Track Listing

1. Venus Isle
2. Battle We Have Won
3. All About You
4. SRV
5. Lonely In The Night
6. Manhattan
7. Camel's Night Out
8. Song For Lynette
9. When The Sun Meets The Sky
10. Pavillion
11. Venus Reprise

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29377 in Music
• Released on: 1996-09-09
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

CD Description
VENUS ISLE heralds the return of Zippo-waving, head-bobbingAOR and the larger-than-life guitar god. Eric Johnson is fully capable of accepting that lofty mantle. He combines dizzying dexterity with a harmonically advanced compositional style that encompasses progressive rock, blues and jazz fusion.
Disdaining the shred-and-burn approach favoured by manyof his peers, Johnson opts instead for an atmospheric, delicately textured sound on VENUS ISLE. This sonic featherbed is realised with the help of synth player Steve Barber, whosekeyboard washes and arpeggios shadow Johnson's guitar throughout the album. Johnson himself contributes a fair amount of synth (triggered by both guitar and keyboards), a testament to the fact that he is a texturalist first and a chopsmeister second--though his storied axemanship is featured prominently on tunes like "Camel's Night Out" and "All About You".Johnson has put as much care into his arrangements, lyrics and composition as his guitar playing on VENUS ISLE. For a guitarist on his level, that's quite a bit of care.

Customer Reviews

Home the finest guitar solo ever?
This is not just an album of simply breathtaking guitar work - though there's plenty of that;what this album is really about is stunning composition. Eric Johnson serves up so many gorgeous melodies here,on guitar and vocals,you're left reeling by the time "Venus reprise" washes over you.This is a finely crafted piece of work with one of the greatest finales ever recorded. It's possible to enjoy this music on several levels too - the vocals are strong enough to make it accessable,whilst the sheer virtuosity of Johnson's guitar playing presents a feast to all musos. I think "Lonely in the Night" may contain the most exquisite epic guitar solo of all time...seriously. You'd better buy this and decide for yourself!

shocking ... 1996
My second Johnson CD I bought was Venus Isle. Released 6 years after Ah Via Musicom I didn't really know what to expect, 6 years is a long way to go and enough time for lots of changes in style ...

Looking at the songs, you'll find there Manhattan and Camel's Night Out, Johnson played these two on the G3 tour with JS and SV. And for me, they are classics.

This is an excellent album. The first two songs are beautiful (Venus Isle, Battle We Have Won) and the following ones are of the same high quality. On the cover you can read that EJ is called Baron Von Tone, well, listening to how he can play and how it sounds, you cannot disagree. Don't expect any races, you will find nice melodic songs with very technical solos, you will find guitar sound that is just one of it's kind.

Perfect
I must have bought this album 5 times! I have one framed on my wall, beneath the original lithograph of it's beautiful front cover, because it really is that good.

Venus Isle is by far the best CD in my collection, and it's up against some stiff competition, from some amazing musicians, like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Dream Theater, Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Eric Johnson is my favourite guitarist and musician, and this album is a clear showcase of what he is capable of. The most outstanding thing when you listen to mr Johnson is, of course, his tone. On this album it is perfect, and if you concentrate hard on what the different instruments are doing in each song, you'll never hear any tone you don't like the sound of.

Venus Isle is a brilliantly ballanced combination of vocal tracks and instrumentals, so there's never a moment when you'll be thinking "oh god, another guitar solo". Eric has such good taste, the song arrangements are flawless, and the different moods and vibes expressed throughout the album blend seemlessly.

He has a good singing voice too, and writes good songs. The best piece on there is Lonely In The Night, written by EJ and Vince Mariani, and it hosts the best guitar solo I have heard. This is the sort of album suitable for a variety of tastes, and it is equally at home as background music for a dinner with friends, as it is being something to fully concentrate on, something to take your mind on a journey.

Venus Isle is ageing brilliantly - it will always sound fresh, and you will always hear something new every time you put it on.

This is guitar music for everyone, not guitar music for guitarists. 5 stars doesn't seem enough!