Review of T.D. Clark's "Personalities" and "Perspective"

I just made a discovery. Discoveries like this are always special as my quest for great and innovative guitar spans 3 decades. Surfing the web one day looking for a new virtuoso guitar player that I may not have heard led me to T. D. Clark's webpage which also led me to Guitar 9, a favorite site to check out the immense array of guitar talent. That led me to some sound clips of T. D.'s releases, "Personalities" and "Perspective". I must begin by saying that I was taken aback with what I heard and I immediately placed my order for both CDs directly from T.D. When they arrived, my anticipation was rewarded with guitar playing that surpassed the highlights I heard on the web. With that said, I want to go more in depth into the tracks on both CDs beginning with "Personalities."

As soon as I heard the first track, "Emerald Skies", I knew I was going to be in for a treat. T.D. shows right off that he's got a great sense of melody in his soloing and that he never bores with repetition. The songs always go someplace in theme and of course on the fretboard as well. "Parallel Lines" wasted no time in showing me that T.D. is a monster shredder with incredible chops without losing that sense of good melody. The soloing in this one nearly set my teeth on edge with its blinding speed and intensity. Rocking hard all the way through with killer soloing is the T.D. that I found to be my favorite, but not to worry, I soon found out that this guy can do it all. "At the River's Edge" was short but a nice change of pace as T.D. treated me to a nice flowing (no pun intended) acoustic piece that was uplifting and cheerful. Shifting gears now, I remember seeing some obscure movie on TV years ago where some kid in the film in a future setting was asked what his favorite style of music was and he said "country metal". I remember thinking, "hmmm..... that might be interesting." Well, ladies and gentlemen, the future is here and T.D. ushered it in with "Metallic Hoe Down". Now I know what country metal sounds like and T.D. can do it with a flair. Foot stomping rhythms and more of that blistering soloing brought a grin to my face. I'd like to hear more of that in the future. Next with "Game Show", T.D. does another great job on a mid tempo rocker with some precise and melodic solos. Remember my saying that T.D. can handle it all? The next track shows this as T.D. tackles flamenco with ease and a smooth style on "El Rio de Tiempo". What a delight this one is with a nice horn solo thrown in for good measure. Next its time to rock again on "Cincinnati" as T.D. gets moving on this Satriani-esque piece that is packed with soloing throughout that is always moving and shows us T.D's extensive repertoire. An excellent track I must say. "Tears" is a short one that showcases Dave on bass in a Stu Hamm vein. Following is the ballad type track called "Haunting" that gives T.D. the opportunity to slow things down a bit and play some beautiful lines that really are "haunting". "April" is another short piece with T.D. alone on acoustic that is almost lullaby in quality. Very nice. "The Duel" finishes the CD in a fiery display of guitar pyrotechnics between T.D. and Ryan Nash as they trade off solos that amaze and inspire. A perfect ending in my opinion to a great instrumental guitar CD that covers a lot of ground and never gets boring. But the fun doesn't stop here as I move on to "Perspective". "Perspective" starts off much like "Personalities" did with the track "Avalanche" that is a great mid tempo rocker similar to "Emerald Skies" and sets the stage for another great CD of virtuoso guitar. OK, next is "The Fugitive". You had better hold onto something when you listen to this, because on this one T.D. puts his playing into overdrive with a killer opening theme that evolves into a continuous driving melody that will have you headbanging in no time flat while T.D. cranks out lightning fast runs and sweeps that hit you from every angle. OK, I admit again that this is my favorite type of song by T.D., one that knocks you flat with incredible energy, sledgehammer riffing played uptempo and incendiary soloing all over the place. Now after that tour de force, T.D. again offers us a change of pace with the nice acoustic piece "12 String Thing" that is smooth all the way on the 12 string guitar. T.D. utilizes a vocalist named John Yeager on the next track, called "Runaround" which is a nice easy rocker, but not one of my favorite tracks. I guess T.D. has spoiled me with his instrumental prowess so that I'm constantly wanting to hear the guitar alone although he does throw in a very nice solo near the end. "Sunrise" is another one that has a slight Satriani flavor to it from the "Surfing" and "Flying" period although T.D. makes it his own. As usual, good solid soloing throughout with great melody without becoming overly flashy. Near the end, the Satch sound gets to be a little more evident and we know from the liner notes that T.D. likes Satch. The next track, "Mary Love" features Yeager on vocals again and although its a little laid back, T.D. plays a nice tasty solo in it. Next track is "Spiked". Oh yeah, back to some unadulterated shredding! Maybe I missed it on the credits in the booklet, but I believe I heard a little hot soloing on this track by Michael Angelo as well. Hard to mistake his rapid fire delivery so this one is a pure delight to hear T.D. and Michael (assuming I'm right) trading off mind blowing runs. "Still Waters" is next and is a laid back instrumental piece that allows T.D. to play some beautifully fluid and melodic lines that will stay in your head long after you've heard it. Now comes another vocal track titled "If That's what it Takes". On this one, John Yeager is joined on vocals by Jeremy Sparta and T.D. opens the track with a killer solo that gives way to hard rocking riffs and great vocal deliveries by both singers. When its time for T.D. to solo, he rips into it with controlled but reckless abandon showing us the blinding speed that he's capable of at a moment's notice. He throws in a little wah wah to boot to spice things up and finishes with a flourish. Next one is "Red Tide" which shows that T.D. is not about to slow down after that last hard rocker as this one put another huge grin on my face. T.D. is rocking hard all the way through with the intensity of the soloing gradually building to a mind boggling pace with arpeggios being thrown at me at breakneck speed. Man, can this guy play or what? OK, now its time for a little change of pace and back to an easy vocal track before T.D. closes the CD with some fireworks. Yeager handles the vocals again on "Flying Away" and its a short track and again, not one of my favorites, but good quality nevertheless. Time now for the final track and some more incredible soloing by T.D. You know from the first few seconds on this one that T.D. is going to pull out all the stops on this shredfest called "Snake Eyes". A mean sounding theme gives the perfect vehicle for T.D. to throw in insane soloing that even includes a little acoustic passage. But don't worry, there's enough high octane speed runs and sweeps to fry your brain before its all over.

What a great way to end the CD with T.D. playing in my favorite style, no holds barred shredding at its best. It was a real pleasure to listen to T.D. for the first time on these two releases and I can't get enough of them after many many subsequent listens. T.D. deserves to be recognized in the ranks of guys like Satch, Vai, Malmsteen, Gilbert and many more because he's every bit as good as any of the aforementioned and in some ways better because he mixes it up well and can handle any style with perfection. I know I've beaten a dead horse with this, but I love T.D's hard rocking shred style the best and hope that the next one is even more intense than these two have been. Whaddya say T.D.?

CHUCK KIRBY June 25, 2002