See What I See
Fourth Estate Hap Skratch What can you say negative about a musicians' band like Fourth Estate? Very little in the prowess department. The only obvious area to attack from a critic's point of view is the "over indulgence in their musical abilities" cliche' but Fourth Estate has the wonderful ability to create songs that stand up on their own three feet. This instrumental trio writes songs that sound as full as music with vocals. The melodies dip and soar like a vocalist with something to say. And those are all just comments on the band Fourth Estate. What's specifically special about this album is the band has taken its diversity another three steps further. Adding lots of ethnicity to its repertoire, Fourth Estate uses some Middle Eastern rhythms and percussive styles (Ya gotta hear the three-part "Kara Kum." It would make a good follow-up to "Kashmir."). I don't know if it's the addition of new drummer Dave Spurr or not, but Fourth Estate has gotten decidedly heavier. Not content to make just classically-influenced instrumental music, this band jackhammers out some nail-drivin' hard music! Some is aggressive and experimental in nature, like the aptly named "Primal Roots," which sounds like a muscle-bound guitarist warming up for a prize fight. In "Blue Flame," the guitarist Dave Beegle and bassist Fred Babich start out with distortion and a super low 'n' heavy tone that's a page right out of the Black Sabbath "slow 'n' heavy" musical notebook. "Crazy Ivan" is a tune that lets drummer Dave Spurr take some of the spotlight. The only quiet moments of solitude here come in the beautiful song "Tast of Heaven," which shows the boys are still excelling at both finesse and fury. With the headphones on high and a title like See What I See, I can only boast that you definitely need to hear what I hear. By Doug Van Pelt HM Magazine #58 April/May '96 Any band that releases a whole album of instrumental progressive rock deserves a big cheer for having the nerve to do so in the grunge- and punk-soaked Nineties. The album gets off to a slow start, but takes off once Fourth Estate match their promethean musical shops with some equally intense compositions. Standouts include the Spanish-sounding, Di Meolaesque rocker "Crazy Ivan" and "Blue Flame," a mesmerizing bit of Hendrix-inspired psychedelia in which guitarist Dave Beegle, who favors unusual chord voicings, alternate tunings and exotic melodies, thrashes his guitar into a delightful, wailing stupor. The albums absolute killer, however, is the epic, three-part "Kara Kum," a gyrating, mutating, Arabic-metal, prog-rock showstopper that sounds like Zeppelin, Rush and Genesis rolled into one." By Mordechai Kleidermacher,Guitar World, September, 1996. You never know what you might fine in flyover land, better known as the ncharted musical plains between L. A. and New York City. Fourth Estate is a progressive guitar power trio from Colorado whose second album is full of broad, colorful musical landscapes sketched by guitarist Dave Beegle and the TransPerformance DTS system he uses, which automatically retunes a guitar to preprogrammed tunings while it’s being played. Crossing the prog rock of Dream Theater with the parading melodies of Joe Satriani, and tossing in a little Rush and Eric Johnson and some Rock Mountain air for spice, Fourth Estate has created an impressive album that fans of all brands of guitar fusions will enjoy. FYI, Beegle was featured last month in our "Best Guitarists You’ve Never Heard Of" piece." By Buzz Morison, Guitar, May, 1996 Prog-rock is alive and well in the hands of this trio. Dave Beegle’s innovative use of the TransPerformance DTS-1, which changes tunings instantly, is truly mind-boggling." By Chriss Gill, Guitar Player, March, 1996. From start to finish, this album rocks with an intensity, artistic flair, technical perfection, and brass bright polish which gives a compelling testimony to the world class talent of Fourth Estate. This band is surely the most exciting group to come out of Colorado in a very long time. If you’re not familiar with Dave Beegle and his cutting-edge axe, his self tuning guitar, you’ve got a little bit of catching up to do. You’re not going to find this guitar hanging in your favorite shop in town. It’s a custom job, and unless you’re willing to break into Jimmy Page’s house or Beegle’s, you’re out of luck. You can, however, hear this awesome stick wielded with pure perfection on this, their latest release. See What I See is their second full length CD, and is something of a departure from their last outing, Finesse and Fury, which was released in 1992. The songs on this album are markedly harder, with driving rhythms and some songs which reflect a distinctly Easten influence, especially on the last half of the album. The band members are: Dave Beegle on guitar, Fred Babich on Bass, with Dave Spurr handling the percussion end of things. It’s really hard to make comparisons, since these guys craft a blend of music which is distinctly their own, and the TransPerformance DTS-1 produces sounds which cannot be duplicated by other guitars. Some of the arrangements have a bit of a Phil Keaggy flair to them, while others lend toward the Joe Satriani end of the spectrum. Layers of screaming, weeping, singing guitar tracks, melodic bass lines, and inspirational rhythms weave a glittering tapestry of musical bliss, and you will be very sorry if you let your CD collection stand without this album!" The Nerve November, 1995. When you hear the words guitar rock, what goes through your head? Frampton, Skynard or Zeplin? Possibly of those. But for local guitar rock, one only need hear Fourth Estatre’s latest release, See What I See. The most unique quality about Fourth Estate is that there is no vocalist. But once the album begins, you hardly notice the