Oleg Izotov
WWC-038 Олег Изотов
Back in USSR (after a fairly long side-trip)
I was a huge rock fan back in the day. I wore the grooves off Hendrix, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, not to mention Jethro Tull, Genesis and many others. Concerts were the thing back then, the bigger the better. I’ve been to more than a few and still have fond memories of those days, save the time I was nearly crushed in the panic to get into Genesis when they played Ottawa in 1976. Nearly went through the damn glass! General admission concerts can be really dangerous.
All that said, I parted ways with classic rock many years ago and have no regrets, as I believe what began with rock has moved far beyond the (lack of) boundaries set by the rock ethos, which was more or less my creed as a young guy. The material I’ve presented so far speaks to how far I’ve moved away from the genre, but the old expression “gold is where you find it” still applies, and Oleg Izatov is a case in point - perhaps the best case today in the sense that he not only carries on the tradition, but adds his own highly original chops to the genre.
It took a bit of effort to write the above lines because I kept getting distracted as I was trying to do a final listen-through at the same time. I should have known better. You can’t put this music on in the background and expect it to stay there, it’s just too damn good. Have a listen and see if you don’t agree.
All the material in this program was studio recorded, and very well done in my opinion, but the true test is what he sounds like live (note the 7 string guitar).
Biography ~ Official Website ~ YouTube Channel
