Cosmic Troubadour by Billy Sheehan (2008-01-13)

My son learning the bass is crazy about Mr Sheehan - we went to see him @ MR BIG concert recently. The CD if you like bass is brilliant .

Fortunately, for those traumatised by bass player solo albums (stand up near namesake Stu Hamm), Sheehan splits the album equally between commercial rock songs and fusion based fretboard frenzies. If I need reminded why I have no musical ability, a listen to the bass work on "The Suspense Is Killing Me" is a sharp reminder. For the musos amongst you, the instrumental work is breathtaking.But the highlight for me has to be "Don't Look Down" which starts off innocently enough before heading off into the stratosphere, taking 12 bar boogie to heights rarely ever seen. An absolutely stunning track, and the one that Joe Satriani fans should head for.

What a great CD. Much better than Sheehan's first solo CD 'Compression.' Better songs, better vocals and more of the astonishing bass playing that he is known for.The weak points are Sheehan's voice, which while better than the average for the genre are still no where near the Freddie Mercury standard of the best rock music. Lyrically some songs are a little weak but overall these 2 things are the only criteria that stop a 5 star rating.I loved this CD. There is a very good chance you would too.Did I mention the awesome bass playing...!