absence of vocals. There simply is no need. The music speaks for itself, and each instrument adds the right amount of emphasis around the blazing guitar riffs. The Hammer Song" blend Joe Satriani with straight-laced Eddie Van Halen style licks, and there is the hard rocking climax to the song that reminds one of flying down th highway on a Harley and being clad in black leather. One can also hear traces of a Pink Floyd influence on the second and sixth tracks. This band must be amazing to see live when the recordings capture so much soul in the music." By Cathy Hough & Joe Endorf Scene The arts & entertainment guide for northern Colorado and northern Wyoming The difference between Fourth Estate’s debut album and this album is palpable. Finesse and Fury was etched in flawless technique but lacked a certain humanness, creating a distance that, while less evident during the band’s phenomenal live performances, did hinder listeners from bring into tight focus for themselves the breathtaking experience that is Fourth Estate. This outing finds bassist Fred Babich and guitar wunderkind Dave Beegle in stunning form, weaving emotion and technique together to achieve an artistry that is, quite frankly, astounding. You’ll have to look to the likes of Bela Fleck or Steve Tibbetts to find instrumental music of this caliber. All this is due in no small part to Fourth Estate’s new drummer, Dave Spurr (formerly of Phil Keaggy’s band). Spurred on as it were, the band has finally captured in the studio a groove that gives their music flesh and blood. This is also the first album to make full use of the self-tuning guitar technology. And just what is that technology? It allows Beegle to switch tunings instantaneously in the middle of a song. In short, the way a guitar can sound and be used in songwriting is about to change forever. Be the first on your block to let Beegle and company introduce you to the future. By Dave Canfield, Cornerstone Vol. 25 Issue 109 Wood and wire, that's all that a guitar is to some people. But to Colorado power rock fusion trio, Fourth Estate, the guitar is a whole world of expression and passion. All you have to do is see guitarist Dave Beegle in the throes of some electric ecstasy to know what I mean. Of course, Beegle is only one third of the band. Fred Babich wields his bass like a full, thundering orchestra and Dave Spurr dominates his drum with unyielding intensity. But it's the guitar, a special guitar at that, that takes this band from being just another night's entertainment to being a unique and powerful inspiration. That's on stage and on record too. It's been three years since the release of Fourth Estate's excellent debut CD, Finesse and Fury, and the arrival of their brand new CD, See What I See on Hapi Skratch Records, is provoking plenty of celebration among the group's fans, and hopefully making a whole legion of new ones as well. See What I See even impresses the band members themselves. "After finishing the new album, and then listening back to the first o ne, the ban's growth became really clear. The new music is more emotional, and sonically it's way beyond what we were doing then," Beegle said in a recent band interview. Finesse and Fury rode the thin, sharp line between technique and expression with a unique flair and confident control. See What I See, however, goes far beyond with a music that not only pushes the envelope of where rock guitar can go, but it leaves deeper, richer impressions. "The music is cinematic and thematic in the sense of creating musical soundscapes. An analogy would be classical music that creates a mood and allows the listener to imagine things for themselves. We'd like to think we're doing the same thing in the rock spectrum," Babich said. A big part of the band's new sound comes from Beegle's association wit the DTS-01 guitar invention created and manufactured by the Fort Collins company, TransPerformance. The DTS-1 is a programmable device that turns a standard guitar into an instrument with nearly infinite tuning possibilities. Beegle and Fourth Estate have been demonstrating the DTS-1 for TransPerformance and were the first band to use the device on a recording. "What the DTS-1 actually does is orchestrate the guitar. It makes the range much broader than a guitar left in one tuning. It expands the sound of the guitar, Beegle said. The beauty of the DTS-1 device is that it not only can change the tuning of a guitar, but it can do so in the middle of a song, several times, if needed. This not only expands the sounds the guitar can make, but it also adds to the composition possibilities. Think of it, if a musician can access tens-of-thousands of tunings at the punch of a button, what happens to the boundaries of songwriting? That's right, the boundaries become a matter of human mind and not the limitations of the instrument. And Fourth Estate is up to that challenge. On See What I See, the influence of the DTS-1, the skills of three talented musicians and the echoes of world music that affected the group on a tour in Eastern Europe all come together in a powerful and fiery way in the three-part suite, "Kara Kum." The wild excess of rock electricity meets the mysterious depths of primal melodies and rhythms for a tour de force of creative instrumental music. All of this puts Fourth Estate in the forefront of rock innovation, which is exactly where they want to be. "When I sit and play the record for people, I'm proud of the fact that we're on the cutting edge," Spurr said. They should be proud. And anyone interested in musical innovation should be proud to add See What I See to their CD collection. This isn't just local music, this is the music of the future. Beat Comic News January 1996
Chris Well, 7-Ball Magazine May/June 1996 Number 6
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