When you listen to Dave Uhrich's latest CD Change, your first thought is "Wow this guy's a great guitar player" and he definitely is. Having achieved a four year degree from the American Conservatory of Music, Urich truly is a stellar musician. And with Change he covers a vast amount of musical variety. Just check out the bluesy feel of "Cupid's Valentine," the jazzy feel of "Crazy In Love," (which in itself is a poor man's "Just A Gigolo") and Uhrich's own tribute to Van Halen, "Air Guitars," which totally smokes. It seems like Dave set out to make a great guitar album, and while Change is not a bad record, it stops a bit short of being great.

Overall, the songs suffer from lack of hooks and overall strength. They're not necessarily bad songs, but they won't stay in your head for long either. Also, Dave's vocals can definitely improve and actually, I believe his music could probably benefit from him working with another vocalist, a la Kenny Wayne Shepherd. That being said, I'll state that in my book, Dave's music is ten times better that most of the crap that's been polluting the mainstream airwaves lately.

There's also plenty of good aspects to this record that guitar fans will definitely enjoy: Dave's fast, accurate and highly melodic playing (there's shades of Morse/Vai/Satch/Van Halen), Bass player Wally Hustin's smokin' bass lines and drummer Kenny Aronoff's (Jon Bon Jovi, Smashing Pumpkins) thunderous chops.

So there you have it, Dave Uhrich's Change features plenty of variety and plenty of shred, but somehow lacks musical direction and songwriting strength. Guitar fans will still want to pick this CD up as "Alone" and "Air Guitars" alone are worth the price of the disc.

Shred Pick - "Alone" (3:12)

Reviewed by Henry Bocanegra

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