[http://www.theshredzone.com]
[http://www.rocknet.nl]
Review by Eef Vinkfrom website www.rocknet.nl - Sept. 02 The Netherlands Jill Yan sent me a very kind note a while back asking me to review his independent release "Guitar Garbage 1.2". Since I didn't have a clue as to who Jill was, I (of course) agreed, and though it's been lying around the office for waaaaaay to long, this is actually a very good instrumental album. It's fairly typical instrumental guitar music. Heavy, melodic and clever, but - and don't ask me to elaborate on this too much, Jill Yan has managed to pour his playing (and songwriting and production) talents into a CD that can easily keep the listener on the edge of his / her seat. This is largely due to the very pleasant lead guitar sounds Jill uses. He's definitely not shy to use effects, but all is done in good - if not excellent - taste, and his technique appears flawless. One of the (few) credits in the CD booklet goes out to the 3G, and the influence of Vai / Satriani and the likes is quite apparent. But where these two go to extremes Jill keeps a good focus on his songs, and manages to find a great balance between heavy riff-based rhythm guitar work, and lots of tasteful guitar solo's. (Jill had me fooled here. In an email to me he explained that the G3 are not the 3G (Johnson / Vai / Satriani) but his wife and 2 daughters!!! Still, my comparison of Jill vs. Satriani / Vai stands as it is. Thanx for explaining that, Jill!) And on top of that the playing time is a respectable 65 minutes, which I find a definite forté, especially for an independent release. We all know studio time costs a fortune, and as far as I can tell Jill has made every second in the 4G Studio in Geneva, Switzerland count. (Note: Jill later explained to me that the 4G Studio is actually his home studio: a roland vs1680 and a few mics :) Let me assure you that Jill did a great job with these limited resources!!! He's helped out by Julien Gahwileron Bass, Alex Brun on drums and another bassist named Xav has played on the song "The Detune" as well. All guitar parts were done by Jill Yan himself. Synthesizers orkeyboards are nowhere to be found. This might be the only minor flaw, because on some songs some synths might have added some 'beef' or - on the other hand - some color and atmosphere. However, given the heavy nature of the material synths are not a *must* and Jill has worked nicely around the lack of synths in his guitar arrangements. I hope more people will hear his stuff, because I think Jill Yan is a very talented player who could do great as a session musician or in any challenging band. Good job, Jill, and sorry for the late review! Eef Vink
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