TUTE SETS
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“YANKEE ROSE
Bia al]
“THE ATTITUDE SONG
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“INTO THE VOID
JASON MRAZ
UNTIL
PA.
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—
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ALICE IN CHAINS
Miss
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APLACE 10
BURY STRANGERSVOL.30/NO.5 * MAY2009
38
Roem eee eet
Pee S a ee
declares, ies “guaran-fcking-teed.” Willie Adler and
Rts tte aac
46
Ree Cae en cere
Po eae Ty
hit-maker Brendan O’Brien, The results Crack
the Skye, an intense concept record involving near
death experiences, astral travel and Russian mystics.
itarists Brent Hinds and Bill Kelihe
Cremer sn ets
Er]
‘With $5,000 and a homebuilt studio, Steve Vai
recorded an album that made him astar and changed
Smee te een
lex-ble, Vai delivers the most in-depth look ever into
Consents
‘Naked Tracks ets you play along with Steve.
See ee errs
68
Se een
and techniques, and you may surprise yourself.
ye
Rona eee ene ee er
Pye eC en
Coats ere
Cee en eee eee
EH)
Derek Trucks is all grown up and glowing
‘with confidence on Already Free, anew album,
recorded at home with his wife Susan Tedeschi
ees as
CoatedVOL.30/NO.5 4 MAY2009
DEPARTMENTS 162 A VULGAR
22 SOUNDING BOARD : DISPLAY OF POWER Ulla NS
sonenta ao
Letters tothe Editor &
ofthe Faith
eg a a)
25 TUNE-UPS COLUMNS ,
a a RUA AL
cape ltat ‘ SLUT
TL
TEES TL)an
Fa Oa ee tS tcTHE WOODSHED
HANKS 10 THE internet, prety
much everyone can record and dis
tuibute their own music and poten-
tially each millions of listeners. But
it wasnt always that way. Bven 10 years ago,
despite advances in affordable recording tech
nology and web development, the average musi
can would have found itclose to impossible.
Fortunately, Steve Vai is hardly the aver=
age musician, and the word “impossible” has
never been a part of his vocabulary. Twenty-
five years ago~long before the internet was
around=the very young Vai thumbed his nose
atthe record industry, builthis own studio, and
selfrecorded and distributed Flex-Able,a com:
pletely uncompromising work of astoundingly
4uirky guitar instrumentals that eventually sold
some 400,000 copies.
‘took five months and $5,000 to build the
studio and buy equipment,” Vai says. “The Fostex
1/4-inch eight track machine cost $1,000, and
that was huge for me. Mastering was perhaps
another $1,000. 1 paid the musiians $20 in gas
‘money and to them that ifthe record ever sold,
y
Rd
20 GUITAR WoRLD
MAY 2009
would pay them scale later. About seven years
afer the release it was wildly successful, and 1
‘went back and calculated at least scale for each
‘musician foreach session and then added inter-
‘est for five or so years and paid them off. A few
‘ofthem I could never find, and to this day tam
holding onto their money.” Vai estimates the fina
cost ofthe album might ada upto $8,000. "But
that includes building the entire studio!”
The beauty of Steve's story is that it could
casily happen today. all you need isa one-of-
a-kind vision like his and the desire to pursue
the dream. If you're looking for inspiration,
check out Alan di Perna’s blow-
by-blow account ofthe making
of Vai’ stunning landmark first
album. It will give you the push
that you need.
‘Ona more mundane note:
‘You may have recently read
about some problems that
affected national magazine dis
tribution. Asa resul, there may
be isolated distribution issues
thathave affected your ability to find Guitar
World at your local newsstand, Ifyou have had
any problem locating the following issues—the
GW April 2009 issue featuring Kirk Hammett
and Adam Jones, the Jeff Loomis Super Shred
Guitar DVD or the Guitar Legends Classic Rock
1 special—Guitar World is making these available
for purchase at www guitarworid.comy/store.
you have any questions, you can contact us at
soundingboard@guitarworld.com
—BRAD TOLINSKI
Balitor-in-Chief
1
ARLE 5
VSM
iano
MODELS...
Built ultra fine,
on the line...HIGH PRAISE
Just wanted to say thanks for
the extensive Led Zeppelin
‘coverage in the March issue.
Tenjoyed reading about how
the band transitioned from
the Yardbirds to the New
Yardbirds to Led Zeppelin
Keep up the good work!
“Dennis Donnelly
Even though I don't play guitar,
I subscribed to Guitar World
because Tove rack and rol
After receiving the latest issue
celebrating the 40th anniversary
of Led Zeppelin, I renewed for
24 more issues. Keep on rockin’,
Guitar World!
Matthew Johnston
WORKS FOR ME
‘hank you for transcribing Carcass
“Hearework" inthe March issue.
I've been waiting years fora proper
transcription ofthat song. I think i's
Carcass finest hour.
