Tony Hernado is a Spanish guitarist in the Malmsteen/Satriani tradition. Tony Macalpine and Joey Taffola are his inspirations. He took lessons from both of them, as well as from Mike Stern and Frank Gambale. Actually, he took so much lessons he`s in danger of playing from the head and not from the heart. His first was called High; this second album contains fifteen instrumental guitar-songs with an occasional touch of country and blues. The funk influences that give it a contemporary (ah well more nineties kind off) sound. Keyboards are used only now and then, so the rock-feel isn’t endangered. Mike Terrana (Macalpine, Malmsteen, Rage) was called in for the drums and Pepe Bao completes the rhythm section. A firm foundation for Tony to show his tricks. I think music is at it’s best as a means of communication. Hernando`s guitarplaying is a means of its own. When you’re that good, it’s quite imaginable and of course he wants to share that with others, but not everybody will be interested in this self-satisfaction. The les interesting moment are: “The broken hero”, a melodic rock song in search for simple melodies, but how hard that can be shows the result that sounds more like the backing track of some eighties softpormovie.

Something similar happens in “Still believe” where the production is intended to be moody but only evokes the image of a pseudo-romantic soft focus candlelight scenery. “Slow Blues,” reveals that Hernando knows how to play lots of notes but doesn’t know how to play only a few, there’s no self-control and worse: no emotion. If he is trying to show that he can play the blues, he failed pitifully. Best moments are: “House of glass” reminding me of Steve Morse. All the funk-orientated stuff where the rhythm section gets space to groove and Tony plays catchy riffs rather than fast scales. Most spectacular are the two duets with Andy Timmons. This CD is a very convincing unsolicited application, but if your not looking for a guitar player Tony Hernando lacks too much identity to add something new to the lot that’s already there. The only thing he has to offer is his talent. That makes him a name to remember, on an album to forget.