go-Go is the second album released by guitarist and songwriter Steve Stevens, best known for playing for Billy Idol for several years. It was recorded in his home studio, [1] and is mostly an instrumental album with a few vocal sections.

Contents

Musical genres and influences

Despite the title, the album is not a traditional flamenco album.

Stevens reported drawing inspiration from noted flamenco player Paco de Lucía after seeing him play live. The album features acoustic Spanish guitar but also departs from the flamenco genre by including electric guitar, drum and bass loops, electronics, ambient sounds and midi gear. It has contributions from session musicians Greg Ellis (percussion) and Vinnie Colaiuta (drums). [2]

Reviews

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [3]

AllMusic was very positive, [3] calling it a "wonderful surprise", by "one of the finest guitarists of the past 20 years" and saying it will catch listeners "off guard", with dance record overtones and rhythms that will "grab every listener".


Stevens said at the time:

I kind of reached an end to playing real loud, aggressive stuff. With the shred guitar thing, it always seems like I was playing to guys who were standing there with score cards or something. We weren’t creating an emotional event - it was a gymnastic event. [2]

Track listing

  1. "Flamenco A Go-Go"
  2. "Cinecitta"
  3. "Our Man In Istanbul"
  4. "Letter To A Memory"
  5. "Feminova"
  6. "Velvet Cage"
  7. "Hanina" Featuring Faudel
  8. "Dementia"
  9. "Twilight In Your Hands"
  10. "Riviera"
  11. "Jazz...An Evil Power" (Japanese Edition Bonus Track)

Related Research Articles

<i>Pyromania</i> (album) 1983 studio album by Def Leppard

Pyromania is the third studio album by English rock band Def Leppard, released on 20 January 1983 through Vertigo Records in UK and Europe and through Mercury Records in the US. The first album to feature guitarist Phil Collen who replaced founding member Pete Willis, Pyromania was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. The album was a shift away from the band's traditional heavy metal roots toward a more radio-friendly sound, finding massive mainstream success. Pyromania charted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, No. 4 on the Canadian RPM Album chart and No. 18 on the UK Albums Chart. Selling over ten million copies in the US, it has been certified diamond by the RIAA. The album continues to receive critical acclaim and is debated by critics as to whether it or Hysteria is Def Leppard's best album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Vai</span> American guitarist (born 1960)

Steven Siro Vai is an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist for Frank Zappa, and played in Zappa's band from 1980 to 1983. He embarked on a solo career in 1983 and has released eight solo albums to date. He has recorded and toured with Alcatrazz, David Lee Roth, and Whitesnake, as well as recording with artists such as Public Image Ltd, Mary J. Blige, Spinal Tap, Alice Cooper, Motörhead, and Polyphia. Additionally, Vai has toured with live-only acts G3, Zappa Plays Zappa, and the Experience Hendrix Tour, as well as headlining international tours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Lukather</span> American musician (born 1957)

Steven Lee Lukather is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer, best known as the sole continuous founding member of the rock band Toto. His reputation as a skilled guitarist led to a steady flow of session work beginning in the 1970s that has since established him as a prolific session musician, recording guitar tracks for more than 1,500 albums spanning a broad array of artists and genres. He has also contributed to albums and hit singles as a songwriter, arranger and producer. Notably, Lukather played guitar on Boz Scaggs' albums Down Two Then Left (1977) and Middle Man (1980), and was a prominent contributor to several studio albums by Michael Jackson, including Thriller (1982). Lukather has released nine solo albums, the latest of which, Bridges, was released in June 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Howe</span> English guitarist

Stephen James Howe is an English musician, best known as the guitarist and backing vocalist in the progressive rock band Yes across three stints since 1970. Born in Holloway, North London, Howe developed an interest in the guitar and began to learn the instrument himself at age 12. He embarked on a music career in 1964, first playing in several London-based blues, covers, and psychedelic rock bands for six years, including the Syndicats, Tomorrow, and Bodast.

<i>Benefit</i> (album) 1970 studio album by Jethro Tull

Benefit is the third studio album by the British rock band Jethro Tull, released in April 1970. It was the first Tull album to include pianist and organist John Evan – though he was not yet considered a permanent member of the group – and the last to include bass guitarist Glenn Cornick, who was fired from the band upon completion of touring for the album. It was recorded at Morgan Studios, the same studio where the band recorded its previous album Stand Up; however, they experimented with more advanced recording techniques.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Stevens</span> American guitarist

Steve Stevens is an American guitarist. He is best known as Billy Idol's guitarist and songwriting collaborator, and for his lead guitar work on the theme to Top Gun – "Top Gun Anthem" – for which he won a Grammy in 1987: Best Pop Instrumental Performance.

<i>Spot the Pigeon</i> 1977 EP by Genesis

Spot the Pigeon is the first EP by English progressive rock band Genesis, released on 20 May 1977. Its three songs were originally written for the group's eighth studio album Wind & Wuthering (1976), but were not included in the final track selection. It was the final studio release to feature guitarist Steve Hackett prior to his departure from Genesis.

