Rough Edge: Various Artists: "Warmth in the Wilderness: A Tribute to Jason Becker" CD Review

VARIOUS ARTISTS

"Warmth in the Wilderness: A Tribute to Jason Becker" (Lion; 2001)

This two-disc set is a must-have in any guitar fan's collection for a couple of reasons:

1) The artists who appear hereon are like a partial who's-who of the greatest guitar players in the world;

2) All proceeds for the CD go to the family of Jason Becker, a kick-ass guitarist himself, who has been battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease, since he was diagnosed back in 1989.

There's really not much I can say about this CD that isn't said by the tracklisting (posted below). With guitarists ranging from the legendary Vinnie Moore, Paul Nelson and Jeff Pilson and Marty Friedman to newer names such as the incredible Torben Enevoldsen, "Warmth in the Wilderness" has a little something for every guitar fan - be it hard-rocking vocal tunes (such as the first track, "A Little Ain't Enough," a dead-on cover of the David Lee Roth tune) or jazzy little blues numbers (such as "Jasin Street," based on a tune originally written by Louis Armstrong). Most of the tracks are covers of songs that Becker himself wrote, either individually or with others like David Lee Roth, but all of the tracks are impressive and that says a lot when you've got a double-CD set running almost 160 minutes.

Even without the great cause behind it, "Warmth in the Wilderness" is an incredible, one-of-a-kind collection of guitar virtuosos in action.

A second, 2-disc collection was released in 2002 and is also available.

Tracklisting:
CD 1
Stormwind – A little Ain’t Enough
Torben Enevoldsen – Altitudes
Ron Keel’s Iron Horse featuring Robert Marcello – Eleven Blue Egyptians
Cosmosquad feat. Jeff Kollman, Vinnie Moore, Chris Poland, Jeff Watson, Steve Morse - Jam for Jason
David Martone – Higher
PUA feat. Carina Alfie & Linda McDonald of Phantom Blue – Becker Ola
Rolf Munkes’ Empire – Dogtown Shuffle
Evolution – Go Off
Mark Boals & Lars Eric Mattsson – Hammerhead Shark
Hit The Ground Runnin’ – Jasin Street
Tony Baena – If You Have to Shoot…
Josephine of Phantom Blue – Baby’s on Fire
Jeff Scheetz – Sensible Shoes
Cyril Achard – ESP
Phi Ansari Yaan-Zek & Lale Larson – Air

CD 2.
Project Alcazar – Opus Pocus
Eric Sands with David Ragsdale – Mandy’s Little Throbbing Heart
Paul Nelson – Blue
May Lian – It’s Showtime
Jeff Pilson – Becker’s Bolero
Mattias IA Eklund – Lydia’s House
All the Usual Suspects – Drop in the Bucket
Rob Johnson – Forcefield
Mistheria with Rick Renstrom – Urmila
Marty Friedman – Black Stallion Jam
Paul Gilbert – Hawking
Anders Johansson – Primal
Eric Zimmermann – Rain
Mike Campese – Concerto
Lars Eric Mattsson, Alex Masi, Pamme, Robin McAuley- Tell the Truth
Torben Enevoldsen, James Byrd, Patrick Rondat, Roh Thal, Mike Chlasciak, Sami Asp, Lars Eric Mattsson – Outro Jam

For more information, check out http://www.jasonbecker.com.

Rating Guide:

A classic. This record will kick your ass.

Killer. Not a classic but it will rock your world.

So-so. You've heard better.

Pretty bad. Might make a nice coaster.

Self explanatory. Just the sight of the cover makes you wanna hurl.

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