AL DI MEOLA/JOHN MCLAUGHLIN/PACO DE LUCIA

SATURDAY NIGHT IN SAN FRANCISCO

(Ear Music) 10/10

As far as iconic guitar albums go, this trio’s Friday Night In San Francisco live album from 1980 is up there with the best. It certainly was a huge seller and influenced countless guitarists around the world. Forty-odd years later - and unbeknownst to almost everyone - there was a recording made of the Saturday’s concert too and now Al Di Meola has overseen the follow-up album after wading through the original 16-track live tapes. It’s worth the wait - hearing these three master pickers in action is quite something, you feel you’re there as the playing and audience emit a lot of electricity. With five long tracks on ‘Friday’ the duration came in at 40 minutes, whereas here it’s nearly 50 minutes and all the tracks are different. The opening Splendid Sundance is indeed just that, with blazing rasqueado strums and singing high melodies. McLaughlin’s One Word is rich (low A notes resonate well) with nylon-string chords, blazing single notes and propulsive strumming. The rhythmically precise muted passages of Meola’s steel-string playing are exquisite on Trilogy Suite, as are his chords and blazing bursts of alternate picking. Lucia’s Monasterio de Sal is steeped in flamenco excellence with arpeggio and melodic passages that take one’s breath away. Thanks Al, this is a platinum certified sequel up there with Godfather Part 2, The Empire Strikes Back and Aliens! (JS)

can sing softly as well as belting out a rocker and the guitar solo is spine chilling. The blues groove of High Is Low is slinky with a rousing vocal delivery and rasping harmonica. A slow blues (think Peter Green) is a staple for many and Walter sure knows how to craft one; Waiting For The Dawn is nothing short of exquisite. Closer, Destiny is a beautiful 70s-esque soul song with his longest and most emotive soloing on the album. (JS)

Network, a band renowned for this approach, release their sixth studio album with Let’s Hear It For The King. This is very much upbeat groove music, perfect for long car journeys with big production values and strong guitar from Brion James (60 Seconds With...Q&A from Brion coming soon). Pretty Karma is a perfect opener; big drums, multilayered riffing guitars, insistent synth stabs and stacked vocals make for a memorable song. The Ghost Inside borders into hard rock with the guitardense arrangement - a good marriage of ’80s sensibilities with today’s cinematic production style. The punky funk of Starlight is infectious, some tasty lead licks too. The solo on Supernova is one of the best on the album. (JS)