Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time in Bloomington, MN

Clive Davis
once again follows his patented formula of teaming
Santana
with guest singers, having his team of producers polish everything so it will glisten on as many cross-platforms as possible. This worked remarkably well on 1999's
Supernatural
, thanks to the freshness of the concept and the presence of powerhouse pop tunes like
"Smooth"
and
"Maria Maria,"
Guitar Heaven
follows the formula to a T, right down to bringing in all the superstars of 2000 --
Rob Thomas
,
Chris Cornell
Scott Weiland
Jacoby Shaddix
Gavin Rossdale
Pat Monahan
Chester Bennington
-- to act as frontmen, along with
Chris Daughtry
, who feels like he should be part of this class. They're balanced by a handful of non-rockers (
India.Arie
Nas
), a blues guitarist in the form of
Jonny Lang
, and, for old fans,
Joe Cocker
singing
Hendrix
, with each track produced as a pop tune, not a rock song. There are no reinterpretations -- not even the
-fronted
"Back in Black"
changes the song much -- just well-known riffs and re-created runs, winding up as something of a celebration of the original recordings. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine