REVIEW: Mike Keneally Band – Guitar Therapy Live

Mike Keneally Band
Guitar Therapy Live


Former Zappa acolyte Mike Keneally and company said they would “bring the rock” with their latest live release. And boy, they weren’t kidding. Guitar Therapy Live is a testament to taking complex rock music to the stage and really making it, well, rock.

For those who have been following Keneally’s long and fruitful solo career, this may come as a bit of a surprise. Lately, he seems to have headed on a slow trajectory away from the heavy and more toward the heady, what with recent releases for orchestra (The Universe Will Provide), solo piano (Vai: Piano Transcriptions, Vol. 1) and acoustic instruments (Wooden Smoke).

True, the Mike Keneally Band’s last studio release, Dog, had its share of rocking moments, but they were frequently tempered by electronic interludes and gentle (if bizarre) vocal ditties. Not so much here—this is a mostly unrelenting shred-fest that deftly navigates the quirky left-turns and brilliant songwriting you expect from Keneally, while rarely easing up on the throttle. In some ways, it recalls the raw energy of Keneally’s classic Beer for Dolphins mid-90s power trio gigs, only with more finesse and self-assurance. This is a very good thing.

Just listen to their rendition of “Lightnin’ Roy”—a densely packed electronic prog-rock epic from the studio album hat. that, live, transforms into a guitar-heavy fusion rock-out worthy of the Dixie Dregs at their prime (complete with locked-in lightning-fast guitar duels and faux-country sing-along). Also originally from hat., “Uglytown” sports a cranked-up middle instrumental section building to a King Crimson-ish level of intensity before suddenly reigning it all back in. Heck, somewhere in the middle of the album, percussionist Joe Travers even turns in an old-school drum solo that wouldn’t be out of place at a Zeppelin concert.

Of course, there are a few moments of relative calm amid all the string-slinging: Notably “Machupicchu,” a haunting acoustic piece from Wooden Smoke, and “Hum,” a tasty excerpt from Keneally’s solo Nonkertompf album—although this eventually blasts off into full-blown electric righteousness.

Also worth noting is that practically every major Keneally studio release is represented here, with heavy emphasis on earlier material like hat. and Boil That Dust Speck. Notably absent from the proceedings: the 2000 release Dancing. Appropriate, considering this excellent live set is hardly light on its feet.