Future Addict

Future Addict is an ambitious work on which Marty Friedman boldly reconstructs his own past songs with a new sensibility and places them alongside new songs. Re-recording classics from his Cacophony and Megadeth years with his present sensibility, it is truly intriguing content for his fans. His own distinctive pitch sense and singing guitar phrases are fully in vigor, and his broad musicality, by no means fitting the frame of metal alone, comes vividly into view. From the opener “Barbie” and the drama of “Simple Mystery” to the re-recording of the Megadeth-era classic “Tornado of Souls,” every song is engaging, while cuts like “Where My Fortune Lies” and “The Pit and the Pendulum” convey the work’s fullness. Marty Friedman’s outstanding guitar is powerfully in sharp form throughout. A record on which, even in its fast, technical passages, Eastern, distinctive resonance and a catchy pop sense mix extremely naturally. While again looking back on his long career, it powerfully shows the vigorous drive of always trying to move forward as a guitarist. An engaging record that deftly bound past and present — a record where the guitarist’s unchanging inquiry shines.