Scott Van Zen - No Words (2019)

Instrumental guitarist Scott Van Zen is a hugely talented musician and composer who’s capable of pulling every possible human emotion out of his ax. A pro since age 14, Van Zen attended the Guitar Institute of Technology in Hollywood, California and has written and produced music for NBC, Fox, Paramount Television, Warner Brothers, MTV, ABC, and more. Van Zen worked on albums by Kiss, toured with Brian Howe of Bad Co., and earned a Dove Award with recording artist Ken Tamplin. His latest solo release, No Words, is a supremely listenable blast of singer-free rock music that shows Van Zen and his heavenly Strat tones getting things done at an elevated level.

No Words is more interesting and fun than most instrumental guitar albums, mostly due to Van Zen standing his rock and roll ground and never lapsing over into New Age happy jazz, inauthentic blues, or country. Van Zen has a strong identity as a guitarist with a genuine affinity for rock and blues-influenced playing that runs through everything he does without apology. You can tell he’s much more than a roadhouse rocker and that he has chops to burn but he keeps every note real and never sounds academic.

The record was tracked over the last year and a half and features Scott Van Zen playing the styles he loves. This record is meant for all you guitar fans out there who just can’t get enough hot licks to be satisfied. The cuts here are all cool and memorable and are much more than just vamps to shred over. Van Zen packs considerable compositional muscle and wields it well, which makes No Words engaging, accessible, and artistic. ~Mike O’Cull