''Concrete Gardens'' is the eleventh studio album by guitarist Tony MacAlpine, released on April 21, 2015, through Sun Dog Records.""Concrete Gardens" - Out Now!"
. tonymacalpine.com. 2015-02-21. Retrieved 2015-04-25. The album was first announced by MacAlpine on his official website in October 2013, with more details in February and December 2014. MacAlpine, Tony (2014-12-31)
"Happy New Year 2015: "Concrete Gardens" live at EMGtv"
tonymacalpine.com. Retrieved 2015-03-26. An official release date was announced in March 2015, along with the cover art, different editions of the album, and a U.S. tour schedule."New "Concrete Gardens" North American tour dates! [Updated"]
tonymacalpine.com. 2015-03-25. Retrieved 2015-03-26. To further promote ''Concrete Gardens'', a series of live studio performances of several songs were filmed for EMGtv,""Square Circles" live with special guest Jeff Loomis on EMGtv!"
tonymacalpine.com. 2015-04-15. Retrieved 2015-04-18. featuring guitarist Nili Brosh, drummer Aquiles Priester, and bassist Pete Griffin. Guitarist

Jeff Loomis Jeff Loomis (born September 14, 1971) is an American musician, best known for his role as lead guitarist in the progressive metal band Nevermore during its existence from 1991 to 2011, as well as brief tenures in its precursor, Sanctuary (band) ...

is featured as a guest soloist on "Square Circles".

Critical reception

Aaron Small at ''

Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles ''Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'' (''BW&BK'') is a Canadian heavy metal magazine. Although based in Toronto, Canada, ''BW&BK'' features writers from the US, Germany and the UK, allowing the magazine to represent metal music from an internationa ...

'' gave ''Concrete Gardens'' a rating of 8.0, praising MacAlpine's skill at creating instrumental melodies in place of lyrics, "thereby building unique songs full of colourful character." He listed "Exhibitionist Blvd", "Man in a Metal Cage", "Napoleon's Puppet" and "Confessions of a Medieval Monument" as highlights, but criticism was directed at the final track, the instrumental piano piece "Maiden's Wish", for sounding out of place on the album and more appropriate for the early 1900s

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

era.Small, Aaron (2015-04-17)
"Tony MacAlpine – Concrete Gardens"
''

''. Retrieved 2015-11-06.

Track listing

Personnel

* Tony MacAlpine –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

(tracks 2, 3, 5, 10),

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

– guitar

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

(track 8) * Aquiles Priester –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

*Pete Griffin – bass (tracks 1, 4, 6–8) *Lucky Islam – bass (track 9) *Sean Delson – bass (track 11) *Adair Daufembach – mixing *Seva David Ball – mastering *Michael Mesker – executive production

References

External links

Interview with Tony MacAlpine
at The Musician's Talk Show {{Authority control Tony MacAlpine albums 2015 albums Albums recorded in a home studio