Edward Box - Moonfudge

Moonfudge is the eagerly anticipated follow-up to the 2003 release Plectrumhead by this gifted British guitar star. Four of the tracks are ideas and riffs Edward first created way back in the early to middle 90’s while the other six are new ideas written between January 2004 and September 2005. The album was recorded between March and October of 2005 with the help of Neil Lough on bass and ‘Wild‘ Mick Robson on drums.

Edward, who is a confessed Joe Satriani fan, must have an even higher opinion of the prodigious production over the years by the shiny domed wizard after enduring that writing process because he has said: ‘It was a struggle to find inspiration and come up with new instrumental material, hence the gap between this and Plectrumhead. Overall I think it has turned out quite well and has a tighter and more compact sound and I feel it is a worthy follow-up and I know fans of quality guitar music will enjoy it‘. The time and effort spent on this project is indeed evident and yes Edward, they will enjoy it.

The music displays maturity and confidence. The sound is indeed tight and compact, a well recorded excellent guitar tone throughout with an occasional use of a very warm compressed solo guitar sound that shows up in many of the pieces. Methinks Edward has added Andy Timmons to the long list of varied influences he wears so obviously on his sleeve because there are a plethora of tastily phrased and immaculately performed melodies and solo sequences on this release that are indeed very reminiscent of the talented Mr. T’s superb style. There are many elements of George Lynch’s sinewy yet melodic style interspersed throughout this work as well. Edward offers up a generally fluid performance, highlighted with a few flurries of high speed technique, some with a hint of a neo-classical bent. Obviously very capable of shredding in this style, Mr. Box maturely chooses to use this speed and technique sparingly resulting in a greater dynamic impact. It forms a very small part of his impressive musical palette.

Jack In The Box Immediately displays that particular Timmons like quality with a very tasty riff and some beautifully phrased solo passages. An outstanding opening track

Welcome to The Grindhouse is an up tempo Schenker like riff that introduces the warm compressed guitar solo sound and Lynch like motifs that recur on several of the other solos on the album.

Axis of Evil Maintains the up tempo vibe of the first two tracks with an excellent heavy Priest like riff and a solo with parts that display a melodic Satch like vocal quality and other sections that have neo-classical written all over them.

Hourglass Is the first of the old riffs from back in ’92, and this one slows things down a little with a superb, once again Satch like melody and hook. Great tune; makes one wonder why Edward would leave a beauty like this in the bag for so long.

Stanton’s Stomp is a tune from Edward’s stint in the band Arch Stanton. The tune is an excellent and catchy Hendrix like riff with Edwards soaring guitar lines replacing the vocal melodies from what must have originally been a vocal tune.

Trailblazer another tune from the early 90’s has a riff somewhat similar to a certain very famous UFO tune and indeed the excellent solo passages are also at times reminiscent of Mr. Schenker.

Downstream mellows things down with a nice acoustic guitar intro and again some very melodic and warm solos.

Pasadena Hmm is it a coincidence that this bounces along with a very crunchy Van Halen type riff? I think not. An excellent change of pace after the quiet melody of ‘Downstream‘.

Reverse The Polarity stuns with another galloping 80’s style typically British guitar riff and is replete with the most intense and searing neo-classical solo lines on the release.

Big Screen Love Theme is a superb finisher to this album. A melody from 1996, it displays a very moving expressive quality not unlike the best work of Steve Stevens, considered by many to be perhaps the ultimate purveyor of the quality pop guitar solo. Use of that warm compressed solo sound once again enhances this particular piece.

Kudos to Edward for taking the time to develop a superb product that display his maturity as an artist and his uncanny ability to draw upon the best qualities of his diverse influences while creating his own unique voice. Fans of ‘quality guitar music‘ will indeed enjoy this.

Check out Lion Records for more info and other great guitar albums.