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Reviews: Al Di Meola: Flesh on Flesh

Reviews: 7

Review by Marc P July 12, 2003 (0 of 3 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:
I am a huge Al DiMeola fan, and have been for years. And even though this is not my favourite album off his, I really enjoy it. Al is an excellent guitarist and shows it on every track, musically not everything his does is that interesting. Some of the tracks are just plain boring and are more about him showing “his stuff” than they are about music. But that complaint can be made of almost every solo guitarist in the world.
If you are into Jazz with Latino influences than this is a great album for you. If your not try to listen to some sound bites on the Telarc website or maybe on Amazon.

This album is not a DSD, but a 24 bit PCM recording. Personally I don’t see or hear a problem in that. I fact this is one of my best sounding SACD’s.

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Review by jimmyjames8 September 15, 2003 (0 of 2 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:
Another big Al Di fan here. Would have bought the disc just because of Big Al and it's SACD. Good sounding disc. Typical Al Di music with the exception of the "flute". Progressive guitar oriented "jazz" music. Then there is the flute. Intricate sound scapes punctuated by searing arpeggios, along with the flute. Interesting and effective MCH mix especially on the last track. Check it out on Telarc's website before buying. Be sure and listen for the flute.

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Review by Toni June 10, 2004 (0 of 3 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:
Like the previous reviewers, I've also been Di Meola fan for a long time since I heard "Elegant Gypsy" for the first time.
Di Meola's latest album is overall performwise very good, but somewhat inconsistent. First two tracks are simply awesome, with energic and beautiful playing and nice twists and turns. These are DI Meola at his best. "Fugata" and "Saffire Soleil" are also very nice and Corea's "Senor Mouse" gets a proper treatment too. Rest of the album isn't as great, especially annoying "Deep and Madly" almost spoils the mood.
Sonically it's one of the best I've heard so far, despite it's being PCM. There's none harshness on highs. Flutes, guitars and cymbals sound rich and natural. Multichannel mix is among the best also, sometimes there's a lot of going on in back speakers too.

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Review by jmvilleneuve January 23, 2005 (2 of 3 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:
I do not regard myself as a jazz expert, this does not prevent me to appreciate it. This is an album that I would call jazz techno-pop. In fact the set of instruments would be more appropriate for a pop rock album. But it is the style of music that qualifies the recording as jazz.

Obviously the playing of the guitarist soloist is splendid. Al Di Meola is a master of the guitar and this fact justifies buying this SACD. Either when "singing" main themes or exploding in virtuosi variations, the guitarist stimulates our listening from beginning to end of this SACD.

I had more problems with the recordings of some of the other instruments in particular the woodwinds. The flute has the most anoying artifical reverb whenever it plays. The brass/sax sounds too much in a studio with no "air" around them.

Favorites track are 4 flesh on flesh and 5 fugatta (from Piazolla tango).

More information at
http://www.geocities.com/jmserre/DiMeola.html

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Review by Dazedcat March 12, 2005 (2 of 4 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:
Personally speaking, I believe this is DiMeola's best record in his long recording career. It seems to be a summation of everything he's ever done; from his breakneck electric fusion playing from the 70's to his experimentations with acoustic and world music influences from the past decade or so. Everything comes into total musical focus with this album.

The SACD release extends the musical dynamics. On my home theater system it sounds totally immersive. The balance between horns, acoustic and electric instruments seems perfect. This particular album could be the demo disc for SACD dynamics in fact.

All in all the perfect album....in my musical universe anyway.

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Review by DeSelby May 22, 2005 (1 of 6 found this review helpful)
Sonics:  
very good sound

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Review by gnomo June 8, 2005 (2 of 4 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:  
It is hard to believe that Al Di Meola has run into something that reminds Tubular Bells from Oldfield...despite the superb guitar handling skill, this record is classified by me as a poor example of what commercial music may fall into. In conclusion, i think is money thrown away.

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