Recommend some instrumental guitar shred (heavy metal?) albums?

[Hobbit]

I have a couple Jeff Beck albums, including Wired, but consider those more classic rock than metal. Maybe just splitting hairs now. Satriani's Surfing With the Alien sounds pretty good.

That Batoi track above... wow!

If we're talking instrumental then I would be remiss in not mentioning Al Di Meola. Elegant Gypsy is a great album. It's not metal, but Di Meola is an amazing technical guitarist. I think this album has a latin flavour. It's from 1977 but I remember that the quality was very good at the time. Check out this track:

I left off Elegant Gypsy.... I was tempted. I LOVE that that album. That's kind of in my Jazz fusion vs instrumental rock collection.

Also thought If I went there I would need to add albums like The New Tony Williams Lifetime - Believe it. Such a great album with Holdsworth on guitar (this album may have been his breakthrough?). Carlton/Lukather - No substitutions, etc.... As you said, it get's into splitting hairs!

 

[Eppie]

I left off Elegant Gypsy.... I was tempted. I LOVE that that album. That's kind of in my Jazz fusion vs instrumental rock collection.

Also thought If I went there I would need to add albums like The New Tony Williams Lifetime - Believe it. Such a great album with Holdsworth on guitar (this album may have been his breakthrough?). Carlton/Lukather - No substitutions, etc.... As you said, it get's into splitting hairs!

Oh, I'll have to check out Believe It. Thanks.
Any U.K. fans? I play that album often.

 

[highfigh]

It was a tough call, I went with wired only because it "rocks" a little harder and is a little more progressive IMO. I'm a big Hammer fan too.

Have you heard 'Jeff Beck Live With The Jan Hammer Group'?

 

[highfigh]

I left off Elegant Gypsy.... I was tempted. I LOVE that that album. That's kind of in my Jazz fusion vs instrumental rock collection.

Also thought If I went there I would need to add albums like The New Tony Williams Lifetime - Believe it. Such a great album with Holdsworth on guitar (this album may have been his breakthrough?). Carlton/Lukather - No substitutions, etc.... As you said, it get's into splitting hairs!

I went to see a local band in the late-80s and the first song they played was 'Fred', from the Lifetime album. Later, they played 'Red Alert' and 'Snake Oil'. Speaking of 'Snake Oil', Robbie Krieger (from The Doors) covered that one nicely.

 

[highfigh]

Oh, I'll have to check out Believe It. Thanks.
Any U.K. fans? I play that album often.

During Summer of '78, I had heard that UK was playing and I called a friend who's a bass player and asked what he was doing. He said he didn't have plans and I told him I would pick him up in twenty minutes. This was their first tour, they played at a movie theater and a local station sponsored the show- the frequency was 98.3 and they tied that into the price of the tickets- 98 cents

Later that same year, a local radio station (actually a commercial station) played music in mostly three hour blocks and one was their 'Fusion Show'. That's where I first heard about The Dregs, Holdsworth, UK, DiMeola and a lot of other great music. I arrived at work at a stereo store one evening and the first words out of the owner's mouth were "You wanna go see Al DiMeola?". Yes, please- we advertised on the station that sponsored the show, so he got tickets.

I auditioned for a band, on bass- they played mostly Prog and when I asked what songs we would do, the leader said "Let's do 'In The Dead Of Night', 'The Only Thing She Needs' (from the Danger Money album), 'Song For America' by Kansas, 'Cinema Show' and 'Los Endos/Dance On A Volcano' ".

There's almost nothing about listening to a stereo that approaches the sound of that music with live drums & synths coming through a PA system that can produce those low frequencies well and there's nothing about listening that comes close to playing those songs.

 

[Eppie]

Great stuff highfigh. I wish I could have played in a prog rock band. It's always been one of my favorite genres, but you sometimes fall into these things and I ended playing mostly blues and rock. I grew up with a gang of friends that played in bands, or got involved in sound mixing or lighting, so musical tastes were eclectic. That's how I got into King Crimson, Thomas Dolby, UK, Zappa, Adrian Belew and the like. You don't hear that stuff on local radio. Luckily that desire for alternative types of music carried over to my daughter, who introduced me to bands like St Vincent, Said the Whale and Tame Impala.

I've seen quite a few big name acts in stadiums, but I loved seeing bands in smaller arenas where you could get close to the stage and have more controlled sound. Before they built the big hockey arena here we had the likes of Bob Seger and Frank Zappa play in the small 5,000 seat arena. We even had AC/DC play there on the Hells Bells tour (I was 10 feet from the stage). You'd never get them to play in our newer 10,000 seat arena now. We also have a 1,600 seat music hall that has had Jethro Tull, Saga, and Canadian boys Max Webster / Kim Mitchell.

