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I feel the need to pull out a little bit of childhood nostalgia. There’s quite a few bands from the early ’90’s I’ve been meaning to post about. I’ve also been doing a poor job of representing my interest in blues artists. Eric Gales strikes both of those strings… although he’s not exactly blues, just heavily blues influenced rock. To my surprise, he’s actually still cranking out albums (I have a bad habit of writing about bands that have parted ways).

There a few albums that really stick out to me from the early ’90’s. Of course, I had no choice over the matter having been in the early years of grade school, at least when in the car. Some of the more well known albums my parents played almost non-stop were Empire (1990) by Queensryche, Images and Words (1992) by Dream Theater, Ian Moore’s self-titled, various Stevie Ray Vaughan (well we did live in Texas), and a handful of others. Among those other albums was Picture of a Thousand Faces (1993) by The Eric Gales Band. I guess I just grew up with some parents that have a great taste in music, but while growing up I just assumed everyone knew the music I heard. While the first string of artists I mentioned are pretty well-known (sans Ian Moore), it seems nearly all of my friends had never heard of Eric Gales. What’s up with that?

My favorite album by Eric Gales is without a doubt Picture of a Thousand Faces. It’s rock and roll with a huge dose of blues guitar, which doesn’t come as a surprise since two of Eric Gales’ biggest influences are Jimi Hendrix and B. B. King. This album has a wonderful balance of soft and hard guitars with just the right amount of solos. Every guitar piece fits and you never get the feeling he’s just trying to show off… he’s just good, that’s all. Actually, every musician on this record is pretty good. I can’t really say they stick out as amazing musicians, but then again I’m pretty critical. I will say the bass player does a good job of really connecting the rhythm and melody and doesn’t just play the root note of whatever chord the guitar is playing. Many of the songs have a very prominent bass line. The drummer is fluid and never forces any of the fills. But really, this album is more about the guitar. If we have any serious guitar players following our site that haven’t heard of Eric Gales… they no longer have any excuse.

I will say that I only have his self-titled and Picture of a Thousand Faces while he was with the Eric Gales Band. I’ve checked out pieces from his more recent work, but it just hasn’t hit me as strong as Picture of a Thousand Faces. Regardless, he’s a great guitarist and deserves your attention.