J-Man
Though many 'guitar albums' tend to sound virtually indistinguishable from each other, Slovenia-based guitarist Grega Habic takes a different approach than your average shred guitarist. Open Heart Surgery borrows elements from progressive rock, metal, funk, jazz, and even rap into a unique blend of styles that, while still deriving from many guitar legends, is distinctly Habic's own. Though Habic delivers plenty of killer solos that will satisfy any guitar fanatic, the songwriting focuses more on eclecticism and memorability than you may expect. He clearly has a knack for crafting well-composed pieces of music centered around the guitar, and fans of tasteful yet technical instrumental music will find lots to love here. The rap sections are pretty terrible and a few other flaws do impact my overall impression of the album, but Open Heart Surgery still contains enough amazing moments to be worth a listen from the open-minded guitar fan.
On paper, the idea of putting rap-styled vocals on a guitar-based progressive rock album seems a bit out of place, and (unfortunately) this is also true on Open Heart Surgery. They just don't seem to fit within the context of the rest of the album, and in addition to being rather poorly executed, they damage the flow of the CD severely. My recommendation to Habic is to stick to his guns and ditch the half-assed rap vocals next time around, unless he can manage to make them work as an integral part of the music rather than a gimmicky effect. With that said, they thankfully don't appear too frequently, and the main focus of Open Heart Surgery is of course on Grega Habic's masterful guitar playing. The production is a bit underdeveloped, but this isn't much more than a minor blemish in the long run.
Open Heart Surgery is an adventurous and unique effort from Grega Habic, and while I wouldn't quite say that his artistic vision was fully realized this time around, this is still a recommendable purchase for fans of instrumental progressive rock, metal, and fusion. Although it's not faultless, this is a fun album that I've had a pleasure listening to recently. I'd say 3 stars are deserved, and I'll be curious to hear what Habic comes up with in the future.