This is another one of Magna Carta's retrospectives, which rounds up 9 tracks that have appeared on various releases of Steve Morse, plus a bonus 11-minute video interview with the Deep Purple guitarist (taken from his instructional video series). Here you can find tracks from the albums: Split Decision, Major Impacts, Working Man  (Tribute to Rush), Tales From Yesterday (Tribute To Yes), Feeding The Wheel, Split Decision, Sonic Residue From Vapourspace and Major Impacts 2.
There are not so many things to say about Steve Morse. This melody maker is definitely a genius in his genre and he delivers his messages with style, passion and dignity. In addition to all these, he manages to maintain a really low profile as a person. He does not only have advanced technical skills but he also retains a huge amount of creativity. Morse is a more or less living guitar legend. Here, in this album, you will have the chance to hear him play alongside with mega monsters like Billy Sheehan, Jordan Rudess, John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy, Dave LaRue and Terry Bozzio, which makes this a bit of a musician's wet dream.
Now, let us focus on some songs: Led On is a song written in the style of Zeppelin, while The Clap presents Steve Morse and Steve Howe handling acoustic guitars in the same excellent manner as they do with the electric. Heightened Awareness from the Steve Morse Band album (Split) is 4 minutes of really pure genius, showing why Steve Morse is so highly respected and why he has been such a valued player in Kansas, Dixie Dregs and Deep Purple.
To sum it up this is a fine collection of Steve's finest work from his Magna Carta sessions. Every song leaves a warm impression and this is definitely a result of his genius approach towards the listener and towards his instrument. This album will not only appeal to guitarists but to music fans in general! Thumbs up for sensitive Steve then!
- Album Highlights: Heightened Awareness, La Villa Strangiato, The Clap, Led On, Air On A 6 String and Wooden Music.