Ah Via Musicom

Loved it. Eric can riff.

What's 2 say about Mr Johnson, he's 1 of the GR8est gtrest ever!!

Having seen ERIC live and being very dissapointed, I agonized over buying this CD. Sorry I waited this long. I think that TONE is average at best, but this is a great CD. Now I understand the fuss about ERIC JOHNSON. His tone is almost violin like on some tracks and the instrumental compositions are 1st class. His playing is brilliant and stays away from cliche's. That often means eccentric and hard to listen too tones and stylings. Not on this, it is different but always a joy to listen too. Inspirational if you play the guitar yourself. Besides your jaw hitting your chest any number of times, this is very accessible guitar virtuosity. I felt that on TONE he was clever for cleverness sake. This is free of ego boosting trickery and concentrates on composition and content. His singing still leaves me cold, but is far less intrusive than on TONE.

A touchstone classic of guitar rock, Ah Via Musicom is still Eric Johnson’s best-known work, carried largely by the hit instrumental “Cliffs of Dover”, but by no means completely dependent upon it. Indeed, this entire album is very strong overall. Not so much a heavy shred fest like contemporaries such as Satriani or Malmstein, its focus is more on perfect, crystalline guitar tone and effortless melodies, which is quite refreshing in the genre. Each instrument has excellent separation in the mix. In fact, Steve Morse’s Coast to Coast has much resemblance in the same areas, so it’s perhaps the best comparison if you must have one. One big difference is the fact that Ah Via Musicom is not all instrumental, but about half the songs are just that— songs, with Eric singing. In some ways, this is the album’s weakness, as his voice is nothing special— not bad or out of tune, but not memorable on its own; and so, sometimes it seems to just get in the way of all those gorgeous guitar lines, as well as giving the album a more poppy feel. But that said, he is a fine lyricist, so that makes the vocal tracks quite forgivable, as well as enjoyable. In fact, there are stronger tracks on here even than “Cliffs of Dover”— “Trademark” and the pensive, jazzy closer “East Wes”, in particular. All-in-all, Ah Via Musicom is an essential guitar wizard’s album, whether you are a musician yourself or not.

I have been listening to this album on CD and digitally for thirty three years, now for the first time I heard it on vinyl and it was amazing. This is one of my favorite albums of all time so I know what solo or flurry of notes is coming next so it was a wonderful experience hearing on vinyl for the first time ever. Make sure you spend a little more for a real record player, these little suitcase players for $60 are cheap and sound like it. Be good to yourself.

Eric Johnson is a guitar virtuoso. He is mostly known for his proficiency on the electric guitar. His playing style would tend to put him in the category of guitar "shredder". Eric is not from the pure "shredder" school where a lot of the playing consists of running various muscial scales at blistering speed. I rate Eric's use of shredding as being more melodic and soulful. He uses it when it fits the context of the song or passage being played. In other words, he doesn't make his living shredding, but it is a tool he uses when appropriate. I would consider this CD to be his signature CD. Nice blend of instrumentals as well as vocal songs. His best known piece, "Cliffs of Dover" is outstanding. Kind of a blend of Jimi Hendrix meets Mozart. Beautiful classical sounding melody done on a searing guitar.

Great music

I love this very awesome album. This guy can really make a guitar sing. I place him up there with Eric Clapton, Justin Hayward (Moody Blues), Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), and David Gilmour (Pink Floyd). I wonder what kind of a show it would be if Eric Johnson and David Gilmour would put on and who would win. Personally I think it would be tie. Eric John is one of the best guitar players I have heard in a long time other than the ones I listen to mentioned above. He is very talented and knows how to make his guitar sing. This album is awesome, out of this world and is a must for all rock music fans and especially those who are into guitar music. This is the album to have!

One of Eric Johnson's best album. A mixture of instrumental and vocal songwriting music of EJ.

前から聞いてみたかったアルバム……凄く良かったです。エリックの素晴らしいテクニック＆ギタートーン……さすが!!

Having read and heard much of the talents of Eric Johnson despite not having heard much music by him until now, I decided to take the plunge with this album, mainly due to the renowned 'Cliffs of Dover' track included here. It's not hard to see what all the fuss is about, even just listening to that one track. A truly phenomenal, seemingly effortless grasp of fluid, often lightning-fast though eminently musical, predominantly blues-based guitar playing, bound to have any aspiring musician positively drooling at the prospect of acquiring such talent. In some ways it's a mystery that he isn't more famous: he certainly deserves to be on the basis of his guitar-playing abilities alone. I can think of quite a few players who enjoy a higher profile with only a fraction of Mr Johnson's ability. Somehow though, I suspect he prefers the relative anonymity and freedom it brings. This album from 1990 is very identifiable by the writing style and production values of the time, to anyone familiar with such fare. This is not to diminish in any way the musical content, which still has a very real power to totally captivate the listener. Eric Johnson employs many standard blues-based devices in his writing and playing, but does so in a way that sets him apart as a far more inventive and original artist. The music here covers everything from blues-rock through jazz-tinged, country and pop playing whilst always keeping a strong melodic thread present in everything he does and frequently highlighted with a truly staggering guitar-playing technique ; - think Joe Bonamassa with a broader and more melodic, less strict blues-based musical vision. The difference to my mind is that where Mr Bonamassa seemingly often employs his very impressive technique for that express purpose, with Eric Johnson the technique appears to serve the musical demands of the piece far more organically and thereby perhaps acquires a greater sense of musical purpose in the process. Overall, the music perhaps doesn't have the hard competitive edge so apparent in the playing of many more famous artists and is possibly all the better for it - I think that's a matter of taste for the listener to decide. In either case, I don't think you'd ever regret giving this album a listen and on far more than one occasion at that.

Bel disco, sound unico nel genere e nelle sonorità di Eric. L'unica (se si puó chiamare pecca) mi aspettavo un disco + longevi. Amazon impeccabile.

Very pleased to find this here. Arrived fast and perfect.