Let The Music Do The Talking... Pt 2...

And now... for round 2 of our tour of instrumental acrobatics... Kicking things off is the pairing of two of the best guitarists in rock today... Orianthi and Steve Vai...

Orianthi - Highly Strung [feat. Steve Vai] [Believe/2009]

First appearing at the 51st Grammy awards as Carrie Underwood's guitarist it was there she garnered the attention of Michael Jackson who asked her to be the guitarist for the This Is It tour, which never came to fruition due to his death... She has jammed with Carlos Santana and is currently the lead guitarist for Alice Cooper... In 2010 she won "Breakthrough Guitarist Of The Year" by Guitar International Magazine...

Rainbow - Difficult To Cure [Difficult To Cure/1981]

Beethoven's "Ode To Joy" [9th Symphony, 4th Movement] re-arranged by Ritchie Blackmore, Roger Glover and Don Airey for the 1981 Rainbow album of the same name... A concert staple for the band and done on their live album "Finyl Vinyl" with a symphony orchestra at The Budokan...

The Allman Brothers - Jessica [Brothers & Sisters/1973]

Written by Dickie Betts and is named for his daughter... And it was a classic before they started using it as the theme to the tv show "Top Gear"...

Journey - With A Tear [Time3 Box Set/1992]

Previously unreleased, but appearing on disc 3 of the box set... it fits right into the "Frontiers"/"Raised On Radio" vibe... and probably one you've not heard...

Gary Hoey - Linus & Lucy [Music From The Motion Picture "Endless Summer II"/1994 and Wake Up Call/2003]

Dare you not to smile when you hear Gary Hoey's take on the Vince Guaraldi classic... 

Brian May & Friends - Blues Breaker [Starfleet Project/1983]

Dedicated to Eric Clapton... this 13 minute blues jam is performed by guitarists Brian May of Queen and Eddie Van Halen, bassist Phil Chen [Jeff Beck Group], keyboardist Fred Mandel [Alice Cooper/Elton John] and REO Speedwagon drummer Alan Gratzer... The "Starfleet Project" EP had 3 songs and this took up side 2... And if you listen carefully you will hear Eddie Van Halen torture his top string until it breaks and then finish on the other 5...

Yes - Cinema [90125/1983]

Named for the original band that wrote it [Cinema was guitarist Trevor Rabin, bassist Chris Squire, drummer Alan White and keyboard player Tony Kaye... who wrote it before Jon Anderson joined and they renamed themselves Yes...] this track originated as a 20 minute piece called "Time"... This song won "Best Rock Instrumental Performance" at the 1985 Grammy Awards...the only one the band won in their long and distinguished career...

Joe Satriani - Summer Song [The Extremist/1992 & If I Could Fly/Is There Love In Space/2004]

Once again polled some friends and "Summer Song" was at the top of most lists... actually any Joe Satriani is potential material for the top 20... Check out "A Door Into Summer" of his latest "Unstoppable Momentum"...

I put this here for two reasons...one to illustrate that you can have a song with a lead "vocal" even if that vocal is a guitar... that...and every time Coldplay's "Vida La Vida" plays Joe gets paid... he sued for copyright infringement and won...give it a listen...you can't miss the blatant plagiarism...

Steve Vai - The Attitude Song [Flex-Able/1984]

Steve Vai was a student of Satriani's...and a transcriber for Frank Zappa... and while "For The Love Of God" is awesome... "The Attitude 
Song" is right up there too...

Pink Floyd - One Of These Days [Meddle/1971]

Instrumental with the exception of one line spoken by drummer Nick Mason [recorded at double speed using a falsetto voice then played at regular speed...] that states "One of these days I'm going to cut you into little pieces"... and also recorded with two basses [one by Roger Waters and one by David Gilmour...]... 

Steve Morse Band - Tumeni Notes [High Tension Wires/1989]

Steve Morse is considered one of the best overall guitarists in the world...from his work with The Dregs, Kansas, Deep Purple, Flying Colors and his solo and Steve Morse Band, he is able to play rock, metal, jazz, country and any other style he chooses... on this rocker he gets help from T. Lavitz [keys], Andy West [bass], Alan Sloan [violin] and Rod Morgenstein [drums]...

