Les Fradkin has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to music technology, and although MIDI guitars, a device that turns analog playing into digital signals, have been with us since the mid-eighties, they have remained an integral part of the music world, particularly in the world of film and TV scores.
You could therefore argue that it is the perfect approach to making an album of reimagined classical and classically inspired tracks that feels like a cinematic soundtrack.
It’s the best of both worlds, really, all your favourite, blockbusting classical pieces rendered into slick, sleek, and shiny, high-octane electro-soaked rock and roll!
The slow, baroque grace of Pachelbel’s “Canon in D” becomes an anthem of Wagnerian weight, Khatchaturian’s already wild “Sabre Dance” is ramped up even further into a whirling dervish frenzy, and “Summer” from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons hits heights that would have taken the breath away from even The Red Priest himself.
Perhaps the most famous of these iconic tunes is Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy,” here rocked up and hitting the crescendos that would have put a rare smile on the famously grumpy man.
Not only the best tunes, ones that have remained popular for, in the case of some of the composers found here, for 350 years, but delivered in a blend of progressive pop meets kick-arse rock, a symphonic one man band keeping the spirit, sonic soul and sound of the past burning bright.
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