SCOTT ALLEN PROJECT – What Lies Beyond Words

It’s that time again when another Instrumental album/LP/CD takes up space on the shelf. Unfortunately, many people look at it that way. Instead of taking the time in finding out more about the new release/group/band, they prefer to remain ignorant. The sad thing about all of this is just about everyone is at fault at one point or another in their lifetime, doing the exact same thing when it comes to music, especially new and/or independent music. It’s hard to believe that something totally ass kickin’ can almost get lost along the wayside as if it never existed. Scott Allen’s story, for the most part, begins almost like the countless others you hear or read about.

Scott began playing a 6-string at age 11, thanks to Eddie Van Halen, who influenced him through a Van Halen video. After many years of taking lessons and practicing, he enrolled in the Musician’s Institute, Guitar Institute of Technology (G.I.T.) in Hollywood, California at the age of 20. At G.I.T., Scott studied under the likes of Scott Henderson, Danny Gill, Brett Garsed, and Steve Trovato. You can say that anything Scott wasn’t that good at playing before he attended, he was proficient in when he left the program. He graduated in 2 years in 1996 and moved back to his home town of Sacramento, California where he began teaching guitar at the Northridge Music Center, now at 65-70 students per week. Meanwhile, Scott became the lead guitarist for a local area favorite Metal band called 7 Years. After 2 long years of going nowhere, the group disbanded, and at this time the Scott Allen Project was formed.

The Scott Allen Project has opened for many big name bands over the years such as: Gary Hoey, Dave Maniketti (Y&T), Planet X (feat. Tony MacAlpine & Virgil Donati of the Steve Vai band and Derek Sherinian, formerly of Dream Theater), Frank Hannon (Tesla), and many others. The Scott Allen Project is made up of Scott Allen – lead guitar and keyboards; Brian Kinney – bass; Tom Frost – drums and percussion; Marty Cresci – rhythm guitar. All very talented musicians in their own right.

Originally, What Lies Beyond Words was released in 2001 and re-released independently in West Coast locations earlier in the year. So how does one express the styles and playing of Scott Allen? Razor-edged arsenal of licks, bends, hooks, and fills; staccato-esque riffs, smooth arpeggios, tricky tapping techniques, and tremolo bars here and there. Nothing short of your typical guitar genius at work, utilizing an arsenal of guitar wizardry at his fingertips (no pun intended).

Scott’s debut album consists of 11 tracks, almost 45 minutes in length. The genre it falls under is Instrumental Hard Rock, and it has wonderful fluidity from beginning to end. The tracks on What Lies Beyond Words range from hard and heavy all the way down to mellow. The heavier tunes on the CD are “U Want Some of This (Bring It On),” “The Grind,” and the closer “The Clock Is Ticking” (more on that one later). These two show that the Scott Allen Project can bring it on and crank it up. “The Cool Breeze” is one of the better songs on the CD. It might be a little mellow or slow getting out of the gate, but as it goes on, you realize that it is musically intense, flowing with incredible playing and talent all the way around. “Eternal Optimist” kicks it up a notch with intense percussion and guitar to match. “Sapphire Sky” starts out mellow and puts it into gear about 2 minutes in with an impressive bass run, non-stop guitar solos, and just a beautiful mix of guitar, bass, and drums that seems to flow endlessly until the song ends.

There are indeed some “mellower” tracks, those being “A Girl I Once Knew,” “We Watched the Sunrise,” (the guitar work by Scott is exceptional on this with equally intense percussion) and “Saying Goodbye.” Don’t let the word “mellow” fool you, however. Scott does something to them that other bands just can’t pull off and makes them sound so good that you don’t even think about whether or not the song is this or that. All you know is that it’s good!

“My Bad Mojo” has good percussion to it with non-stop bass for those digging low end. The closing track is probably the best track on here. “The Clock Is Ticking” starts off as if you are watching 60 Minutes on TV. Then, for a second, you think “As I Close My Eyes Forever” is about to kick in, but it doesn’t. Next up, an 80’s sounding riff that that has you saying, “haven’t I heard that before” until the track finally begins. There is a bass run at 1:50 until 2:05 that just sounds so damn cool you want to go off and learn it. Well worth the wait and more so the listen.

This is one of those releases that have you eagerly awaiting the next song to see what it’s like, because you love the track you are on so much. This CD is as solid as they come all the way through. Every song is good with no duds. It would be a shame if What Lies Beyond Words is not added to your music collection.