''Flamenco A Go-Go'' is the second

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

released by guitarist and songwriter

Steve Stevens Steve Stevens (born Steven Bruce Schneider; May 5, 1959) is an American guitarist. He is best known as Billy Idol's guitarist and songwriting collaborator, and for his lead guitar work on the theme to ''Top Gun'' – " Top Gun Anthem" – for ...

, best known for playing for

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...

for several years. It was recorded in his home studio, and is mostly an instrumental album with a few vocal sections.

Musical genres and influences

Despite the title, the album is not a traditional

flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...

album. Stevens reported drawing inspiration from noted flamenco player

Paco de Lucía Francisco Sánchez Gómez (21 December 194725 February 2014), known as Paco de Lucía (;), was a Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist, composer, and record producer. A leading proponent of the new flamenco style, he was one of the first flam ...

after seeing him play live. The album features acoustic Spanish guitar but also departs from the flamenco genre by including electric guitar, drum and bass loops, electronics, ambient sounds and

midi MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and ...

gear. It has contributions from session musicians Greg Ellis (percussion) and

Vinnie Colaiuta Vincent Peter Colaiuta (born February 5, 1956) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician in many genres. He was inducted into the '' Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 1996 and the ''Classic Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2014. Cola ...

(drums).

Reviews

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 databa ...

was very positive, calling it a "wonderful surprise", by "one of the finest guitarists of the past 20 years" and saying it will catch listeners "off guard", with dance record overtones and rhythms that will "grab every listener". Other reviewers were not quite as kind: "This solo debut from the

Bozzio Levin Stevens Bozzio Levin Stevens is an American supergroup power trio formed by drummer Terry Bozzio (Frank Zappa, U.K., Missing Persons, Steve Vai, Jeff Beck), bassist and Chapman Stick player Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, Liquid Tension Experim ...

guitarist is quite entertaining. As anyone who's listened to either BLS album might expect, there's a large serving of really fast Spanish guitar picking on here, and a lot of it is really melodic and quite beautiful. Also unsurprisingly, there's a fair share of wankery. With many of the songs, Stevens tries to combine his flamenco-styled picking with rock, jazz, and/or new age influences, with mixed results."
Stevens said at the time: :''I kind of reached an end to playing real loud, aggressive stuff. With the shred guitar thing, it always seems like I was playing to guys who were standing there with score cards or something. We weren’t creating an emotional event - it was a gymnastic event.''

Track listing

#"Flamenco A Go-Go" #"Cinecitta" #"Our Man In Istanbul" #"Letter To A Memory" #"Feminova" #"Velvet Cage" #"Hanina" Featuring

Faudel Faudel Belloua ( ar, فُضيل بيلوى; born June 6, 1978) is a French raï singer and actor of Algerian descent. He released studio albums, notably '' Baïda'', '' Samra'', ''Un Autre Soleil'' and ''Mundial Corrida'' and the live album '' ...

#"Dementia" #"Twilight In Your Hands" #"Riviera" #"Jazz...An Evil Power" (Japanese Edition Bonus Track)

References

{{Authority control Steve Stevens albums 2000 albums Blues albums by American artists Dance music albums by American artists