Brian Daniels – Symphonic Guitar

Brian Daniels
Symphonic Guitar
1993 (no label)
Granite City, Illinois, USA

Side 1:

1. Lost and Found
2. Out of the Valley
3. Light in My Life

Side 2:

1. Beginnings
2. Redeemed
3. Bach’s Boree from Suite in E-Minor

With a title like Symphonic Guitar, and the “No Keyboards” statement on the cover, you might expect this to be a shred guitar instrumental album. It kind of is, but not really. The songs are all instrumental, with plenty complicated finger movements. Even some distorted guitar here and there. But Daniels skips the “play a million notes just to show off my speed” feeling of instrumental shred albums for a more layered, even ambient, feel to his songs. He is showing off a different set of skills than “blazing solo.” But, like almost all instrumental guitar Christian albums of the time, Daniels includes scripture verses for every song and the Bach quote about how music glorifies God. If you like Steve Vai or Joe Satriani, you will probably like this – but it is different than what you get with those two.