Thursday, December 8, 2011

Review: Rob Chapman - Bare Bones

I've been following Rob Chapman - a.k.a. Chappers, a.k.a. The Monkey Lord - on YouTube for a few years now, and while I continue to watch his videos for his humor and his personality, it doesn't hurt that he's also a world class guitarist and an equally good guitar instructor.

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.