Search - Chad Wackerman :: Scream

Soaring Melodies, Strong Composition, Phenomonal Drumming

phatboy79 | Sydney, Australia | 11/01/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well i think the title sums it up, i have been a fan of the great chad wackerman, since i heard allan holdsworths "SAND" record, and thusly purchased chad's 2 solo albums, but with his 3rd album SCREAM he departed from his "holdsworth band mates", for a whole new line-up of relativly unknows, so i was a little unsure of how this seachange of players would affect the new album....suffice to say it is a refreshing change, the album has some beautiful compositions on it, the band as a whole sounds incredible, and wackermans drumming as per usual is phenomonal, without being overbearing, he let's each of his new cohorts shine in their own way, all players handeling the challenging wackerman compositions with the 5 star class they deserve, the album has a very live feel to it, and i have been fortunate enough to see this this band live on several occasions, and it's a treat everytime, several times they have played a "improv" piece which just goes to show how tight this new band is, "scream" also includes an improv type piece....giving you an idea of what to expect when seeing this band live......in summery Soaring Melodies, Strong Composition, Phenomonal Drummingalso the album production and engineering is also outstanding, the best way to describe it is a rich, true representation of the band, pushing it to the limit, and still having a sensitive side.wackerman has worked out the difficult formula of writing amazing tunes, playing drums incredibly and finding fresh inventive sidemen upto the task of contributing to his solo album, which is a strange thing to call it, as this album sounds like a team effort.this new cd by chad wackerman would be a highly welcome addition to anyone's collection who is a fan of good music/played extremly well."

Where's the spice?

D. Parsley | Portsmouth, OH United States | 03/30/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Having followed Chad Wackerman's career since his days with Zappa, and having seen him perform with Allan Holdsworth in the 80's, I expected a lot more from this disc. Wackerman continues to be among the finest drummers I've heard, but I found the music on this CD to be snooze-inducing. There was just not enough rhythmic variation and dynamic contrast for me, at least not at the time of my listening. All the musicians performed well and I'm sure I would be hard-pressed to duplicate their performance. However, the compositions just seem to be pedestrian and lackluster. I will continue to check out Wackerman's work in the future, though."