Vinnie Moore - Invader [Vicious Rumors -Soldiers Of The Night/1985] and Message In A Dream [Time Odyssey/1988]

Note... the actual video for "Invader" for some reason wouldn't come up so... Invader starts at 4:50 here...

Vinnie Moore is currently the guitarist for UFO and was part of the Shrapnel Records stable back in the 80's where all respectable shredders were corralled... He is an amazing guitarist that isn't that well known outside of the hard rock community... He played on Vicious Rumors 1985 album "Soldiers Of The Night" and began his solo work with "Mind's Eye" in 1986...

While his first record and the Vicious Rumors album were mainly shred... Moore expanded his sound to become more progressive on '88's "Time Odyssey"... Here he gets some help from Jordan Rudess on keys, Michael Been on bass and Joe Franco on drums...

Genesis - Los Endos [A Trick Of The Tail/1976]

Essentially an instrumental recap of the songs on "A Trick Of The Tail", "Los Endos" closes the first album without original singer Peter Gabriel... Before Phil Collins took over they considered becoming an instrumental group... and yet over their career there were only a handful of actual instrumentals... 

Deep Purple - "A" 200 [Burn/1974]

The closing track from 1974's "Burn"...the first record with the MKIII lineup including David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes... Great interplay between the late Jon Lord and guitarist Ritchie Blackmore...

The Mob - Spaghetti Western [The Mob/2005]

The Mob put out one record in '05 and consisted of Winger/Whitesnake guitarist Reb Beach, King's X bassist Dug Pinnick on vocals [Kip Winger played bass on the record...], Eagles/Whitesnake keyboardist Timothy Drury, and Night Ranger drummer Kelly Keagy... The song is a great showcase for Reb Beach...who never did an instrumental with Winger...

Europe - Aphasia [Wings Of Tomorrow/1984]

Before "The Final Countdown" and the puffy hair...Europe were [and are] a solid hard rock band...this is from the album before, titled "Wings Of Tomorrow" and features guitarist John Norum...

Metallica - The Call Of Ktulu [RIde The Lightning/1984]

When I polled my friends one of the first responses was from my sister-in-law Sarah...who put this near the top of her list... this is the last Metallica song to give writing credit to Dave Mustaine, and is titled after the H.P. Lovecraft story "The Call Of The Cthulhu"...

Def Leppard - Switch 625 [High 'n' Dry/1981] & Disintegrate [Euphoria/1999]

Steve Clark's "Switch 625" begins with the fade out of "Bringing On The Heartbreak"... and builds nicely into it's own track with Clark's guitar playing taking center... and the title means...nothing...according to Def Leppard's FAQ...  "While designing the sleeve for "High 'n' Dry", the songs weren't finished yet.  So, instead of putting existing song titles on it, fake ones were written down, including their time.  One of those songs was called "Switch" lasting 6 minutes and 25 seconds.  The band liked the way it looked on the sleeve: "Switch (6:25)". Since they didn't have a title for an instrumental song that Steve wrote, they used this title for it, including the numbers."...

After "Slang" failed to capture the market like it's previous releases...Def Leppard went back to the boards and came out with what could have been a legitimate follow up to "Adrenalize"... and on this record is this Phil Collen penned rocker...

Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Hoedown [Trilogy/1972]

Written by Aaron Copland, this instrumental is a showcase for keyboard player Keith Emerson [and it's played even faster on the live record "Welcome Back My Friends, To The Show That Never Ends... Ladies And Gentlemen: Emerson, Lake & Palmer"]... 

Heaven & Earth -Dreams Of Desire [Heaven & Earth/1999]

Heaven & Earth is led by guitarist Stuart Smith, a contemporary of Ritchie Blackmore...so it's no surprise he took a classical piece [this time it's "Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring" by J.S. Bach] and arrange it for guitar... great performance by Smith, Howard Leese [strings], Richie Onori [drums], Marvin Sperling [bass] and Pat Regan [keys]...

