Eric Johnson - Ah Via Musicom

I got this when it first came out and was not disappointed. Eric begins with the surrealistic "Ah Via Musicom," which leads into the jaunty fast shuffle "Cliffs of Dover." This song and the acoustic blues number "Song for George" had been in his songset for years before this album was released. "Desert Rose" is a rockin' love song. "High Landrons" is probably the heaviest song. "Steve's Boogie" was played in the background of one newscast once, a fast and furious rockabilly tune. "Trademark" is a jazz/blues instrumental, which probably paved the way for "SRV" on Venus Isle (though in different tempos, similar melodies). "Nothing Can Keep Me From You" is another love song, sounding bright and positive. "Righteous" is a raunchy sounding blues number. "40 Mile Town" is probably the most introspective song on this set, lyrically and musically- "The things of this world we never really own." Clsoing the album is the melancholy "East Wes." Unlike Tones, there are shorter songs and more instrumentals.

As I read the reviews on here, I am amazed at some of them. They call EJ boring, redundant, and some other names I cant believe. Personally I feel EJ is one major MF of a guitar player. I love all of Ah Via Musicom. Especially Cliffs Of Dover, and East Wes. He has some major influences also. Wes Montgomery, Jimi Hendrix, Jerry Reed, just to name some. Lack of talent, not musical, boring, Ok, I guess every one has their opinions....

Eric Johnson's AH VIA MUSICOM is a great mix of guitar tones and influences, from Wes Montgomery and Charlie Christian to Steve Morse, Dickey Betts, Allan Holdsworth, Joe Walsh, Chet Atkins, and Robin Trower. In other words, you'll find hard rock riffs and solos, country picking, violin-like string-skipping, and numerous other stylings mixed into pop songs that draw equally from bands as diverse as Artful Dodger and Foghat. Some songs feature vocals, but many of the great ones are instrumentals. This album will stand the test of time in 30 years much better than the grunge which followed it by a year.

i discovered Eric johnson in the least music conisour way! his song cliffs of dover is featured (and one of my favorites to play) in Guitaur Hearo 3 and i loved playing is so much i thought ok ive got to find out more about this guy so i checked it out here on amazon and i found that right along with eric johnson there are SEVERAL masters of the guitar that i had been missing out on so i highly reccomend Erics music to enrich your collection ;o)

I don't know what I expected from this album, inspirational forays exploring the boundaries of the instrument and music? Maybe. Failing that some good rock n' roll played very well. I certainly expected more than this bland over-produced pap.

The thing most people strive to emphasise when describing this artist is the melodic nature of his work. Not for him the pointless wailing of other guitarists. This would be fine if the music were aiming for something more than Don Henley's "The Boys Of Summer" with the melody, hooks and any interesting guitar sounds removed. THEN they take what's left and reprocess it to make it more synthetic and less vibrant/organic. Perhaps Eric Clapton at his worst produced similarly disappointingly bland mediocrity but with him there was always hope for a return to better things.

I read one comment "this guy can shred any style..." If this guy shredded anything I would be in favour but really all he can do is smoothe off all the edges and hollow out the middle. Virtuosity is meaningless without the music to back it up.

A totally empty musical experience.

My first venture into buying Eric Johnson all down to "Cliffs of Dover". Great guitarist, but th vocals lack. This WILL NOT put me off buying more of Eric's music.

i've wanted this cd for years because of cliffs of dover when i started ordering from amazon it come to me maybe they've got it and they did my doctor went to loan me this cd and i told him i got it from amazon.

Item was here fast and was at a good price. good job amazon.

This album features some of the best guitar playing I have ever heard. One reviewer complained about the poppiness of many of the songs. Some of the songs are quite "pop," but they are still very enjoyable, and each one features a great solo. In addition, this is eclectic. Eric Johnson does almost everything that can be done a guitar on this album. Fusion, prog, bluegrass, blues, metal, this has it all! Buy it if you like great guitar playing. P.S. I only listen to the music, so I cannot mention any specific songs, scratch that, I do agree that Cliffs of Dover is excellent.

Umm, I'm sorry, but Eric Johnson may be a good guitarist, but all I hear is repetitive 3 chord fast playing. Sure, it's nice and fast, but I raise the question: Is it really music? I've listened to Cliffs of Dover many times now, and I can't believe so many people go crazy over hearing it. It is too repetitive and not musical enough. Of course, I'm probably alone in my opinion, but I think any of Hendrix's guitar solos top all of these by a long shot. The 3 stars are given for his talent. He may deserve 5 stars, but after he puts out some musical songs, then I will give him 5 stars.

TRADEMARK is probably the most beautiful mid-tempo electric guitar instrumental ever recorded in a studio.

Including Django, Zappa, Christian, Page, Marr, Clapton, Beck, DiMeola, Vai, Hendrix, SRV, Satriani, Hazel, Van Halen, Belew, Fripp, etc...you name it... IT HASN'T BEEN DONE BETTER!!!

Oh yeah, and Cliffs of Dover, East/West, Righteous, the Boogie tune are all excellent...of the 'vocal' tracks - i like High Landrons. The rest are OK.

