Derek Sherinian - Oceana

Derek Sherinian's new cd "Oceana" is the seventh solo cd from the former Dream Theater member who is now part of Rockgig faves: Black Country Communion. With all the increased publicity around BCC this should be the perfect time to release "Oceana"to the world.

I had enjoyed the 2006 release "Blood Of The Snake" and with the stellar cast of "Oceana" including Steve Lukather ,fellow BCC member Joe Bonamassa, Doug Aldrich, Steve Stevens, Tony Mcalpine and Simon Phillips this was a cd to look forward to.

With a rhythm team of Simon Phillips (who co-produced the cd with Derek) on drums and Jimmy Johnson on bass (Tony Franklin guests on two tracks) laying down an awesome groove Derek weaves his magic adding a real depth to all the tracks.

What stands out on the cd is that if you listened to it without knowing who was playing on it you would believe it was a guitarist's solo cd.

Derek shines on all of it but he doesn't overpower it with keyboard swathes all over it. The sound is guitar led which makes Derek's parts stand out more. Very clever.

Nothing is too complicated and the cd washes over you and should appeal to all. I've lived with it for 3 weeks now and each time you pick up a new best part and bits you have missed before.

All the guitarists shine and it's difficult to pick a favourite but I will. Steve Lukather shines on 3 tracks "Mulholland", "Euphoria" and "Seven Sins"which all sound like they could have come from his solo work with some excellent solo's. Doug Aldrich excels on the heavy stomping groove of  "El Camino Diablo" with probably the only real shredding solo on the cd. The chemistry with his BCC bandmate Joe Bonamassa shows on "I Heard That" which Joe does a great Steve Lukather impression which again shows his amazing versatility. "Ghost Runner" has Steve Stevens on guitar and there is some superb trading of solo's with Derek.

So a superb cd which should see Derek's name brought to the fore and not just as the keyboard player from BCC. 

Oceana is released on Monday the 5th of September on the Music Theories Recordings via the Mascot Label Group.

Go buy it you won't be disappointed.

ME

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