Derek Buddemeyer - Afterthoughts
We were recently put onto Derek Buddemeyer, a hard rock guitarist and instrumental musician drawing influence from the bands he grew up listening to such as Van Halen, Def Leppard and Stryper. Developing his own style filled with edgy pop metal guitar rhythms, emotional solos and the occasional piano/synth based ballad, he sent us through a copy of his record Afterthoughts to check out – so who were we to say no!
Please note: the order in which the tracks are reviewed below doesn’t necessarily represent the order of the tracks on the album, but merely the order in which the tracks ended up on my hard drive.
As A Change Of Heart gets things going at this end, there’s an immediate sense of toned down rock, the sort of thing which evokes thoughts of a time gone by and leaves you sitting back and just listening to what’s going on. Combining the roving bass line with a piano line before ushering in the soft and melodic guitar work, the track seems to grow around you, almost oozing over you and leaving you immersed in a sense of emotional melody, it’s a clever track which certainly shows of some serious song writing ability. A New Dawn matches this same sort of style, opening with an almost atmospheric edge to things and showing that a guitar doesn’t always have to be whacked through a distortion pedal to achieve something which can pack a punch. Once again crafting an emotional sound throughout the track, this is another one which will bring back memories and leave you thinking, the sort of thing which will remind you of things you’d long forgotten and really bring back all of the emotions of that moment in life. Soft, melodic and yet surprisingly uplifting, this is a definite high point on the record for me, a track to make sure you check out.
Title track Afterthoughts follows on, once again opening with a soft piano line which gets things going and creates a sense of emotional reflection. Soft yet suggesting at more power to follow, there’s something incredible about the way this track impacts from the word go, turning from a simple song into something more dramatic and hard hitting. Emotionally charged once again, this is a track which is one of my personal favourites from the record, and it’s easy to see why it’s the title track of the record as a whole. Go into this with an open mind and you’re shown someone that doesn’t just understand the guitar, but the piano and synth also, and someone who has the ability to craft a track which could happily accompany a dramatic scene in a movie through the movements the track adopts. It’s surprising then that the guitar takes a backseat on this track, allowing everything else to form the basis of the track and leaving you demanding more as soon as the track comes to a close. Offering up Breathing In The New to bring on more, we’re suddenly thrust from the powerful melee of elements into a world more focused on the guitar. Ushering in the distortion pedal for this track, the electronic elements combine with the powerful guitar lines and form into another dramatic track, this time focusing on a soaring lead line and showing just how awesome a guitar can sound when it’s really put to work. Upbeat and well-tempered once again, I like the summery feel of this track, it’s the sort of thing which brings about images of driving along the coast, images of days in the sun, and the sort of thing which would happily play out whilst you’re say in the garden with a cool beer.
Lift-Off continues the upbeat and guitar orientated rock approach of the album, demonstrating further that we’re dealing with an accomplished guitarist here. Opening with the lift off countdown before asking what this nob does, my only answer is that if they’ve found a button which results in this sound, I need to get one for myself! Moving away from the hard hitting approach, Morning After comes up next and presents a gentler approach, almost musically representing the feeling of a thick head after a night of drinking. Whether it was the intention or not, the fuzzy bass lines combine with the synth through this track and really set a scene of calm and quiet, showing off the melodic and calm approach once again, but showing how much of an impact it can have when it’s done right. Once again presenting us with a track which sits the guitar back, it’s another track which does what it should and keeps us listening to the record to see what comes next.
New Groove presents us with just that, a different approach which once again moves in to take the lead. Soft and acoustic, this track is another sunny day track for sure, the sort of track which will sit you back and ask you to relax, engulfing you in the acoustic guitar backing and tossing in a sense of progressive style rock through the synth and drum combination which keeps the movement alive. It’s no shock then when Remember When comes in to take over and presents us with another chilled out opening, but the ensuing guitar line is a definite moment which will sit you back and make you take note. Powerful and once again demonstrating just what a guitar should sound like, the shift from calm to this upbeat melee of elements is striking, once again showing the dramatic side to things and leaving us unsure as to whether one approach is better than the other, or whether both simply work well and we should be content with what we’re hearing.
Approaching the end of the album with Sandstorms, we’re shown an eastern influence to the music and presented with a track which stands out as another of my personal favourites from the record. Upbeat, heavy, melodic and using the guitar to the best of its abilities, this stand out track is one to make sure you check out, and a moment which I know will stay with me for a fair while to come. It’s only left then to Wicked Little Sister to close the record, finishing on an upbeat and heavy approach, leaving no doubt that this has been an album to return to time and time again. Rolling drums, soaring guitar lines, pounding bass rhythms and more of that synth all work together to aplomb throughout this track, finishing on a high and hammering out one final high point to convert anyone that might have had any doubts before now!
Normally on a 10 track album I try to write about 7 or 8 tracks, and skip over a couple as otherwise you end up with a massive write up (like this), but with Afterthoughts from Derek Buddemeyer it was impossible to skip any as each one presents a slightly different approach. From start to finish this is an album which will keep you interested, keep you listening, and show that there’s someone out there waving the flag of real, guitar driven rock and synth drive ballads. Do I want to hear more? Hell yes I want to hear more….definitely one to get hold of!