A friend got into local promoting and started bringing in some unique acts. He was a teacher and jazz pianist and brought in a jazz/rock fusion instrumental band called UZEB. These guys are from Montreal and some of the best musicians in the country. Their albums from the 80's are excellent. Here's a little taste of them live:

 

[highfigh]

Great stuff highfigh. I wish I could have played in a prog rock band. It's always been one of my favorite genres, but you sometimes fall into these things and I ended playing mostly blues and rock. I grew up with a gang of friends that played in bands, or got involved in sound mixing or lighting, so musical tastes were eclectic. That's how I got into King Crimson, Thomas Dolby, UK, Zappa, Adrian Belew and the like. You don't hear that stuff on local radio. Luckily that desire for alternative types of music carried over to my daughter, who introduced me to bands like St Vincent, Said the Whale and Tame Impala.

I've seen quite a few big name acts in stadiums, but I loved seeing bands in smaller arenas where you could get close to the stage and have more controlled sound. Before they built the big hockey arena here we had the likes of Bob Seger and Frank Zappa play in the small 5,000 seat arena. We even had AC/DC play there on the Hells Bells tour (I was 10 feet from the stage). You'd never get them to play in our newer 10,000 seat arena now. We also have a 1,600 seat music hall that has had Jethro Tull, Saga, and Canadian boys Max Webster / Kim Mitchell.

A friend got into local promoting and started bringing in some unique acts. He was a teacher and jazz pianist and brought in a jazz/rock fusion instrumental band called UZEB. These guys are from Montreal and some of the best musicians in the country. Their albums from the 80's are excellent. Here's a little taste of them live:

If you want to hear King Crimson, Thomas Dolby, UK, Zappa, Adrian Belew and the like, check out www.wmse.org- they play these and others, including Max Webster, frequently. They have a whole show on Zappa's birthday.

BTW- if you're familiar with Daryl Stuermer (of Jean-luc Ponty, Genesis/Phil Collins, etc), the name 'Max Webster' came from their bass player Mike Tilka, who was in a band called 'Family At Max' with Daryl, when he was still in Milwaukee. As it turns out, Mike & I grew up about a block apart, in the same neighborhood- we could hear the band rehearse as we rode our bikes past his house during Summer, when the windows were open. He came into the stereo store where I worked and when I corrected the salesman on the address, he asked how I knew, so we ended up talking for awhile. Not long after, Daryl started coming to the store, too.

 

[Eppie]

If you want to hear King Crimson, Thomas Dolby, UK, Zappa, Adrian Belew and the like, check out www.wmse.org- they play these and others, including Max Webster, frequently. They have a whole show on Zappa's birthday.

BTW- if you're familiar with Daryl Stuermer (of Jean-luc Ponty, Genesis/Phil Collins, etc), the name 'Max Webster' came from their bass player Mike Tilka, who was in a band called 'Family At Max' with Daryl, when he was still in Milwaukee. As it turns out, Mike & I grew up about a block apart, in the same neighborhood- we could hear the band rehearse as we rode our bikes past his house during Summer, when the windows were open. He came into the stereo store where I worked and when I corrected the salesman on the address, he asked how I knew, so we ended up talking for awhile. Not long after, Daryl started coming to the store, too.

Thanks for the link. I only have Cosmic Messenger on vinyl but I always wondered where the name Max Webster came from. Thanks for the story! Kim Mitchell has been one of my favorite rock guitarists. So underrated. I have all but 3 of his albums and he was always great live. And for those unfamiliar with Max Webster, check out the solo in this track. He plays like that so effortlessly live.

 

[highfigh]

Thanks for the link. I only have Cosmic Messenger on vinyl but I always wondered where the name Max Webster came from. Thanks for the story! Kim Mitchell has been one of my favorite rock guitarists. So underrated. I have all but 3 of his albums and he was always great live. And for those unfamiliar with Max Webster, check out the solo in this track. He plays like that so effortlessly live.

I heard 'Go For Soda' before I knew who Max Webster was and then, met one of the founders as well as someone who was playing with a band I had liked for a long time- when Daryl left Milwaukee to join Ponty's band, a friend from high school replaced him in his band and they were a real eye-opener, too. Before and after Daryl left, they were the band the well-known touring musicians would check out when they were here (I could swear I saw Al DiMeola there one night), which is how George Duke and others found him, then Duke got him the audition. which got him the job. The night the old band played their last regular gig at a club, Lenny White and Freddie Hubbard were in town and after they finished, some of the musicians went to the club and actually sat in, including Joaquin Leivano, who played on Cosmic Messenger. Jamie Glazer was another and he played on some of Ponty's recordings, too.