<i>Sketches of Spain</i> 1960 studio album by Miles Davis

Sketches of Spain is an album by Miles Davis, recorded between November 1959 and March 1960 at the Columbia 30th Street Studio in New York City. An extended version of the second movement of Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez (1939) is included, as well as a piece called "Will o' the Wisp", from Manuel de Falla's ballet El amor brujo (1914–1915). Sketches of Spain is regarded as an exemplary recording of third stream, a musical fusion of jazz, European classical, and styles from world music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Wariner</span> American country musician

Steven Noel Wariner is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Initially a backing musician for Dottie West, he also worked with Bob Luman and Chet Atkins before beginning a solo career in the late 1970s. He has released eighteen studio albums and over fifty singles for several different record labels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johannes Linstead</span> Canadian guitarist and instrumentalist

Johannes Linstead is a Canadian guitarist and instrumentalist who fuses virtuoso Spanish-style guitar with Afro-Cuban, Middle Eastern, and Latin American percussion and instrumentation. In 2017, Linstead was awarded the "Best World Album of the Year" in the T.I.M.A Awards. He has/had an influential artist endorsement deal with the Yamaha Corporation of America and an endorsee with D'Addario String Co.. Further accolades include being named "Guitarist of the Year" in the prestigious Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards (2007), two NAR Lifestyle Music Awards, a nomination for a Juno Award and others.

<i>Hittin the Note</i> 2003 studio album by The Allman Brothers Band

Hittin' the Note is the twelfth and final studio album by the American Southern rock group the Allman Brothers Band. Released through Sanctuary Records, it is their only studio album to include both slide guitar player Derek Trucks and bass player Oteil Burbridge and marks the full-time return of guitar player Warren Haynes to the band. It was also their only studio album not to include original guitarist Dickey Betts.

<i>Back to Earth</i> (Cat Stevens album) 1978 studio album by Cat Stevens

Back to Earth is the eleventh studio album released by the British-Emirati singer/songwriter Cat Stevens. It is the only album he recorded using the name Cat Stevens after his conversion to Islam until the release in September 2017 of The Laughing Apple, his fifteenth studio album. It was also the last album of contemporary Western music that he recorded until An Other Cup, 28 years later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roni Benise</span> American musician

Roni Benisek, best known as Benise, is an American guitarist who describes his style as "Spanish guitar" or "nouveau flamenco."

Luis Villegas is an American guitarist best known for his debut CD Cafe Olé, which mixed new-age music, flamenco, and jazz and garnered a spot on the Grammy ballot for Best New Age Album of the Year in 1999. He is known for using a technique of playing fast, intricate lines by using the fingernail of his right index finger in place of a guitar pick. He also had a small role as a member of a band in the film Collateral starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx. He is currently a member of the group "Heavy Mellow" along with founder Benjamin Woods and percussionist Mike Bennett.

<i>Jeff Beck Group</i> (album) 1972 studio album by The Jeff Beck Group

Jeff Beck Group is the fourth and final studio album by the Jeff Beck Group and the second album with the line up of Jeff Beck, Bobby Tench, Clive Chaman, Max Middleton and Cozy Powell. The album was produced by Steve Cropper and often referred to as the Orange Album, because of the orange which appears prominently at the top of the front cover.

<i>Memory Crash</i> 2008 studio album by Steve Stevens

Memory Crash is the third studio album by guitarist and songwriter Steve Stevens, released on January 29, 2008, through Magna Carta Records.

<i>Bald on the Inside</i> 2003 studio album by Tim Scott

Bald on the Inside is the debut album by session guitarist Tim Scott, first released on 23 June 2003. First digitally released on iTunes, with an updated cover image, on 9 November 2009. Scott wrote, recorded, and produced the album at Acer Studios, his self built recording facility in much the same way as Mike Oldfield's – Tubular Bells and Jean Michel Jarre's - Oxygène. It was mastered by Roger Boden at The Cottage Group Studios, Macclesfield, Cheshire. 4:AM (4am And I Can't Sleep ) was released as a digital single on 30 November 2009.

<i>Ibiza Mayhem 2012</i> 2011 studio album by Tim Scott

Ibiza Mayhem 2012 is the third studio album by solo instrumental artist Tim Scott, first released on iTunes on 16 December 2011. Comprising the seven singles released from November 2009 to December 2011, Ibiza Mayhem 2012 is formatted much like a hits compilation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saro Tribastone</span> Musical artist

Saro Tribastone is an Italian composer, guitarist and performer of Mediterranean instrumental music who expresses his love for his homeland in Sicily through his compositions and performances of acoustic music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcus Nand</span> Musical artist

Marcus Nand is a guitarist, singer-songwriter, producer, and sound engineer best known for his work with flamenco guitar. After learning rock, blues, and flamenco in Spain in his youth, he has been based in Los Angeles since the 1990s. A past guitarist for Los Angeles metal band Freak of Nature, he later formed the world music and rock band Ziroq with bassist Carmine Rojas. Ziroq's debut album was named "Best Mix: Non-Orchestral" at the 2002 Surround Music Awards. Nand also works on various solo projects. As a session guitarist, he has contributed to albums such as Situation Dangerous by Bozzio Levin Stevens, Essential Ballads by Jeff Scott Soto, and various compilations.

References

  1. "HighFidelityReview - Hi-Fi systems, DVD-Audio and SACD reviews". HighFidelityReview.com. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  2. 1 2 "INSTRUMENTAL REVIEWS - Spring 2000". Mwe3.com. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Flamenco A Go-Go - Steve Stevens | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic . Retrieved 20 May 2021.