Wired (Original Recording Remastered)

by

Jeff Beck

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I own everything Jeff Beck has ever recorded that I can obtain, many bootleg recordings included. This album Wired is still and probably always will be my all-time favorite among them. Many reviewers have mentioned his jaw-dropping technical prowess and passion and commitment he brings to every song, solo and note he plays. But IMO Jeff Beck's most overlooked talent is his lyrical lilt and melodic mastery. He is the modern incarnation of J.S. Bach in his absolute mastery of melody and harmony, less contrapunctally expressed than by the baroque composer, but still conveying a tremendously profound understanding and feel for what note and chord combinations would sound perfect where and when, never a note out of place, and his resolution of multiple developed themes within a piece is always richly satisfying. That is a large part of what makes this album so listenable again and again as the decades roll by.

It is inconceivable that this man can get these sounds to come out of six wires and NO PICK. His speed is unrivaled even by the many neck tappers of the 90s, though some of his most effective playing is when he takes it slow. Nowhere is this more elegantly proven than on Goodbye Porkpie Hat, the classic by Charles Mingus. This track contains a 150-second slice of euphonic heaven that is in my mind one of the best slow guitar solos ever recorded by anyone. It may simply not be possible to play the electric guitar any better than this; time will tell. It eclipses Stevie Ray Vaughn's version of Little Wing; it eclipses Beck's own miraculous playing on Blow By Blow. And his scorching, searing, vicious soloing on Head for Backstage Pass and especially the opener Led Boots stacks its raw power against such titans as Johnny Winter's soloing on Still Alive and Well, Edward Van Halen, Hendrix and Santana. For pure musicianship, technical wizardry and soaring, transcendent melodies, Jeff Beck is the unparalleled genius of our modern age. We are all fortunate to live at the same time as Jeff Beck, to witness his live performances, and to live in the age of electronic recording so that we can reset our minds at the end of a trying day with this fantastic music, again and again.

But this. It never gets old.