| Master of Paradise | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 2, 1999[1] | |||
| Recorded | Early 1999 | |||
| Studio | Clear Lake Audio (North Hollywood, Los Angeles) Allen Street Studios (New York City) | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal, instrumental rock | |||
| Length | 49:37[2] | |||
| Label | Shrapnel | |||
| Producer | Tony MacAlpine | |||
| Tony MacAlpine chronology | ||||
| ||||
Master of Paradise is the eighth studio album by guitarist Tony MacAlpine, released on November 2, 1999 through Shrapnel Records.[1] This album marks the first (and so far only) time MacAlpine himself sang on any of his releases; only two of the tracks are instrumental.
Early pressings suffered from a mastering error which resulted in the overall volume being very low.[3] This was corrected on later pressings, but yet another manufacturing error arose afterwards which remained uncorrected, this time involving the track listing: the order was printed incorrectly on the back cover, along with an image of MacAlpine mistakenly reversed to show him playing a left-handed guitar.[4] The correct track listing is shown below.
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
Steve Huey at AllMusic gave Master of Paradise three stars out of five, saying that it was not a stylistic departure from MacAlpine's previous albums while highlighting MacAlpine's singing: "The results aren't always incredible, but MacAlpine generally gets the job done, solidly if unspectacularly." He also likened his neoclassical guitar work to that of Yngwie Malmsteen and recommended the album for fans of shred guitar.[5]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Tony MacAlpine, except where noted
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Maker Is King" | 3:49 |
| 2. | "Tears of Darkness" | 5:24 |
| 3. | "Live to Die" | 6:50 |
| 4. | "Circus" | 4:14 |
| 5. | "Still" | 5:05 |
| 6. | "Master of Paradise" | 6:14 |
| 7. | "Time" | 5:18 |
| 8. | "Imagination" | 4:55 |
| 9. | "Final Hour" | 4:32 |
| 10. | "Au bord d'une source" (Franz Liszt) | 3:16 |
| Total length: | 49:37 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Tears of Darkness" | |
| 2. | "Live to Die" | |
| 3. | "Circus" | |
| 4. | "Still" | |
| 5. | "Time" | |
| 6. | "Master of Paradise" | |
| 7. | "Imagination" | |
| 8. | "Maker Is King" | |
| 9. | "Final Hour" | |
| 10. | "Au bord d'une source" |
Personnel
- Tony MacAlpine – vocals, guitar, keyboard, engineering, production
- Atma Anur – drums
- Larry Dennison – bass
- Brian Levi – engineering, mixing
- Albert Law – editing, mastering
References
- 1 2 "Solo Discography". tonymacalpine.com. Archived from the original on 2010-05-21. Retrieved 2014-11-29.
- ↑ Master of Paradise (CD release "SH 11352").
- ↑ MacAlpine, Tony. "Session Notes: Master Of Paradise". tonymacalpine.com. Archived from the original on 2008-08-28. Retrieved 2014-11-29.
- ↑ "Tony MacAlpine - Master Of Paradise Images". Discogs. Retrieved 2014-03-13.
- 1 2 Huey, Steve. "Master Of Paradise - Tony MacAlpine". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 2014-11-28.
External links
- In Review: Tony MacAlpine "Master Of Paradise" at Guitar Nine Records