Good music is good music whether it is current or as in the case of some of these songs, 16 years old. Fourth Estate in the earlier part of their career consisted of Dave Beegle on guitars, Fred Babich on bass and Jim Iltis on drums. Iltis was later replaced by Dave Spurr of Tamarack on drums although all the tracks here represent the original lineup. The edition of Finesse and Fury here is a remastered 10th anniversary edition and sounds magnificent. The album opens up with a cover of the Apollo 100 hit "Joy" which is a takeoff of the piece by JS Bach. That song serves as the launching pad for a trip into the sonic stratosphere. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Fourth Estate, they are a three piece instrumental group hailing out of Fort Collins, Colorado. And they ROCK!!! The music on this release has a feel to it that makes me wish that I had followed through on those guitar lessons that I stopped taking when I was a kid.
The second release in this review is called Dustbuster Demos. It consists of cuts from the band's first three cassette only releases as well as a few other surprises. As with Finesse and Fury this music is a joy to listen to for anyone who loves guitar music. The covers of "Locomotive Breath" and "Hocus Pocus" flat out rock my world. Although Beegle being the lead guitarist is the most prominent member of the group, Babich and Iltis were not just a rhythm section, this was a trio in the best sense of the word. Each member contributed to the playing of the other two spurring them on to new heights of musical magic. If you are a fan of instrumental rock 'n' roll or just good red hot music in general then add these two discs to your collection.
10 tocks, there are two discs after all
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