Travelling Through Time And Space With Guitarist Todd Grubbs

Todd Grubbs
Time, Space And The Electric
Grubbworm Music

Review by Nightwatcher

On his 4th album, 'Time, Space And The Electric', Tampa, Florida based guitarist Todd Grubbs has achieved a feat which has become increasingly rare.That is, creating an instrumental guitar album that is not only technically and sonically impressive, but melodic enough to capture the interest of non musicians as well. Straddling the middle ground between virtuoso and song oriented compositions, this has resulted in an album that can be appreciated on several different levels, one which is one of the most pleasant surprises of 2008.

Combining influences from some of the greats, such as Frank Zappa, Jeff Beck, Uli Jon Roth, Michael Schenker, Steve Vai and Frank Marino, Grubbs has learned the art of restraint. Lest one by scared off by bad memories of the worst of 80's shred wankery, this is certainly not one of those albums. Although technically impressive, the guitarist never overplays, always serving the composition as a whole. It's a rare musician who can pull this off, with the tendency being to show all that one can do, but this is no ordinary player.

For the album Grubbs has corralled an impressive list of exemplary, well respected guest artists, including keyboardist Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater, Alice Cooper), former Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland, John Wesley( Porcupine Tree), Ralph Santolla (Obituary, Iced Earth), Mark Prator (Iced Earth), Sean Malone (Gordian Knot), Patrick Bettison (Acoustic Alchemy) and last but not certainly not least, keyboard legend Don Preston of Frank Zappa & The Mothers, all of whom blend into the surrounding sonic landscape seamlessly, without being too obtrusive, their contributions adding to the overall scope of the compositions rather than dominating them.

If you've been looking for an album featuring hot guitar work that's at the same time extremely tasteful, look no further than 'Time, Space And The Electric'. More melodic than the majority of Vai, yet at the same time exponentially more experimental than players like Joe Satriani, Todd Grubbs has fashioned a collection of material which will take one to a higher plane, and will undoubtedly rank amongst the top guitar oriented albums of the year. http://www.toddgrubbs.com/ http://www.myspace.com/toddgrubbs