Album review by Phil M
Here’s more goodness out of Scandinavia, this time in the form of Erja Lyytinen and her fourth live album release. She’s been playing guitar since the age of fifteen, first influenced by soul but now plying her trade as a bona fide rock guitarist. She studied at the Sibelius Academy in Sweden, majoring in electric guitar, and worked on Finnish TV as a guitarist and band leader before bringing out her first album ‘Attention!’ in 2002. The same year also saw her opening for Robert Plant. She’s opened for several other notable artists, including Joe Bonamassa, Sonny Landreth and Carlos Santana.
In 2003 she studied at the Los Angeles Musician’s Institute of Technology and in 2005 brought out her first international album ‘Pilgrimage’ playing alongside Aynsley Lister. Between then and 2020 she released an impressive eight studio and three live albums. ‘Bad Seed’ from her 2022 album release ‘Waiting for the Daylight’ is included in this live release and was rated amongst the top songs and top guitar solos in Classic Rock magazine.
Lyytinen is a fan of live performances saying “It is very raw and exciting to play and sing at the same time. The adrenaline runs through your body, and everything around you affects your performance”. She adds that her sound has changed since her last recording “My playing has more of a hard-rock element and edge” she tells us.
Seven of the tracks from ‘Waiting for the Daylight’ feature on this live outing, recorded at Rytmikorjaamo, Seinäjoki in the West of Finland and first off is ‘Diamonds on the Road’ with a heavily reverbed staccato guitar and beat before the rest of the band kick in. She impresses immediately with her voice’s strength, superb guitar sound, and a great slide chord sequence in the chorus and wah-wah in the guitar solo. She’s enjoying herself here – check it out on YouTube here:
+ There are no comments
Add yours