Edward & Alex Van Halen - Respect The Wind [Twister Soundtrack/1996]

Written and performed by the brothers Van Halen, this track appears over the closing credits in the 1996 film "Twister"...It was nominated for the Best Rock Instrumental Grammy in 1997, but lost to "SRV Shuffle"... 

Triumph - Midsummer's Daydream [acoustic guitar - Rik Emmett] [Thunder Seven/1984]

Finishing off our instrumental journey is the beautiful acoustic guitar solo from Rik Emmett of Triumph... He always did an acoustic number on [most] of the albums, and this is him at his best...

Thank You for indulging me...

New Releases... Coming Soon...To A Medium Near You!!...

Lindsey Stirling - Shatter Me

The sophomore follow-up for the violinist/performance artist... Great first record so anticipation is high for this one... [Lindseystomp Music] [Out 4/29]

Rush - ReDISCovered LP Box

Rush re-issues the vinyl version of their '74 debut on Moon Records with a box set of goodies including the album pressed on 200g, audiophile grade vinyl, from the original 1974 analog series masters, cut to copper plates using the Direct Metal Mastering [DMM] process at the legendary Abbey Road Studios.  Also includes the original Moon Records jacket art, complete with the original MN-100-A/B Matrix etching, and will include a 16'x22' reproducction of the frist Rush promo poster, three 5'x7' lithographs of Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and John Rutsey, a 12'x12' Rush family tree poster and a digital download card for a free digital copy of this newly remastered release... [Mercury Records] [Out 4/29]

Red - Release The Panic Recalibrated

Red remix album with 6 tracks taken from "Release The Panic" and one new song "Run And Escape"... [Provident Records] [Out 4/29]

Edguy - Space Police - Defenders Of The Crown

Loved their last record "Age Of The Joker" so really looking forward to see what Tobias Sammet has up his sleeve for this German power metal band... [Nuclear Blast America] [Out 4/29]

Toto - 35th Anniversary Live In Poland

With a set packed with the hits Toto celebrate 35 years with a concert at the Atlas Arena in Lodz, Poland... [Eagle Rock Entertainment] [Out 4/29]

The Winery Dogs - Dog Treats

The Winery Dogs reissue their outstanding 2013 debut with some bonus material... it's a 2 disc special addition where the second disc is live from their Japanese tour, a cd of demos from 2012 called "The Winery Pups", and a dvd of videos and band interviews.  Also included are Mike Portnoy's in-studio diary from the making of the record, a custom Winery Dogs dog tag and chain, a custom Winery Dogs wine bottle topper and a custom embroidered Paw print logo patch... [Loud & Proud Records] [Out 4/29]

And Now...For This Week's Gratuitious 80's Hair-Metal Video...

Faster Pussycat - Poison Ivy

Summer weather hits here early in Florida...soooo... with life and work and kids this is going to be more sporadic over the next couple of months... Hope you enjoyed... See You Soon...

Thanks For Coming Along For The Ride...

J.

Let The Music Do The Talking... Pt.1...

I recently ran across via Facebook VH1 Classics "Instru-Metal Symphony: The 20 Greatest Heavy Metal and Hard Rock Instrumentals" and found myself thinking how much excellent instrumental hard rock and metal music is out there that if you're a fan of musicians [and by that I mean artists who can actually play their instruments], that you may have missed...and there may be some music out there you will enjoy but may not have heard... Or... may have heard but haven't dusted them off in a while... so...

Counting down from 20 - 1,  the VH1 list is as follows...

20. In Flames - "The Jester's Dance" [The Jester's Race/1996]

19. Cacophony - "Speed Metal Symphony" [Speed Metal Symphony/1987]

18. Dokken - "Mr. Scary" [Back For The Attack/1987]

17. Death - "Voice Of The Soul" [The Sound Of Perseverance/1998]

16. Opeth - "Epilogue" [My Arms, Your Hearse/1998]

15. Tool - "Triad" [Lateralus/2001]

14. Iron Maiden - "Gengis Khan" [Killers/1981]

13. Black Sabbath "Rat Salad" [Paranoid/1970]

12. Dream Theater - "Stream Of Consciousness" [Train Of Thought/2003]

11. Racer X - "Technical Difficulties" [Technical Difficulties/2000]

10. Trans-Siberian Orchestra - "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 [Christmas Eve And Other Stories/1996]

