{"id":38702,"date":"2014-03-25T07:56:33","date_gmt":"2014-03-25T12:56:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=38702"},"modified":"2014-03-25T07:56:33","modified_gmt":"2014-03-25T12:56:33","slug":"mark-schuster-unstable-melodics-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/mark-schuster-unstable-melodics-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Schuster | Unstable Melodics<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Joe Mis<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"MarkThings get better with age, and Mark Schuster’s latest instrumental release Unstable Melodics<\/em> is proof. The Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist has followed up on his 2010 release Losing Faith<\/em> with a fiery and passionate instrumental release that cements his reputation as a complete musician. Mark not only writes complete songs (not just sticking cool riffs together and moving on as some do) and plays all instruments, but he also handles all of the engineering, mixing, and production tasks. As Losing Faith demonstrated, Mark can also sing \u2013 but for this release he decided to simply focus on the music much as he did on his first release, 2005’s Monster Me<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Starting his musical career as a drummer and moving on to the guitar, Schuster dabbled in almost every genre from classical to metal, finally setting his sights on good old fashioned hard rock. There is no doubt that Mark is a technically exceptional guitarist, delivering big hooks and chugging rhythm lines that run the gamut from soft and melodic acoustic riffs to ultra heavy distorted power chords. His leads are sometimes calm and sometimes aggressive, but no matter which Schuster exhibits a deft and delicate touch never. His skills as a bassist, drummer, and keyboard player are also obvious \u2013 and the mix of this small independent album rivals or exceeds that of many of the big studios.<\/p>\n

\u201cKick The Tires And Light The Fires\u201d lives up to its name. Massive booming bass and spiraling guitars launch the album in a very metal way. Gritty guitar work and a slick rhythm line show that Mark is very serious about his music, and he pulls no punches while laying down this showcase track. \u201cCome Hell Or High Water\u201d has a bit of an old school thrash feel to it \u2013 coupled with a Satriani-style rhythm, but chugging bass leads the way despite some huge, catchy lead hooks. Everything just works perfectly on the fluid ballad \u201cLove Will Find A Way\u201d as rolling bass blends with layered guitar. Mark’s overall musical sense extends down even to the drum programming and keyboard textures, and he exhibits a deft and delicate touch on this emotional piece. The lead guitar work on this particular track is the finest on the release. The hard and heavy \u201cA Little Jiggy Wiggy\u201d is a mishmash of many influences \u2013 everything from Van Halen to Satriani to Michael Schenker to Wolf Hoffmann \u2013 all delivered flawlessly.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll In Your Head\u201d is a sweeping, flowing track driven by bass and drums. The blues tinged lead guitars float over a twisting and spiraling rhythm line that is constantly evolving and seems to build in intensity as the song develops. \u201cDisconnecting\u201d lives up to its title as the music slams on the brakes and becomes mostly classical style acoustic guitars and keys, leaps back into the electrics at mid-track, and journeys back to acoustic at the fade. \u201cAlways By Your Side\u201d is lighter, upbeat progressive rocker that carries the listener away to a peaceful place before the the aggressive and bouncy \u201cWhat The Funk?\u201d brings on a smile of a different sort \u2013 particularly to fans of the bass. \u201cSiren\u201d is a very fluid progressive style rocker, and the bass work here is truly exceptional. \u201cHey, Bring It Over Here!\u201d is a party rocker if there ever was one \u2013 Joe Satriani meets Helix \u2013 and a great way to close out a fine album.<\/p>\n

If there is one guy out there who is the epitome of melodic hard rock, it has to be Mark Schuster. He is not all bluster and fire \u2013 the discerning ear will pick up the enthusiasm and raw emotion that has gone into this album. Mark is a true artist, and his guitars speak volumes. Anyone with a love of rock guitar will enjoy Unstable Melodics<\/em> \u2013 quite possibly the finest all-instrumental independent release of the last two decades.<\/p>\n

Genre: Instrumental Hard Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nMark Schuster (all instruments)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tKick the Tires and Light the Fires
\n2.\tCome Hell Or High Water
\n3.\tLove Will Find A Way
\n4.\tA Little Jiggy Wiggy
\n5.\tAll In Your Head
\n6.\tDisconnecting
\n7.\tAlways By Your Side
\n8.\tWhat the Funk?
\n9.\tSiren
\n10.\tHey, Bring It Over Here!<\/p>\n

Label: Independent<\/p>\n

Website: www.markbschuster.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 9.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Joe Mis – Senior Columnist — Things get better with age, and Mark Schuster’s latest instrumental release Unstable Melodics is proof. The Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist has followed up on his 2010 release Losing Faith with […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":38703,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[2317,9013,9011,9012],"class_list":{"0":"post-38702","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-cd-review","9":"tag-instrumental-hard-rock","10":"tag-mark-schuster","11":"tag-unstable-melodics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38702\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}