Jeff

07/31/2003 6:00 PM, LAUNCH
Bill Holdship

Jeff Beck is probably the most consistent artist of the classic rock era. The legends of Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page always loom larger, but that's strictly marketing and commercial direction. The guy's so consistent, in fact, he's been on the same label ever since he was a member of the Yardbirds straight through the Jeff Beck Group to the solo artist of today. And ever since Blow By Blow, his 1975's exploration of the point where hard rock and jazz merge, he's been releasing instrumental guitar powerhouses that will always appeal to fans of technique and, quite simply, wizardry. Jeff is perhaps the perfect title here, as the guitarist reflects his tastes by going all over the place musically here--from electronica to pure blues to snippets of classical guitar and European folk music to that bombastic sound that defies classification, with Beck the only artist who can create such a noise without special effects of any kind. "So What" kicks things off gloriously, reminiscent of an air raid smack dab in the eye of the hurricane. The song titles don't really matter all that much. There are no sung vocals, other than a female voice that occasionally chants a short phrase--"If the boys don't say it, the guitars will play it" on the dance-groovester, "Pork-U-Pine," or "Hey, grease monkey, show me what you got" on "Grease Monkey." "Hot Rod Honeymoon" even throws in some disorienting Beach Boys-like "ooo-ooo-oooh's" to stir up the mix. But people don't come to a Jeff Beck album so much these days for songs as they do for a sonic experience. As always, Jeff delivers that in spades.