'' Endless Road'' is a

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by Australian guitarist

Tommy Emmanuel William Thomas Emmanuel (born 31 May 1955) is an Australian guitarist. Regarded as one of the greatest acoustic guitarists of all time, he is known for his complex fingerstyle technique, energetic performances and use of percussive effects on ...

that was released in May 2004. Inside the album cover there's this note written by Emmanuel "I dedicate this album to my loving mother, Linda Virginia, who truly has been my hero, my rock, and my teacher, all my life. Though she's in heaven now, I feel her close, every day. Christmas memories/Wheels is especially for her. To my brothers and sisters I'm so grateful to have you in my life, though I don't get to see you all enough, you're always in my heart. My thanks go to so many, I can't say them all. Amanda and Angelina, my daughters, I love you. Gina Madello, Dawn Myers, Henno & Hanne, Pierpaolo and Antonella, Steve Dahl, EAW, Ken starke, Maton Guitars. Steve Vai, Susan Butler, Karen Hogan and all the folks at favored Nations. Special thanks to stephen Bennet for his mix and editing assistance And special love to all my friends and fans all over god's green earth." "Tall Fiddler" won Instrumental of the Year at the 2005

Country Music Awards of Australia The Country Music Awards of Australia also known as the Golden Guitar Awards (originally named Australasian Country Music Awards) is an annual awards night held in January during the Tamworth Country Music Festival, in Tamworth, New South Wales ...

Reception

Stuart Mason from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

said Emmanuel is "at his best when he's working with songs that have stronger melodies than his own competent but unexciting tunes. For example, on the increasingly moldy standard "Over the Rainbow" Emmanuel offers a hint of John Fahey's diffused, abstract style in its intro before moving into a more traditional iteration of the familiar melody. Even better is Emmanuel's flashy but effective reworking of the nearly as hoary "Mona Lisa," which Emmanuel turns into a shimmering, kaleidoscopic version of itself. Not all of the recastings are quite so effective: Emmanuel simply is a far better guitar player than he is a singer, and the a cappella take on

Jerry Reed Jerry Reed Hubbard (March 20, 1937 – September 1, 2008) was an American singer, guitarist, composer, and songwriter as well as an actor who appeared in more than a dozen films. His signature songs included " Guitar Man", " U.S. Male", "A Thi ...

's "Today Is Mine" does neither singer nor song any favours." Kirk Albrecht from Minor 7th said "The 17 cuts each drip with Tommy's signature style of unmatched technical prowess combined with taste, something lacking in much modern

fingerstyle guitar Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar or bass guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking (plucking individual notes with a single plectr ...

music. He can play as fast as anyone around - just listen to those licks on the bluesy "Sanatorium Shuffle", but as the slower tempo tunes on the disk demonstrate, he doesn't feel the need for pyrotechnics all the time. Emmanuel proves as adept at arranging as he does with his own writing, dazzling in his rendition of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" with cascading harmonics, pulsating hammer-ons, and arpeggios in all the right places. This is a man at one with a guitar, revealing a level of enjoyment that flows to the listener."

Reception

Track listing

Personnel

References