Listening to Bullseye by Shawn Christie makes me feel nostalgic. There was a time (a couple of decades ago) when instrumental music was fairly popular. Although I wouldn’t say Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Eric Johnson were ever household names like The Rolling Stones or The Beatles, they were on the cover of magazines and talked about quite often in conversation.
Christie unapologetically embraces the best aspects of these artists. You can hear it on “Forever Summer” which captures the spirit of a summer jam. This is the type of song you play loud with the windows down on a nice summer day. Christie’s skills are immediately apparent on this track.
“Ladies and Djents” might be even better. It’s a dynamite song exploding with metal riffs and a steady rhythm section. Christie’s precise timing on lead is a thing to behold. It’s one thing to be fast but another level to execute this kind of metronome like pace. I should mention this song has more than just lead guitar. There are some very cool sections like right before the three- minute mark that creates a juxtaposition with intense tom heavy beat and lush guitar picking. What a song.
I wasn’t expecting the country flavor on “Blueberry Jam” but I loved everything second. Imagine a country tune with a fast BPM and one of the more dance worthy grooves you have heard to go line dancing.
There are also more reflective moments like when you hear “Only When The Sun Shines” and motivational moments when you hear “From The Six.” One of my personal favorites was the lush and serene “Isobar.”
Things get heavy on “Locution” while “Distant Thought” sounds a lot like the title. Christie has more up his sleeves with “Intransigent” which makes good use of keys and synth to support the guitar work. Last up is “Still Chasing” which felt ballad-like in an epic fashion.
I loved that Christie was able to create such a diverse album while sticking to his strength which is lead guitar. This was a killer instrumental guitar album. I hope to catch this live one day.