Walter Trout and the Radicals: Relentless--The Concert

Today's musical landscape is littered with rock guitarists possessed of enough chops to level a rainforest, dudes who can play with more precision than Hendrix and more speed than Van Halen, and whose general technical prowess is a wondrous thing to behold. What's more, they all seem to be afflicted with the same disease: namely, a compulsion to play as many notes as fast as possible on pretty much every single solo. Walter Trout is no exception. Trout and his band, the Radicals, have been around for three decades now, and they seem to have a rabid following (including in Europe--this show was recorded in Amsterdam). The guy can definitely play; much like the late Stevie Ray Vaughan, Trout sports a funky Stratocaster and favors loud, mean blues-rock, but he must have listened to B.B. King, to name just one of the masters. Did he never learn that one long, soulfully held note says more than an avalanche of repetitious speed riffs? Apparently not. Trout and company were recording a new CD on this May 2003 evening, and in fairness, some of his own songs (like “Cry If You Want To,” a Stax-style) are good, and he's a strong, soulful singer (yet, for me, the lingering image will be the bored look on his bass player's face as Trout launches into yet another interminable solo). Presented in Dolby Digital stereo, the disc features “backstage pass” footage, bonus tracks, and more. Optional. Aud: P. (S. Graham)