Guitar Therapy Live Reviews

• Good as Guinness

  
  By A339IE87G18AJ1 on 2006-06-27
  Keneally and crew have been consistently creating groundbreaking music since the nineties and this release continues that tradition. This live disc is raw, intense, and loaded with jaw-dropping rips that may push guitarists to practice more or give up... but all should agree that the guitar work is outstanding. A good overview of music is presented so this would be a good introduction for the novice, however, be advised that the vocals are not strong but fitting for this type of music.
  
  Mike is a severely underrated musician and so is his current band. Rick Musallam is the ideal complementary guitarist, Joe Travers is a monster drummer, and the bass playing of Bryan Beller is incredible. In fact, "Seven Percent Grade" which appears on Beller's solo record is one of the highlights of the disc. As for the recording, it sounds great with good separation of the guitars and the bass and drums sit well in the mix.
  
  A special edition two-disc CD/DVD version is available through Keneally's website that is worth the extra cost. The DVD is approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes and contains all the songs on the CD plus: "Tranquillado", "Choosing to Drown", "Self n Other", "Hello, Hello", "Splane", "Frozen Beef", a cover of Zeppelin's "The Immigrant Song", "The Cowlogy 1, 2, 3", and "Own". The audio options are DD 5.1 or stereo (both sound great) and there is a commentary track by all the band members. At times, the video is grainy and alternates from full screen to letterbox but the editing is well done. Highly recommended!
  
  
  

• Hitting Their Stride!

  
  By A6YVU5LYD62WQ on 2007-11-04
  This quartet kicks things off with the difficult instrumental Quimby, a tune most rock bands wouldn't or couldn't attempt to pull off. The second tune Panda is a perfect example of Keneally's pop songwriting talent. This catchy song has an infectious groove, great melody,bridge, and a killer guitar solo. This rendition blows the studio version out of the water! The same goes for the extended instrumental, Hum. I barely even noticed this piece on the studio album Nonkertompf,an album of 30 short pieces. On Guitar Therapy Live it's the album's centerpiece extended to 11 glorious minutes of guitar mayhem! Another great tune is the mellow track Machupicchu. Keneally is not the strongest vocalist in a live situation but he sounds great on this piece! I'm also glad he included Top Of Stove Melting. This is one of many great songs from his ...Dust Speck album. Bassist Bryan Beller's instrumental composition Seven Percent Grade features the other great guitarist in this band, Rick Musallam. This cd along with all of Mike's releases is recommended to musical maximalists who enjoy complex eccentricities,strong melodies, and aggressive guitar playing. If you're tired of wading through the endless stream of mediocre,uninspired,generic,derivative pop/rock/jam music of the 21st century, do yourself a favor and buy a Keneally cd. This live album or his recently re-issued early albums Hat, and Boil That Dust Speck will keep you listening for years. Since another reviewer mentioned the GTL Special Edition, a few comments are in order. I own this myself and the DVD production definitely deserves some criticism. Although I was delighted with the inspired performance and additional music, I was extremely disappointed with the video quality which is very poor if you have a large screen TV. The lighting is also terribly inadequate. It was filmed at The Baked Patato, a small dingy club in Hollywood. Not a very colorful event. More of a murky brown haze. The audio quality is excellent. I was expecting a professional quality video production when I ordered this so now you know what to expect if you decide to shell out 30 bucks plus shipping. 5 stars for the cd, 3 for the DVD. Get the cd, pop it in your car stereo and turn it up!
  
  

• Best Yet

  
  By AZSHTUR42FN1V on 2007-01-09
  Keneally just keeps getting better. Zappa had such an influence on him and it shows in the variety of styles that Keneally plays.
  
  

• Great introduction to a huge talent

  
  By A1HXE7E3XDQFGP on 2009-05-23
  I only recently learned about Mike Keneally, so I took a chance and ordered this disk. After many listenings I'm a total fan. As others have noted, Keneally is a killer guitarist, but there's more -- he's a fine, versatile, and highly original composer. His work gets better with repeated hearing, which is the sign of really good music. This disk seems to have a good sampling of his work, the immediacy of the live performance and the intimacy of the small clubs is captured really well, and the band is superb. I've found it be a great introduction to this huge talent.
  
  I stumbled across Keneally because of references on Zappa sites -- Keneally was Zappa's last "stunt guitarist" -- so it's interesting to compare him to Zappa. His music does carry some genetic material from Zappa's, but he very much has his own musical voice. He also seems to be a totally different person with a very different stance to the world -- where Zappa was sardonic and satirical, and clearly possessed of a gigantic ego, Keneally is earnest and a bit vulnerable. I've seen him described as very nice, which is the last adjective you'd think to apply to FZ. If you kind of like Zappa's music but really disliked his persona, you'll find Keneally very appealing. If you love Zappa for the sneering satire but don't think much of his music, you probably won't like Keneally. If you like challenging but rewarding music, Keneally may be your guy.
  
  

• Mike Keneally - Outstanding Live Album

  
  By AKGF27HN0OF19 on 2007-07-08
  This album is a bit special for me since Mike decided to use my introduction of the band at ProgDay 2004 as the beginning of the album. Only one track from that show was used here, but I can attest that Mike and his band were smoking that day and it was great to actually see live. Keneally has assembled a crack crew of musicians for his current band. Joe Travers on drums, Bryan Beller on bass, and Rick Musallam on guitar all provide the perfect accomniment for Keneallys brand of musical mayhem. As you can imagine with two guitarists this album is a shred fest at times as both Keneally and Musallam tear it up over and over throughout the disc. Keneally's is also an underated keyboard player which is also featured on several tracks. This live disc is probably more straight ahead rock oriented than many of Keneally's rather diverse studio albums, but it really plays to the band's strengths. Some of this stuff could almost be called punk rock at times although most punkers could not begin to even approach this level of talent. Prog rock and musical weirdness are also well represented here and the album also includes a track from Bryan Beller's solo album. If you have never picked up a Keneally disc, but are curious about him, this would be a great place to start. It gives a nice overview of the man's many talents.
  
  

• Dancing
• Boil That Dust Speck (Remastered)
• Scambot 1
• Wine And Pickles
• Universe Will Provide