Ian Crichton Band

Ian Crichton Band - Welcome To The Boom Boom Room - 1995 - No Bull/Koch International

Ian Crichton is one of Canada's best guitarists. He was born in the town of Oakville, Ontario, Canada. Ian, and his brother Jim learned guitar at a young age. Originally Ian played the bass and Jim the guitar, but they soon changed. In 1977 Ian and Jim founded the progressive rock band Saga with lead vocalist, Michael Sadler, drummer Steve Negus and Keyboardist, Peter Rochon. Besides his main role as guitarist in Saga and his association with Asia, Ian Crichton is a popular session musician. Ian Crichton has also released solo albums. "Welcome To The Boom Boom Room" is Ian's debut album, and is a studio project with Paul MacAusland (vocals & sometimes co-songwriter), Paul De Long (drums) and Pat Kilbride (bass). Although, the music on WTTBBR is similar in ways to Saga, the music is more melodic, and veers more towards hard rock. The full guitar skills of Ian Crichton are very evident on this album. His playing is richly varied. There are some brilliant power riffs, and also some "quiet" electric and acoustic solos. Ian's guitar dominates the album, and some music critics have branded his playing on this album as "over showy". Nevertheless, with guitar skills like Ian's, you can get away with it ! The guy is a brilliant, and very underrated guitarist. Some music critics have said that the album is "one-dimensional", and that the tracks have a sameness about them. However if you listen to the beautiful melodies in "Tuesday", and the different musical qualities in tracks like "In Your Hands", "Trust Your Heart", and "Shades Of Blue", the album is far from being "one-dimensional". If you are a Saga fan, you may like this album, and if you like quality guitar playing then this album might appeal to you. Try and listen to Ian Crichton's 1997 release, "Ghettos By Design", and Saga's "Worlds Apart" album is a great mix of intelligent pop, and progressive rock music.

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1. Harmony - Ian Thomas
2. Touch 'n Go - Ian Crichton
3. Toy Town - Ian Crichton, Paul MacAusland, Dave Rashed
4. Change - Ian Crichton, Paul MacAusland, Dave Rashed
5. Tuesday - Ian Crichton, Ron Huestis
6. In Your Hands - Ian Crichton
7. This Time - Ian Crichton, Paul MacAusland, Dave Rashed, Ed Pilling
8. Shades Of Blue - Ian Crichton, Ron Huestis
9. To The Edge - Ian Crichton, Paul MacAusland, Dave Rashed, Steve Negus
10. Do It - Ian Crichton
11. Mr. Skin - J.Furgeson
12. Pumpkin Patch - Ian Crichton
13. Trust Your Heart - Paul MacAusland, Dave Rashed, Steve Negus

BAND

Ian Crichton - Guitars
Pat Kilbride - Bass
Paul De Long - Drums
Paul MacAusland - Vocals