Marty Friedman
Tokyo Jukebox 2/Bad D.N.A.

I guess this guy is most known amongst our readers as a guitarist of Megadeth who in the end weren’t aggressive enough for his liking and he also got bored with metal (well who doesn’t, the attitudes in metal that is) and thought that playing metal hampered his evolvement as a guitarist. Now he is picking out his jukebox and pairing it with some DNA of bad quality, it is j-pop, -rock covers on one album and his own rockers on the other one, Tokyo Jukebox 2 and Bad D.N.A. in one deluxe package for us Europeans to devour if we want our share of masturbating. Need I point out that the cover looks dull? thought so.

It is instrumental rock music, no voices to be heard for one hour an seventeen minutes if you sit through the entire two albums. There is a distinct difference between the albums with the first one being songs sounding a bit japanese and also a bit more static than the ones on the second album. There are more adventurous spirits on that album and the songs are also heavier and does not comply as much with ordinary song structures. The sound is is good and the musicianship is excellent.

Instrumental rock tend to become quite dreary in the long run and I cannot really say that Marty does anything to really disprove that thesis, neither does he prove it I might add. The songs are very good and has a nice flow and melody to them on both albums with the second one being a bit heavier but both are quite melodic. Problem is though that in the long run I tend to fade away a bit from it and my mind starts to wander in other direction as to which album to select next, the best way to wash the car, how to easiest commit suicide, you know such everyday thoughts we all have when we do not focus on anything in particular. That is the main problem with this album(s), you cannot really focus on them for any extended period of time, maybe there is a sense of monotony here. It might also be that the lack of vocals makes it feel like something is amiss, I think many songs on this album would have benefitted from a singer, kind of like Yossi Sassi did on his Melting Clocks album which really kicks the ass of this one in almost every regard.

There are however some songs that really catches your attention while listening, I like the opening jukebox track and also the one called Butterfly. There are also two on the DNA-thing, the one called Battle Scars and the cover of Time To Say Goodbye which is a song I really like, especially the original but this cover version is decently fun as well.

In the end though I think both these albums becomes a bit of too much of the good, you just cannot really focus on it fully which is why you come away with a sense of it being very good but it still leaves you unfulfilled. The instrumentations are of course excellent and the sound as well, the lack of variation isn’t. I find myself wondering why it should be so impossible to focus on it fully but I guess masturbation has never really been my forte which probably is why this album isn’t really agreeing fully with me. It just does not matter how great a guitarist Friedman is when he cannot really drive the albums forwards all the way through and in the end it becomes good but it also becomes too much and you tend to switch off towards the end. No denying it is good though.