Fourth Estate
In Phase
Reviewed by Rex Carroll
Awright, already...puh-leeze, will somebody give me a break?! I have a hard enough time playing E chords on my own stuff, without worrying about the George Lynch's, Steve Vai's, and Nuno Bettencourt's of the world, and now along comes Dave Beegle and Fourth Estate to make my life more complicated and send me back to guitar lessons for another ten years or so!! This is one scary three-man band from the Denver area that plays some great fusion with a rock edge. The guitarist, Dave Beegle, strikes me as being stylistically somewhere between a modern Al Dimeola, Steve Morse, and Eric Johnson. Complementing Dave is Fred Babich on bass. Fred's style reminds me of Jerry Peek (who played with Steve Morse in his solo group). It's truly refreshing to hear the bass featured in the arrangements as much as the guitar and this is a tribute to Fred's ability. Jim Iltis, the drummer, is also a great player who shows a lot of great licks on the songs without "over-playing." These guys have been together for quite some time and their cohesion shows on all the tracks from "Edge Of The Shaddow," their 1989 demo, and "In Phase," their brand new demo release. The opening cut on "Edge" is an arrangement of J.S. Bach's "Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring" that makes you feel good all over, and it gets better from there. Highlights for me (in addition to "Joy") are the tracks "Highlander", "Mason Street Shuffle", and the instrumental cover of "Locomotive Breath". Generally, the guitar overdubs are kept to a minimum; these guys make so much sound they don't need overdubs! Their brand new demo, "In Phase," shows more of a rock edge, with some absolutely shredding guitar against the usual wild bass and drums. I expect these guys to tear it up at C-Stone '91 and the word is they will be signing with a major mainstream label soon. If that's the case, "Edge Of The Shaddow" and "In Phase" will likely become collector's items. Good luck, guys! For ordering info, write: 427 West 5th St, Loveland CO 80537.