However, before he was Rob Chapman, YouTube celebrity, he was Rob Chapman, professional guitarist. After a few bands he was in disintegrated, he put out a solo EP called Red Dream and started his YouTube channel. While building his empire (he also has a guitar company called Chapman Guitars) he recorded more songs and released another EP, but none of them had a wide release.
This year, to close the chapter on his early work and forge ahead to new horizons, he's released a compilation album called Bare Bones. In it are remastered versions of songs from his Red Dream EP along with songs recorded with his short-lived band Monkey Lord and his second EP At Arms Reach. While it's a good album on its own and features some of his best work, it's lacking enough to stop it from being the definitive Chappers collection.
Red Dream was already an excellent EP (I would give it five stars if I were reviewing it here), and the remastered versions of "Black Fly," "Tibetan Cloud Dream," and his signature song, "Bleed the Light" sound even better and give the songs new life. The same can be said for "Mantra of the Monkey Lord," a song released during his early YouTube days and still one of his best.
His songs from Monkey Lord are also great tunes. While the Red Dream songs were instrumentals, the songs from Monkey Lord and "Mantra" showcase Rob's vocal range. I prefer the calmer vocals on "Mantra" than the throaty, bluesy vocals on "Breath," although he does both very well. The surprise song for me, though, is "Phantom Power." I love the near-thrash-metal riffs, the powerful vocals, and the anthemic lyrics. The only problem is that it's too short - at 1:47, it's almost over before it starts. A second verse and a bridge section would have rounded it out nicely, both in content and running time.
In fact, that's probably the biggest problem with this collection of songs - some of them are just way too short. They sound like good ideas that weren't fully flushed out. Also, the song selection could have been better. The audio quality on "White Rose" is lacking, especially next to the remastered tracks. It should have been remastered or removed from the track list, or at least relegated to "bonus track" material. Also conspicuously absent are "Brothers" and "Cannon" from Red Dream. Even though that would recreate the entire Red Dream EP, they are all good songs and really belong on this retrospective collection, even as bonus tracks. The original "Breath" could easily be removed, as all it really does is show how much better the remaster sounds.
Even with its issues, Bare Bones is a strong collection of songs and is a must-own for Chappers' legion of fans (affectionately called "monkey minions"). For others in his target audience - i.e. those who would buy Joe Satriani records - Red Dream is a better option as it includes all of his excellent instrumentals. With a better song selection I would give it five stars, but as it stands now it gets a solid four-star rating. Not bad for an eclectic collection of songs from a musician who isn't very well known outside his YouTube circle, although I have a feeling that won't be the case very long.
Good review
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