★★★★★
Sound: Swing Shift is legendary guitar virtuoso Rik Emmett's fifth album and like the previous four is amazing. Crafted by a humble artist who has yet to lose brilliant ear for writing spiritually influenced masterpieces. Though this is his fifth album it is remembered more for being the second in a trilogy under the idea of the Open House Collection. The first one was an all-instrumental masterpiece detailing Rik's breath-taking Classical concept album...
- www.ultimate-guitar.com
2010-12-07
★★★★★
I'm willing to concede that Rik Emmett, who once anchored the rock trio Triumph, is a talented picker with a precise, clean sound. What his Swing Shift lacks is any trace of originality or true inspiration. Emmett and his band, the Open House Collective, breeze through 12 original compositions (now there's an oxymoron) that borrow heavily from just about every major guitarist you've ever heard...
- www.allaboutjazz.com
2009-06-05
★★★★★
Although drummer Gil Moore split lead vocal duties with guitar ace Rik Emmett in Triumph, it seemed like Emmett was the true "face" (and creative force) of the band. This was proven further after Emmett exited the band in the early '90s -- as the group split up after a single post-Emmett release, and the guitarist launched a solo career that is still going strong. By the time of his 2003 solo release, Good Faith, Emmett had completely shifted musical styles...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-28
★★★★★
Well done, if derivative, The Spiral Notebook skirts the edges of power pop, hard rock, stadium rock, and quite a bit more (on the opening "Anything You Say," Emmett's vocals have a startling resemblance to those of Rod Stewart) There's an Eagles flavor to "Raise High," which does the same job of co-opting reggae that "Hotel California" did, and this is the pattern that the entire album follows -- it becomes a little like listening to an hour of AOR radio.
- music.aol.com
2008-08-28