A deviation for the Journey guitarist Neal Schon this time around, with the lush, and ambient instrumental album ‘Beyond The Thunder’.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Neal Schon
ALBUM: Beyond The Thunder
LABEL: Higher Octave
SERIAL: HOMCD 7073
YEAR: 1995
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Neal Schon – all guitars * Jonathan Cain – keyboards
Additional Musicians: Billy Peterson, Tony Saunders – bass * Tommy Bradford, Steve Smith – drums * Chepito Areas, Michael Carabello, John Hernandez – percussion
TRACK LISTING: 01 Big Moon * 02 Bandalero * 03 Cool Breeze * 04 Zanzibar * 05 Send Me An Angel * 06 Boulevard Of Dreams * 07 Espanique * 08 Caribbean Blue * 09 Someone’s Watching Over Me/Iguassa Fa * 10 Deep Forest * 11 Call Of The Wild
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Neal Schon Background
A deviation for the Journey guitarist Neal Schon this time around, with the lush, and ambient instrumental album ‘Beyond The Thunder’.
Released on the mainly New Age-ish type label Higher Octave, it was a chance for Schon to show his wares in a different setting,. It was less hard rock, but more in the vein of atmospheric guitar passages. There’s a similarity to the work done by Starship‘s Craig Chaquico for the same label a few years earlier.
There is a heavy Spanish/Latin feel to ‘Beyond The Thunder’ which lends this album to being a good companion piece around the dinner table. And with Jonathan Cain’s trademark synth backdrop, the album is awash with rich harmonies.
Apart from that Spanish/Latin inflection, ‘Beyond The Thunder’ also crosses the boundaries of World Music and Jazz. Though to be honest, there is less of the latter to my way of hearing.
The Songs
Neal’s work on the album is both breathtaking and memorable. Not for the fact that he’s letting a guitar solo fly off the handle at a hundred miles an hour. Listen to the tremendous solo on ‘Send Me An Angel’ as an example.
But it’s more about the understated approach taken on tracks such as the swelvt ‘Bandalero’, or the breezy syncopated approach of ‘Espanique’. ‘Big Moon’ the opener, has hints of his ‘Late Nite’ era, and to a lesser extent so does ‘Boulevard Of Dreams’.
The World Music theme rears its head on the ambient ‘Someones Watching Over Me (Iguassa Falls)’. Then there’s the soundtrack oriented ‘Call Of The Wild’. Gotta love the acoustic picking of ‘Deep Forest’ which sings out over the top of some lush string arrangements.
In Summary
Since this time, Neal has released an assortment of solo albums along these lines, and it makes for a good contrast from his current work with Journey.
There are releases such as the 2CD set from 1997 ‘Electric World’. Plus the more recent ‘Piranha Blues’ and 2001’s excellent ‘Voices’. Without doubt this music from one of rock’s most important guitar figure-heads.
Neal Schon on Video
Click to go to YTM album page.
