This DVD breaks down the solos and rhythm sections underneath the solos of three of Andy’s new songs: “Devil’s Day” and “Shine on Through” from Andy’s brand new album, In The Wake of Chaos, and “Underworld”, which was previously unreleased except as short homemade video on YouTube (that actually only contained around half of the song).

 

 

(Andy James - Underworld)

Aside from the instructional breakdowns, the DVD also contains backing tracks for the three songs for you to solo against, and excellent footage of Andy performing all three songs in their entirety, with nice camerawork and picking-hand picture-in-picture close-ups. Andy is in top form for these performances, and it’s a real treat to watch him in action. “Shine on Through” is probably my favorite song on the new album, so I was very glad to find it here. If you haven’t heard it yet, it’s basically a ballad, but there’s certainly nothing slow about the solo you’ll be learning on this DVD! Although, the rhythm section on that song is the least demanding of the three. Andy teaches all of the songs on a six-string with drop D tuning, but they were originally written for 7-string guitar.

Unfortunately there is no tablature included. Instead Andy breaks down the solos and rhythms one note at a time, which works well enough. So don’t worry - he doesn’t leave you in the dark about anything. That having been said, the solos are completely insane, and they contain just about every virtuoso technique in the shredder’s handbook – tons of alternate picking, sweeps, and tapping with string skipping. They’re all very learnable though, and Andy even provides you with some simplified exercises to practice so that it’s easier to digest the soloing in certain sections. His explanations are very comprehensive, but the fact that there’s no tablature can get frustrating at times when you’re constantly having to rewind in order to memorize a series of notes.

 

But one really nice thing about Lick Library instructionals is that the video and audio quality is superb. The menu design has a straightforward layout with performance footage playing in the background. You can jump straight into any of the track’s rhythm or solo breakdowns, just watch the performances, or there’s the usual “play all” button. And if you’re really bored there are text and picture previews of other Lick Library DVDs and a credits sub-menu!

Overall, this is a great buy, especially if you’re a fan of Andy’s and you’re interested in learning the solos to these songs while improving your abilities in important techniques.

 

 

 

 

 

 

... and don't forget to buy "Metal Edge: Metal Soloing Techniques"!