A Guy With An Accent by Robbie Angelucci is a mixed bag of guitar-intensive, rock / fusion tracks with various accents per track, such as blues, funk, easy/light-acoustic, and straight-ahead guitar rock. The album has its moments of gratification, though some of the tracks did not appeal to me. The tracks with vocals did not help the album, as the vocals are shaky. Some of the guitar playing on the album is interesting in the least and enjoyable in places.

The easy-going, instrumental track "Mediterranean Export" is the high-point of the album for me with the clean-toned acoustic voicings that set the backdrop for the drifting melody line. Though not pioneering any new technical frontiers, this composition demonstrated a good feel and accessible melodies. "Decepticon" has an interesting and accessible groove theme that is interspersed with some other ideas that makes for a cool overall concept for this track. The funk track, "Moody", brings a new dimension to the album with its accessible groove. "Moody" is another track from the album that demonstrates some decent phrasing that is carefully selected and put together. "IOI Traffic" wraps up the effort with another fusion groove that is highlighted with Angelucci's selective guitar voicings and phrasings.

Overall, the album has some tracks that are of some interest and others that are decent, mellow listening material. Other tracks seem to miss their target in my ear. The fusion groove tracks are the forte of the album (and occur later in the album).

And, a final note for the guitarists in the listening audience... though there is arguably some decent listening material and polished playing on this effort from Angelucci, the guitar playing is neither speed-laden, ground-breaking, eye-widening with mastery of modern techniques, or world class caliber (for those of you who are discriminating in these regard). The effort is centered more on applying technique deployed for the purpose of musicality and compositionregards of Angelucci's style. Still, there may be some and playing that may interest guitarists that enjoy continuity, selective phrasing, and proportion.

~ Christopher Ruel ~ www.ChrisRuel.com ~ Chris@ChrisRuel.com ~ Chris Ruel's Monthly Spotlight

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