This was a bought as a gift to someone else so I really can't say much about it.

that everyone here seems to love this album so much. I bought it, in part because of these reviews. I feel gayer after having listened to it, and it's 40 minutes I will never get back. I gave it two stars only because I'm giving it the benefit of sounding better the second time around. It's basically a bad pop album with great guitar playing. Think Mister Mister with some chops. I love great guitar work as much as anybody, but why wrap it up in this sap fest? Blah.

This is the first Eric Johnson CD I have bought, and I like it!

I first heard 'Trademark' a few months back on the radio, and decided to buy the album.

Great Rock Guitar music. Yet no demonstration of any anger or sloppiness in his songs or in his playing. All very sweet, melodic and tight. The Album collage of guitar tones runs from Hendrix style to sweet violin sound. If you like to experience some great rock guitar sounds and songs. This is the album

'Cliffs of Dover' actually feels a little rushed in places,(Intro and ending) as though Eric was trying to get it all in a timeframe for radio airplay. I've actually heard more natural paced versions of the song and perhaps when he plays it live he allows it to 'breathe' more. The difficulty level of the tune however is actually increased because in 'rushing to the hook' more than one difficult tightrope act must be traversed in an otherwise endless sea of relentless micro management of notes/inflections.For ie. the fast Irish Jig section of the song must be played one way and one way alone or it is simply unplayable at that speed and clarity without string noise. This is much harder than fast shredding on distorted guitars folks. There is not a tenth of a second in this tune that was left uncomposed. The guitar tone on Cliffs for 1990 and even for now is amazing. He almost makes his guitar sound like a keyboard synthesizer in places. I've never heard this tone approached by anyone else. Many of the songs are bathed in reverb which by today's standards seems odd, but not Cliffs. His singing is okay, even appropriate for the material but ultimately not warranted because his abilities as a guitarist far outshine his vocals. The words to his songs have a purile existential quality I guess to fit the reverb bath they have to take. There are a few other guitar things showing off Johnson's verstility/finger picking lead lines under bass lines etc. ...fairly difficult stuff to be sure. He allows his bandmates to play, refraining from mixing his guitar too ridiculously high over them so perhaps that says alot about the man behind the music.

On of the first CDs I ever purchased. I've bought it twice before and lost both of those to someone I lent it to, (I figured they just couldn't stand to part with it which I fully understand). Without hesitation I bought another because this is a recording I have to own. Mr. Johnson gets a unique tone and a certain melodic flair, the likeness of I've found in no other artist's work. This album is one of those that affects me emotionally and lifts me up and away from the everyday every time I hear it. Quite a few of my friends own this CD. I've warned them about lending it out...

Eric Johnson has a very unique style of guitar playing, mixing fingerpicking techniques with soft upwards plectrum strokes for a softer and mellow sound. I have seen countless live peformances of this guy and it still amazes me how flawless it is. Although sometimes pefection is a flaw in itself, the raw energy and emotion of someone like hendrix or Johnson's texas counterpart stevie ray vaughn will really get inside you. Johnson's playing is alot more pretty than any other guitarist ive ever heard, i really enjoy the use of delay and warm mellow distortion in his playing. I also like the fact that in a time when speed metal stacatto picking was popular he did something different.

I think i've finnally found a new guitar hero in eric johnson, his playing is so diffrent and fresh from what i'm used to. This cd was made the 80's and it shows, alot of the songs are very similar to that of pop/rock genres of the 80's, but of course with the addition of amazing guitar playing. Overall I wish he included more instrumental songs like 'cliffs of dover' and 'trademark' and lost the vocals completly. That is why this cd loses 2 stars.

I accidentally stumbled across Eric Johnson one day while listening to the various Music Choice channels. His song "Cliffs of Dover" was being played on the Power Rock channel, and I almost went into shock because the guitar work was so amazing. I had to know how the rest of the songs on the album sounded, so I got the cd.

There isn't really a good reason to not buy this cd. The only one I can think of would be that you don't like guitar. Even if you have only heard "Cliffs of Dover", you should still get this cd. The album begins with the "song" called "Ah Via Musicom," which acts as somewhat of an introduction to "Cliffs of Dover". I put "song" in quotations because the entire song consists of peaceful, somewhat spacial sounds that is similar to a band warming up. Then there is "Cliffs of Dover". If I have to explain just how good this song is to you, then you should probably have another listen to it. "Desert Rose" is one of the few songs that feature lyrics, which are sung by Johnson himself. The others include "High Landrons," "Nothing Can Keep Me From You," and "Forty Mile Town." Even though he isn't the greatest vocalist I've ever heard, he can still sing better than a lot of people out there. The songs "Steve's Boogie" and "Song for George" are short, yet sweet, and will have your foot tapping. "Trademark" begins with a sad feeling but shortly picks up and ends after a calm solo. "Righteous" is a song that has energy and features guitar work that is similar to that of "Cliffs of Dover". "East Wes" is the song that ends the cd, and because of it's sorrowful and moody tone and slow beat, it will most likely leave you feeling kind of blue.

So, if you couldn't tell from the text above, I absolutely love this cd and, as a guitar player myself, I recommend it to anyone who is even dreaming of playing guitar. The only downside is that you will have to practice for years in order to reach Eric Johnson's level. There's always air guitar, though.