REBECCA MILLER (9/10)

Regular readers of this website may have realised that I love ALTER BRIDGE... *ahem* quite a bit. Or you know, maybe you're all just ignoring my witterings, I wouldn't blame you! But yeah, as soon as I heard out that their guitarist, Mark Tremonti, was going to be releasing a solo album, let's just say that I was rather excited. Ah, but I was I disappointed? No, not at all. In fact, I was blown away.

So obviously I already knew what an amazing guitarist Tremonti is from his work with both CREED and ALTER BRIDGE, so that was never in doubt. But his vocals? He already sings back up for Myles Kennedy, and was given his chance to shine on ABIII, with some solo singing parts in "Words Darker Than Their Wings". So I already knew that he was a fairly decent singer, but the question was, can he carry an album with him singing all the vocals? I seem to be asking a lot of questions here... anyway, the answer is a resounding 'yes!'. I was highly, highly impressed by his singing here - not just the range, but the passion he put into it as well. In fact, it's almost as good as his guitar playing! And let's not forget the other two talented men who have contributed to "All I Was". Eric Friedman's widespread abilities are excellent, with his guitar work, bass work, and backing vocals all up to a very high standard. Garrett Whitlock's drums are brilliant as well - heavy enough for the tone of the album, but they don't take over and leave you feeling a bit exhausted.

The thing I likes most about "All I Was" is that Tremonti has been able to indulge in his heavier side, something he's not always been able to do with ALTER BRIDGE. And even when things slow down a bit in the middle of the album with "New Way Out", which is slightly more ballad-y than the rest of the album, there's still enough heaviness to keep the listener satisfied. And y'know, that fact that it's a really good song always helps. You can tell that Tremonti has really put his heart and soul into this release though, and I think it tells us a lot about him as a person. The lyrics are pretty inspirational, basically encouraging the listener to just go out, and face the world, and there's nothing wrong with that! He does the Heavy Metal thing very, very well though. His riffs are heavy and catchy, his singing impassioned, and the song composition is just top class. Tremonti has really come into his own with "All I Was", and I think a lot of people will sit up and take notice of him now, and not just think of him as that guy from CREED/ALTER BRIDGE.

To sum up, this is an outstanding album. It's consistently good from start to finish, and it never gets boring. I'm going to listen to this a lot of times, I can already tell. I haven't been getting excited over much music recently - there's been a couple of excellent releases this year - but this has really renewed my faith in new music, and I want everyone who loves music to give this a listen, and just have a great time listening to one of the greatest guitarists out there today.

FEMME METALE (8/10)