Any Raw Flesh?

Despite the cries of musicians everywhere shouting "but my music is completely original!", influences are indeed a good thing if used to help shape one's sound and not create a carbon copy. Such is the case with Yogi's release, Any Raw Flesh? You can hear the influence of artists such as King's X and Mike Keneally in the songwriting and Steve Vai particularly in some guitar tracks, but this album sounds like anything but a hodgepodge of the above - in fact, Yogi even has the class to thank them in the liner notes. Instead, all the best of the above plus Yogi's highly unique writing and guitar playing plus the first-class backing of professional-level sidemen like Bryan Beller (whose tone is to die for here - the best he'd even recorded on tape until his own solo album) on bass and Chris G on drums makes this an absolutely killer rock album. Add in the crystal-clear engineering by Darin DiPietro and it's a killer rock album that sounds amazing, something most modern releases lack in their need for "Too Hot For Proper Levels!" clipping and digital distortion. It's also a "progressive" album in the true sense of the word - moving forward with different styles and sounds as opposed to "how many 32nd triplet runs and sections in 19/16 can I fit into a 25 minutes concept opus?"... and this, my friends, is a very good thing. Replicating even the most difficult of techniques is easy given enough time. Creating your own recognizable sound and style is much harder, but ultimately much more rewarding as a musician. Yogi has done so remarkably well, and it's to our benefit that he has. Sure, he may gain a few dollars from a sale but we gain the beauty of his music, and there's nothing more satisfying than that in my book.