Alex Masi - 'Late Night At Desert Rimrock'
                                                                                                                                                                        Released through Lion Music in 2006
THE BAND:
Alex Masi – Guitars, Bass, Tabla, Bells, Loops
John Macaluso - Drums


TRACK LISTING:
1.) "Vagina Denata"
2.) "You Asked"
3.) "Antistructure"
4.) "Love Is A Resonance"
5.) "Asparagus Piss"
6.) "Disembodied In Mojave"
7.) "Tiktaalik In Evolution"
8.) "The Smess Of Weightlessness"
9.) "Telling England By The Sound"
10.) "His/Her Dosage"
11.) "Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t?"
12.) "Unsolved"

    Born in Venice Italy, Alex Masi grew up surrounded by art.  His father, who enjoyed listening to classical music, was a successful painter and art historian inspired him from the very beginning. “…The very first piece of music I remember hearing, other than rattles on my crib, was Toccata and Fugue in d Minor by Bach”  Along about the time he started taking piano lessons his little sister’s baby-sitter turned him on to The Beatles, Rolling Sones and Jimi Hendrix.  Feeling a connection between the better elements of rock and classical music Alex discovered that the only limitations in music are by one’s own imagination.  After graduating from Verona Conservatory of Music Alex told his family he was moving to London and try to find a band and a audience that would suit his playing style.
    The NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal) was at it’s highest point at that time and London turned out to be a wonderful place.  An After a brief stint in a local West End band Alex made the decision to head back to Venice to start his own band called Dark Lord.  Dark Lord released two E.P.’s and toured Europe with Saxon and Moterhead.  Though the heavy metal press and fans loved Dark Lord the focus started sifting towards the west coast of the United States and the glammer style of metal.  The band grew frustrated at this and decided to disband. 
    After noticed the rise in fascination with heavy metal instrumentalist like Yngwie Malmsteen, Alex sent demos to several record labels.  In 1987, Alex landed a contract with Metal Blade Records out of Los Angeles and within a few short months hi first CD titled, ‘Fire & Rain’ it the stores.  ‘Fire & Rain’ received praise from his critics, lots of airplay on the new Los Angeles radio station KNAC and massive response from the public.  Masi’s second CD, ‘Downtown Dreamers’ contained the single and consequent video, “God Promised A Paradise”.  Because the video was heavily rotated on MTV’s ‘Headbangers Ball’ it placed Alex on the forefront of up & coming heavy metal guitarists.  After touring extensively with artists such as; Slayer, Triumph, Hurricane and Joe Satriani, Alex took time out to record his first solo CD, ‘Attack Of The Shark”.
    In 1999, after installing a digital recording studio in his home and having complete creative control of the recording process Alex releases, “In The Name Of Mozart” and “In The Name Of Bach”.  Alex believes that J.S.Bach's music is the most "perfectly" music ever written and he always wanted to record some of those pieces that sparkled his interest in music during his childhood.  After the critically acclaimed “In The Name Of Bach” and “In The Name Of Mozart” releases, Alex re-forms Masi to record “Eternal Struggle”.
    Most musicians, even when they are writing a instrumental will write two bars of intro, four bars of rhythm, then rhythm change, but with the opening track of this release Alex basically keeps the rhythm the same.  What Alex changes is the lead guitar.  If I counted right there are seven different electric lead guitar solos covering every style from progressive to metal, plus three acoustic guitar solos to cover Alex’s classical influence. 
At times, you really get a feel for how well Alex can play bass.  Like with most instrumentals the tracks on this release have a very progressive feel to them.  Personally, even though Alex can play the hell out of an electric guitar, I think his playing really shines when he is playing acoustic guitar.  In the realm of instrumentalist Joe Satriani and Yngwie Malmsteen often overshadow Alex.  But, when you look at the body of work Alex has released over the years including the twelve tracks on this CD his playing blows Joe Satriani or Yngwie Malmsteen away!!!  If you are an aspiring guitarist or a fan of instrumental music this release would make a great addition to your collection.