9. Animals As Leaders - "CAFO" [Animals As Leaders/2009]

8. Buckethead - "Soothsayer [Dedicated To Aunt Suzie]" [Crime Slunk Scene/2006]

7. Yngwie Malmsteen - "Black Star" [Rising Force/1984]

6. Steve Vai - "For The Love Of God" [Passion & Warfare/1990]

5. Led Zeppelin - "Moby Dick" [Led Zeppelin II/1969]

4. Joe Satriani - "Flying In A Blue Dream" [Flying In A Blue Dream/1989]

3. Van Halen - "Eruption" [Van Halen/1978]

2. Metallica - "Orion" [Master Of Puppets/1986]

1. Rush - "La Villa Strangiato" [Hemispheres/1978]

Great tracks all... but limiting it to just the 20 opened up a debate...and for some the choices by certain bands would have been different [my guess would also be they kept to one song per artist...]... the tastes of the person making the list factors in as well... In the end it's all subjective...so let's add some more instrumentals for your listening pleasure [in classic rock, hard rock and metal formats...]... [some call it musical indulgence...or wankery...either way... here we go...] And for the record... the order is completely random... 

AC/DC - Chase The Ace [Who Made Who/1986]

With AC/DC back in the news due to Malcolm Young's ill health [the website stated that the band will continue working on a new album and tour...] we start off with "Chase The Ace" which was one of three tracks written for "Who Made Who", which served as the soundtrack to Stephen King's "Maximum Overdrive"...

Eric Johnson - Cliffs Of Dover [Ah Via Musicom/1990]

Johnson toured with Vai and Satriani on G3 and can keep up with those two masters of the guitar... great showcase of talent...

Michael Schenker Group - Into The Arena [Michael Schenker Group/1980]

Surprised this didn't make the top 20...Schenker kicks serious ass on this tune... with help from session men Don Airey [keys], Mo Foster [bass] and Simon Phillips [drums]...and there is a great version of this on "The Michael Schenker Story Live"...

Liquid Tension Experiment - Universal Mind [Liquid Tension Experiment/1998]

Liquid Tension Experiment is the quartet of Dream Theater/Winery Dogs drummer Mike Portnoy, Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci, Dream Theater/Dregs keyboardist Jordan Rudess [who did the first record before he joined DT] and Peter Gabriel/King Crimson stick/bassist Tony Levin... So the caliber of the players is top notch... and they did the record in a week... not too shabby...

Rush - YYZ [Moving Pictures/1981 & The Main Monkey Business/Snakes & Arrows/2007]

I polled some of my friends...and "YYZ" was at the top of most of the lists... Mike Portnoy essentially once said that La Villa Strangiato was harder to play, but given the popularity of "Moving Pictures"... this one is always the one everybody mentions... "YYZ" is the airport code for the Toronto Pearson International Airport...played in Morse Code in the beginning of the song...

"Main Monkey Business" is more technically subtle than "La Villa" or "YYZ" but the band really does provide enough changes to keep things interesting... 

Impellitteri - Somewhere Over The Rainbow [Stand In Line/1988]

Shredder Chris Impellitteri and his band with their take on the Harold Arlen classic from "The Wizard Of Oz"...

Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble -Riviera Paradise [In Step/1989]

It's not fast or flashy...but it is textured and beautifully performed... [and thanks to my friend Paul who reminded me of this one...]

Yngwie J. Malmsteen - Trilogy Suite, Op 5 [Trilogy/1986]

Melodic...fast...and an acoustic piece in the middle...Malmsteen pulls out all the stops on this classic... helped out by Anders Johannson [drums]and his brother Jens Johannson on keys...

Iron Maiden - Losfer Words [Big 'Orra] [Powerslave/1984]

The chugging bass riff and some great soloing add this to the list... This is the last instrumental Iron Maiden has done... a good choice to end the trend perhaps...?...

