I'm often amazed at the selection of music I grab and grope for when setting out to do a review.

Subconsciously I think I tend to reach for usually two pieces of music that generally turn out to be such polar opposites of each other… and it usually works well enough so as to not rewrite the same passage under a different title.

But truthfully, to follow up an old Carcass reissue with the likes of Uli Jon Roth's… anything for that matter but something of this caliber, well it's almost more than my muddled mind might be capable of grasping.

I mean how do you go from something so grotesque and so nasty to something so graceful and dignified… the essence of purity where music is not just music but an evolution into another level of existence.

This two disc set features one of the most influential and accredited musicians of this and any time ever, Mr. Uli Jon Roth and the magic he ceaselessly creates with one sky guitar…

a compendium of compositions both unique unto himself and broadened interpretations of those stellar craftsman of years long past…

a divided number of evenings late last year mainly developed in the studio with bits and traces of live footage that must have featured some monumental measures brought to the stage.

Roth's skills as a guitarist are well known throughout the universe but what some may not know is he possesses a true strength as a composer setting the framework of some fine interpretations of life…

a spiritual journey through time, from the resources of history and onward through the future, there's a special significance with what we're getting here without even one single word uttered.

But yet though there are few, the many passages that fall across the pages of the enclosed decorative booklet say all that needs to be said…

and then the music plays on, each note a dedicated step taken forth, or back, we're transcending all calculable time.

These "25 Voyages" are boundless works and faithful renditions that revisit the likes of Mozart, Chopin, Vivaldi and Paganini in a classically-inspired tribute of a profound artform these ears have not yet begun to fathom or fully appreciate…

"Transcendental Sky Guitar" is an unmatched collection of works that not only will provide inspiration for those aspiring six string slingers but perhaps more so for those who can appreciate the fine art of music for what it is-with no limitations, no distance, and no foreseeable finishing point…

rather a cyclical route that begins from beyond and reaches far into the future, welcomed by the senses that will momentarily adapt and then eagerly await for more…

Uli Jon Roth has long since solidified his status as one of the world's best and for some two and a half hours, we're caught between "The Phoenix" and "The Dragon" a two-part quest to achieve that heightened sense of awareness we're usually all to quick to dismiss…

Released by SPV Records

Review by Vinnie Apicella [va85@columbia.edu]