Trex - Guitarded (1987)

  1. Trav and Jess Singing [0:17] 1987-0?-?? - 1987-0?-??
  2. Guitar Filler 1 [1:07] 1987-0?-?? - 1987-0?-??
  3. Guitar Filler 2 [2:03] 1987-0?-?? - 1987-0?-??
  4. Guitarded 1 [1:21] 1987-0?-?? - 1987-0?-??
  5. Guitarded 2 [2:12] 1987-0?-?? - 1987-0?-??
  6. Guitarded 3 [3:05] 1987-0?-?? - 1987-0?-??
  7. Guitarded 4 [4:10] 1987-0?-?? - 1987-0?-??
  8. Guitarded 5 [4:51] 1987-0?-?? - 1987-0?-??
  9. Testing 1-4-3 [0:03] 1987-03-16 - 1987-03-16
  10. Warm Up 2 [1:20] 1987-03-16 - 1987-03-16
  11. Bossanova Bunch [5:14] 1987-03-16 - 1987-03-16
  12. First Dance Blues [12:01] 1987-03-16 - 1987-03-16
  13. Arpeggio Attack [12:05] 1987-03-16 - 1987-03-16
  14. Take One [14:56] 1987-03-16 - 1987-03-16
  15. Indian Piano [1:03] 1987-??-?? - 1987-??-??
  16. Christian Rap [2:31] 1987-??-?? - 1987-??-??
  17. Waiting for Ian to Call Back [4:15] 1987-10-22 - 1987-10-22
  18. Where's That Buzz? [0:02] 1987-10-22 - 1987-10-22
  19. Take-off on a Simple Melody [5:35] 198?-??-?? - 198?-??-??

This album has a bunch of "firsts" but not many good songs.

It starts with an attempt to teach my sister Jessica a particular background vocal. She apparently couldn't get it, and I guess I gave up on the idea of collaborating with her. It wasn't until the next album (Five Dollar Drummer) that I learned how to sing my background vocals.

After ditching my sister, I picked up my Dad's acoustic guitar. This resulted in a tortuous set of guitar and keyboard drum jams. They're awful. Now you know why I haven't chosen the guitar as my primary instrument!

Eventually I got bored with the guitar (or perhaps Dad took it away), so I focused back on the keyboard. I piddled my way through some long, preset-dominated improvs, none of which are any good. I tried my Dad's cornet on one of those songs. Eek. After that, I hopped on the piano, tried to rap, made a phone call, etc. I was all over the place, trying to find an instrumental setup that "clicked".

The album ends with a "jam session" with my Dad. Unlike the opening track with my sister, this was a true musical collaboration, with Dad on the keyboard and me on french horn and percussion. The process and results were so painful that we never did this again, at least not on tape. Maybe someday...

As you can see, there's lots of new instruments and experimentation on this album. I think I was feeling limited by my keyboard's rigid presets and my inability to record multiple passes per song. On the next album (Five Dollar Drummer), I started multitracking, which let me create more complex (and satisfying) songs with lots of instruments, harmonies, etc.

However, Guitarded isn't there yet. It's the awkward precursor, and is of historical interest only. No gems here.