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Geno White: Standing in Stereo (CD, 34:32) Lolo Records LOLO 012-2, 1996
Hired Gun Marketing
730 East Elm Street
Conshohocken, PA 19428

Who is Geno White, you ask?  Well, that’s what I asked as well when I
received his 1996 instrumental guitar showcase Standing in Stereo for
review.  However, after a few listenings, I was surprised that EVERYONE
doesn’t know who this fellow is – White is an A-list guitarist with a sound
very reminiscent of Lifeson and Hendrix, and at the same time manages to
avoid the all to popular pitfall of noodling for noodling’s sake.
Standing in Stereo is not just another pointless collection of guitar
solos, it is a collection of well-composed SONGS with guitar being the lead
instrument.

The CD kicks off with the multi-track sounding attack of “Temptations of
Electric,” a 2-minute warm-up piece that has White creating a layered guitar
sound (a la Jimmy Page) peppered with feedback and other guitar trimmings.
“Temptations” really isn’t a SONG per se, this sounds more like White
revving up to let loose on the rest of the CD.  And let loose he does with
the second track “Army of the Gone,” which along with “Skin Risk” sounds
very much like one of Rush’s signature instrumental pieces (“YYZ” and “Leave
That Thing Alone” come to mind). The drumming of Chick Ragan helps to give
the Rush comparison a little more credibility, as he does a great job laying
out complex beats for White to jam on top of.  Ragan also gets a groovy
Mitch Mitchell vibe going on “Houdini Street” and “Lovechoke,” allowing lead
man White to absolutely assault these tracks with mind-blowing Hendrix-like
leads.  This, my friends, is “cajones-out” rock and roll!

There’s only a few blunders on Standing in Stereo - the
blues-flavored “Angel of Stereo” is a bit too slow and plodding and really
never gets going.  “Riverwide” and “Watertoys” are solo tracks by White and
Ragan respectively, and frankly they both sound a bit like 2 minutes of
dudes practicing in their basements.  “Watertoys” actually does show a bit
of promise with Ragan’s arrhythmic drumming, but the song really never takes
off and ends before it has a chance to get started.  However, other than
those minor complaints Standing in Stereo delivers the guitar-laden
goods in spades.

One of the reasons the CD works so well is White resists the temptation to
stretch songs out past 4 or so minutes in length, and didn’t feel the need
to fill the CD with 70+ minutes of music.  The CD clocks in at a concise 35
minutes, and only one track breaches the 5-minute barrier (“Wasabi” at
5:05).  The length of the CD and its tracks give ample space for White and
his band to get across their musical ideas – any longer and White would’ve
risked become tedious.  All said, Standing in Stereo is an excellent
collection of guitar-based songs, with some serious jammin’ from a guy who
really knows his way around the fret board and is deserved of much more
recognition than he’s enjoyed.

- Michael Askounes (michael@gscyclone.com)

CREDITS:
Geno White: Guitar
Chick Ragan: Drums
Hansford Rowe: Bass
Harvey Mandel: Guitar
Bon Lozaga: Guitar

TRACKLIST:
1. Temptations of Electric (2:18)
2. Army of the Gone (4:15)
3. Dirty Birdie (3:37)
4. Houdini Street (4:23)
5. Angel of Stereo (4:09)
6. Riverwide (1:56)
7. Watertoys (1:49)
8. Skin Risk (3:27)
9. Lovechoke (3:18)
10. Wasabi (5:05)



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