From the off I think it’s worth stating that George Bellas isn’t just one of the most scary guitar players of his generation currently residing on planet earth but that he is also the composer of music that has both depth and endless possibilities. I’ve made this statement to try and get the message across that if you approach Bellas' new album as just a guitar instrumental workout you will be missing the whole point.

One of my great passions in life is classical music as well as the wonderful world of “guitar rock”. Alongside  Yngwie, Paul Gilbert, Shawn Lane and Steve Morse CD’s you'll also find the entire works of Maxim Vengerov, Nigel Kennedy and Kyung Wha Chung, who are all virtuoso violinists and one album that gets regularly dipped into is Holst’s “The Planet Suite” thanks to it's ability to show something different with every listen and its wealth of harmonic interest and endless melodies. It’s very likely that when I shrug off my mortal coil the music of Holst will accompany me on my final journey.

The point that I’m trying to make here is that, with the release of “Planetary Alignment”, George Bellas has to be seen as one of the virtuoso guitarist/composer’s of his generation. The music on this release isn’t just melodic rock soloing over rock steady drumming and standard rhythms, it’s exactly the opposite and, as a result, is a totally refreshing listen. Even to my ears that like their regular dose of Satriani style playing there comes a moment when you wish someone would just be brave enough to take all those techniques they have learnt and mould it into something different. For many that would mean leaving the comfort zone and doing something that might see them fall flat on their fret boards. To be honest the ability to do that would also involve someone who is harmonically trained, someone who knows the rules and is therefore aware how to break them, that’s how music moves forward.

Well folks “Planetary Alignment” meets all those requirements and over the course of it's ten tracks it will astound, enthrall and reward anyone with open ears. I appreciate to many it will also sound like something diabolical and at the end of the day the saying “you can’t please everybody” will likely have gone through Bellas' mind when he put this album together. I’m not going to give my usual track-by-track review as in this case I don’t think anyone would benefit from it. As I mentioned earlier this is not a traditional rock guitar album. What I would say is that on the first few spins my gut reaction was that everything felt constructed and almost too perfect, but on further run through it felt more like truly “composed” music that had been thought through, right down to the last minute detail.

If I had to pick standout tracks then I suppose “Subatomic Particles”,” New Worlds Discovered” and “Supersymmetry”,  due to their wealth of harmonic content and sublime guitar phrasing, would come out on top but that would be doing a disservice to the other songs. Bellas might be known for his sizzling neo-classical chops and his awesome technique but with “Planetary Alignment”  he should now be viewed as much as a composer as a guitar player. Planetary Alignment is a release which will have people screaming “love it” and others saying “hate it” but whatever your opinion you can’t deny this is a stunning attempt at trying to, and in my opinion, successfully creating something different and stimulating. I for one hope this album garners the critical and commercial acclaim it deserves…respect to George.

Let us know your views on Planetary Alignment

Track Listing

Color By Numbers
Encoded In Light
Subatomic Particles
New Worlds Discovered
Parallel Universe
Overlapping Dimensions
Escape Velocity
Gravitons
Planetary Alignment
Supersymmetry

Line Up

George Bellas - Guitars/Bass/Keys
Marco Minneman - Drums