 

[Eppie]

I heard 'Go For Soda' before I knew who Max Webster was and then, met one of the founders as well as someone who was playing with a band I had liked for a long time- when Daryl left Milwaukee to join Ponty's band, a friend from high school replaced him in his band and they were a real eye-opener, too. Before and after Daryl left, they were the band the well-known touring musicians would check out when they were here (I could swear I saw Al DiMeola there one night), which is how George Duke and others found him, then Duke got him the audition. which got him the job. The night the old band played their last regular gig at a club, Lenny White and Freddie Hubbard were in town and after they finished, some of the musicians went to the club and actually sat in, including Joaquin Leivano, who played on Cosmic Messenger. Jamie Glazer was another and he played on some of Ponty's recordings, too.

Lucky you. Stuff like that happens in Toronto, but not in London, where I'm living. We do have a very active local music community. At least we did until the covid-sh!t hit the proverbial fan.

Max Webster never made the big break into the U.S. market. Go For a Soda is likely the only recognizable hit. In Canada we call it "pop" but Go For a Pop just doesn't have the same ring to it, does it?

 

[Summoner]

Check out Haiduk. Lots of shredding. Death metal / thrash. Barely any vocals. Recording is fairly raw though.

 

[Eppie]

It's funny to hear artists like Steve Vai and Allan Holdsworth described as new , but I know that you mean new to you, not new to the world. There are several others of that era worth mentioning, like Ingwie Malmsteen, Joe Satriana, Jeff Beck and Al Di Meola. I hope you enjoy playing the guitar. I played bass for many years and it's a whole different experience playing with other musicians compared to just listening.

 

[laminetrack1]

The artists you described are really known all over the world. They're famous for their guitar technique. As far as I know, even their rhythm is not just a technical part - but a kind of talent. Because of what they played on stage, not every musician can repeat it. So I think they can be your reference point for how you can be virtuoso on the guitar. However, even they have a secret. It consists of the fact that they used little devices that helped them play so fast. These were various sound amplifiers and plectrums. This seems like such an insignificant detail, but trust me, picks for guitar are what the quality and speed of playing depend on. If it wasn't for this detail, the musician wouldn't be able to play so well.

 

[diwit]

Hi all,

I'm looking to build up a few more albums to enjoy a specific genre of music, but I'm looking for well recorded versions of this stuff. Sometimes that can be hard to find. I'm happy to just buy the CD albums ideally. Not looking to have multi-channel or high res stuff. Not looking for vinyl for this stuff. Just CD or downloadable lossless (FLAC or something similar). Again, prefer CD, and I'm happy to buy used!

Specifically looking for more well recorded albums of the genre: Instrumental Heavy Metal Guitar. But specifically electric guitar and specifically the shredding type. I apologize if this is not the right description. But basically there are excellent artists out there that can really shred with speed and high technicality on electric guitar and they do it as mostly instrumental, no vocals. It's probably more akin to Metal as a genre or Heavy Metal I think. Usually not like rock.

To help narrow this down, some examples of artists that I am referring to and already listen to:

Jeff Loomis
Marty Friedman
Michael Angelo Batio
John Petrucci
Marco Sfogli
Buckethead

If you are familiar with these artists, I'm happy to hear about what your favorite or best album(s) are from them. And I'm happy to learn of new artists Acoustic guitars for sale. I've looked at lists of course, out there, like the top 50 shred artists out there. But, that doesn't mean the album is great and recorded well. Not all CD's are equal after all. So again, emphasis on best recordings in terms of the albums if possible.

Thanks!

Very best,

Joe satriani Yngwie malmsteen Both have done mostly insurmental albums ive listened to at friends places over the years. Just dont ask me what they were called.

 

[j_garcia]

Two different guitar styles, works together so well lol. They did this separately during Covid.

I loved his solo show.

 

[Eppie]

Two different guitar styles, works together so well lol. They did this separately during Covid.

I loved his solo show.

That's a pretty cool mix of two styles. Sounds good on my PC speakers and should be even better on the stereo at home.

 

[Summoner]

Haiduk - Sea of Fire

 

[lovinthehd]

Birds of Fire, Mahavishnu Orchestra just came on as I pulled up this thread....that probably qualifies.

 

[Erkan1976]

 

[Erkan1976]