To find out more about Derek Buddemeyer and his music, check out his Facebook page HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls
Please note: the order in which the tracks are reviewed below doesn’t necessarily represent the order of the tracks on the album, but merely the order in which the tracks ended up on my hard drive.
As A Change Of Heart gets things going at this end, there’s an immediate sense of toned down rock, the sort of thing which evokes thoughts of a time gone by and leaves you sitting back and just listening to what’s going on. Combining the roving bass line with a piano line before ushering in the soft and melodic guitar work, the track seems to grow around you, almost oozing over you and leaving you immersed in a sense of emotional melody, it’s a clever track which certainly shows of some serious song writing ability. A New Dawn matches this same sort of style, opening with an almost atmospheric edge to things and showing that a guitar doesn’t always have to be whacked through a distortion pedal to achieve something which can pack a punch. Once again crafting an emotional sound throughout the track, this is another one which will bring back memories and leave you thinking, the sort of thing which will remind you of things you’d long forgotten and really bring back all of the emotions of that moment in life. Soft, melodic and yet surprisingly uplifting, this is a definite high point on the record for me, a track to make sure you check out.
Title track Afterthoughts follows on, once again opening with a soft piano line which gets things going and creates a sense of emotional reflection. Soft yet suggesting at more power to follow, there’s something incredible about the way this track impacts from the word go, turning from a simple song into something more dramatic and hard hitting. Emotionally charged once again, this is a track which is one of my personal favourites from the record, and it’s easy to see why it’s the title track of the record as a whole. Go into this with an open mind and you’re shown someone that doesn’t just understand the guitar, but the piano and synth also, and someone who has the ability to craft a track which could happily accompany a dramatic scene in a movie through the movements the track adopts. It’s surprising then that the guitar takes a backseat on this track, allowing everything else to form the basis of the track and leaving you demanding more as soon as the track comes to a close. Offering up Breathing In The New to bring on more, we’re suddenly thrust from the powerful melee of elements into a world more focused on the guitar. Ushering in the distortion pedal for this track, the electronic elements combine with the powerful guitar lines and form into another dramatic track, this time focusing on a soaring lead line and showing just how awesome a guitar can sound when it’s really put to work. Upbeat and well-tempered once again, I like the summery feel of this track, it’s the sort of thing which brings about images of driving along the coast, images of days in the sun, and the sort of thing which would happily play out whilst you’re say in the garden with a cool beer.
Lift-Off continues the upbeat and guitar orientated rock approach of the album, demonstrating further that we’re dealing with an accomplished guitarist here. Opening with the lift off countdown before asking what this nob does, my only answer is that if they’ve found a button which results in this sound, I need to get one for myself! Moving away from the hard hitting approach, Morning After comes up next and presents a gentler approach, almost musically representing the feeling of a thick head after a night of drinking. Whether it was the intention or not, the fuzzy bass lines combine with the synth through this track and really set a scene of calm and quiet, showing off the melodic and calm approach once again, but showing how much of an impact it can have when it’s done right. Once again presenting us with a track which sits the guitar back, it’s another track which does what it should and keeps us listening to the record to see what comes next.
New Groove presents us with just that, a different approach which once again moves in to take the lead. Soft and acoustic, this track is another sunny day track for sure, the sort of track which will sit you back and ask you to relax, engulfing you in the acoustic guitar backing and tossing in a sense of progressive style rock through the synth and drum combination which keeps the movement alive. It’s no shock then when Remember When comes in to take over and presents us with another chilled out opening, but the ensuing guitar line is a definite moment which will sit you back and make you take note. Powerful and once again demonstrating just what a guitar should sound like, the shift from calm to this upbeat melee of elements is striking, once again showing the dramatic side to things and leaving us unsure as to whether one approach is better than the other, or whether both simply work well and we should be content with what we’re hearing.
Approaching the end of the album with Sandstorms, we’re shown an eastern influence to the music and presented with a track which stands out as another of my personal favourites from the record. Upbeat, heavy, melodic and using the guitar to the best of its abilities, this stand out track is one to make sure you check out, and a moment which I know will stay with me for a fair while to come. It’s only left then to Wicked Little Sister to close the record, finishing on an upbeat and heavy approach, leaving no doubt that this has been an album to return to time and time again. Rolling drums, soaring guitar lines, pounding bass rhythms and more of that synth all work together to aplomb throughout this track, finishing on a high and hammering out one final high point to convert anyone that might have had any doubts before now!
Normally on a 10 track album I try to write about 7 or 8 tracks, and skip over a couple as otherwise you end up with a massive write up (like this), but with Afterthoughts from Derek Buddemeyer it was impossible to skip any as each one presents a slightly different approach. From start to finish this is an album which will keep you interested, keep you listening, and show that there’s someone out there waving the flag of real, guitar driven rock and synth drive ballads. Do I want to hear more? Hell yes I want to hear more….definitely one to get hold of!
To find out more about Derek Buddemeyer and his music, check out his Facebook page HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls