  Mike Keneally Band
Guitar Therapy Live [Deluxe Edition]
By Barry Cleveland, Guitar Player, September 2006
Savvy guitarists have followed Mike Keneally since his early days playing with Frank Zappa, but never before has the San Diegan six-string slinger indulged them with such a purely guitar-oriented outing. Drawing on material from throughout his career, Keneally and his "dream band" of bassist Bryan Beller, drummer Joe Travers, and guitarist Rick Musallam blaze through each number with a joyous passion that often exceeds that of the fine studio versions. Highlights include the incendiary wah-wahing on the Zappa-esque "Lightnin' Roy" and "Uglytown," the fiery funk strutting on "Panda," the boiling point blues-isms on "Top of Stove Melting," and then brooding loveliness of "Machupicchu." Keneally plays a "smoothly snarling" humbucker-equipped "Strat" on most pieces rather than his usual green Fender. Keneally also plays keyboards on a few songs, allowing Musallam, who is a fine guitarist, to solo on his '74 Les Paul. The Deluxe Edition includes a DVD of the band's July 30, 2005 performance at Studio City's Baked Potato mixed both in stereo and Dolby 5.1 Surround-- and it's well worth the additional cost, as you get a bird's-eye view of all the fretboard action, as well as an amusing and informative band commentary track.
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