Superheroes

From the outside, Superheroes seems to be a rather bizarre concept, as the band's members are all dressed to the nines in strange outfits and get accompanying odd nicknames; bassist John Aldrete is known as "The X-Tinguisher" and wears a red getup replete with several fire extinguishers. Apparently, the influential instrumentalists have watched one too many episodes of The Tick. Put the disc in the player and it's more along the lines you would expect from this virtuoso vehicle: a whole lot of shredding guitar solos courtesy of Paul Gilbert, intense drumming from Scott Travis (who rejoins the band during breaks from Judas Priest duties), and Jeff Martin's distinctive shriek. That said, there are some deviations from the norm this time out. Racer X's version of "Godzilla" is a Technicolor comeuppance of flash, truly making it their own; "Mad at the World" and the innuendo-laden "That Hormone Thing" border on hair metal commercialism, and "Evil Joe" is a sample- and quirk-laden rap-metal number. Still, you get the sense that Racer X will be relegated once again to preaching to the converted like most of the Guitar Institute set does. ~ Brian O'Neill, Rovi