Kansas - The Spider [Point Of Know Return/1977]

The American counterpoint to the British progressive movement... take away the singles this band has generated [which weren't that simple either...], and listen to how well these guys can play... 

Scorpions - Coast To Coast [Lovedrive/1979]

Penned by and performed in a guest capacity by Michael Schenker after being released from UFO... the Scorpions had replaced Uli Jon Roth with Matthias Jabs for the "Lovedrive" album...and Schenker joined them for a handful of songs on the album as well as the tour [replacing Jabs] and then left again...so Jabs came back and the classic line-up that tore through the 80's was solidified as he now officially was replacing Michael Schenker... 

The Corrs - Toss The Feathers [Forgiven, Not Forgotten/1996]

I had to include this instrumental from the Corrs first record... with some help from Simon Phillips on drums, Anthony Drennan [Mike + The Mechanics] on guitar and Keith Duffy [Boyzone] on bass...

Dream Theater - Ytse Jam [When Dream And Day Unite/1989 & Enigma Machine [Dream Theater/2013]

I had to choose one older and one new... "Stream Of Consciousness" from "Train Of Thought" is an excellent addition to the top 20... but "Ytse Jam" was the first instrumental Dream Theater did and it's quite the instrumental showcase... "Ytse Jam" is Majesty backwards...DT's original name before changing it...

The second track if off of the latest self-titled record from 2013... Once again these guys shine... New drummer Mike Mangini adds his touches to the prog showcase... [Guitarist John Petrucci and bassist John Myung attended Berklee College of Music in Boston...Mangini gave up being a drum instructor there to join the band, and Jordan Rudess went to Julliard School of Music for classical piano training... would you expect anything less...]

Frank Zappa - Peaches En Regalia [Hot Rats/1969]

Recorded for "Hot Rats"....this jazz-fusion track has over 25 different versions in circulation due to the live versions and the sheer amount of times it has been covered by other bands... 

Ace Frehley - Fractured Mirror [Ace Frehley/1978]

In 1978, when each member of Kiss released a solo record, we were treated to this guitar instrumental from Ace Frehley [Ace's record is considered the best of the bunch]... It's a great track that showed the depth of his playing and has far more maturity than anything he played with Kiss...

Edgar Winter Group - Frankenstein [They Only Come Out At Night/1972]

This song hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in May of '73 and went on to sell 1 million copies... It's here for neither of those reasons...it's a great track and it was originally not intended for the album but for a b-side...until dj's all over America and Canada were inundated with requests for the track... And the title "Frankenstein"... is because the original recording went on for at least twice it's length due to improvisation by the band...and it had to be judiciously edited to create it's form by using the standard razor blade and tape...to it was in effect patched together...

Well folks...if you made it with me this far I have officially taken up waaaayyyy too much of your time... And... Think we missed a few?... Check out Pt. 2 next week!!... To Be Continued...

New Releases... Coming Soon...To A Medium Near You!!...

Sebastian Bach - Give 'Em Hell

Bach is back following the very successful "Kicking & Screaming"... Joining him on this one is Steve Stevens, John 5 and Duff McKagen... [Frontiers Records] [Out 4/22]

Winger - Better Days Comin'

Winger is also returning after their successful "Karma" record... Great melodies, harmonies...and as you know... this band can really play... [Frontiers Records] [Out 4/22]

Three Lions - Three Lions

Three Lions is guitarist Vinnie Burns [Asia/Ten/Dare], drummer Greg Morgan [Dare/Ten] and bassist/vocalist Nigel Bailey... great melodic hard rock... [Frontiers Records] [Out 4/22]

Krokus - Long Stick Goes Boom-Live From Da House Of Rust

Switzerland's greatest hard rock export performing live in their hometown... [The End Records][Out 4/22]

Joe Satriani - The Complete Studio Recordings

Satriani's complete studio output plus a bonus disc of unreleased material... need we say more... [Legacy Records] [Out 4/22]

And Now...For This Week's Gratuitious 80's Hair-Metal Video...

Southgang - Tainted Angel

Thanks For Coming Along For The Ride...

J.