MARTYDOM
‘Thanks for putting the los video lesson
with Marty Friedman on the March
issue CD-ROM. I watched the entire
clip and was amazed at how much
sense his take on soloing over different
chord structures made without
‘overcomplicating or taking away the
magic. Thanks for re-releasng this
thoughtful piece.
Jay Udell
= Parker Shultz
Kudos for your informative articles
on the respective pursuits of Ritchie
Blackmore [February 2009] and
‘Marty Friedman [March 2009]. They
are guitar heroes from different eras
who clearly follow their hearts and
not dollars
—Diwu
HOMEWARD BOUND
have a Christmas miracle guitar
story that has reaffirmed my faith in
ry fellow man, In 1980, three of my
custom-made guitars were stolen in
[New York City: a green dollar sign:
shaped guitar, a Time mahogany GS-9
model and a B.C. Rich Mockingbird
Supreme. Over the years I gave up
all hope of ever finding or reclaiming
these guitars, even though all three
‘were one-of-a-kind instruments
‘One week before Christmas 1
received an email from a musician
friend in New Hampshire telling me
22 currar woRLD
that someone had contacted
him through his blog asking for
information about the simmy
er Show, acomedy-rock
} soup twasin between 1978 and
1982. The man had purchased
red BC.Rich Mockingbird
Supreme ina red Calzone fight
case ata yard sale for $100 three
yearsearir,
and the name
integrity and kindness that Allen has
shown me, Lowe him an immense
debe of gratitude forthe guitar and for
restoring my faith in human nature.
‘About the guitar: [twas inthe same
condition as the day it disappeared
Itis one of six made by Bernard
‘Chavez Rico in his first batch of red
Mockingbird Supremes in 1978. The
other guitars went
to some really great
ofmy group players. Elliot Easton
wwas on one of hhas one (left-handed),
the backstage ed Nugent supposedly
passes stuck hhad one, Rick
‘onthe case. Derringer had one,
BE Vie had been fone went toa player in
Googling the names Australia whose name
I don't remember,
and the sixth was sold
through a musie store
alifornia toa guitarist who never
returned his warranty form. In any
case, ifyou have been the vietim of
‘guitar theft, don't give up hope! Your
‘guitar may someday be reunited with
you. Now, ifanybody out there has a
{een guitar shaped lke a dollar sign.
“Cosmic” Joe Caron
CORRECTION
Due ta printing error of some copies
ofthe March 2009 isue, par of the
tab and accompanying text for FIGURES
3e-e (Hybrid Picking) on page 88 was
‘obscured. To view the complete tab, vist
suitarwork.com/practice
: < )DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH:
Gina orn
toleam the history of
the instrument
My friend put me in touch with the
‘guy, named Allen Yuricic. offered to
reimburse him for any expenses he may
have incurred in buying or repairing
the guitar, as Ireally wanted itback. (1
never had to state the obvious about it
’being stolen property.) Allen wouldn't
let me pay forthe guitar, telling me that
itbelonged with me and Thad already
paid enough,
went to his home the day after
Christmas, methis family and talked
abit. He was gracious and eloquent
as we discussed the story behind the
disappearance of the guitar in 1980.
am deeply moved by the honesty,
THE ISSUE
CELEBRATING
THE 4071
ANNIVERSARY
OF LED
ZEPPELIN,
I RENEWED FOR
‘24 MORE.”
SonasrveOeEN PLATING
“Domination” by Panter, "November
‘ai by Guns Roses and Poon by
by Cacophony, "inside Out” by X12,
‘lee Cooper Tomado of Sul” by Megadeth
CGEARI MOST WANT Fender lasi'sos__GEARIMOST WANT Sash Signature Gul MOST WANT CC Gee's guar
Stratocaster ‘los tes oul oldop felection cea 989
‘re yous Defender ofthe ath? Senda photo along with your answers tothe questions above, to
‘efendersftheategutaweridcom. Ang pray!NSIDE BETCHA CAN'T PLAY THIS! 26 JASON BECKER 30 DEAR GUITAR HERO 34 SETLIST 36 & MUCH MORE!!!
LAYNE CHANGE
ALICE IN CHAINS AT WORK ON NEW ALBUM WITH NEW SINGER
Alice in Chains frontman Layne
Staley died ofa drug overdose and
twice as many since the group
released its last studio album. After
reuniting three years ago ata benefit
for vitims of the January 2005 tsunami
in Indonesia, the Seattle group's surviv
ing members began touring again with
new member, singer-guitarst William
Dull. n October 2008, they entered
Dave Grohl's Studio 606 in Los Angeles
with producer Nick Raskulinecz (Foo
Fighters, Rush), where they recorded
18 tracks for an as-yet-untitled new
album due this summer.
This is probably the hardest I've
‘ever worked on a record” says guitarist,
‘erry Cantrell in the midst of mixing,
‘Nick isthe kind of guy that likes to
try everything, I like recording that
‘way-different amps, different mikes,
different drum sounds, different
guitars. We've puta lotof time and care
into those tones;
Despite some experimentation,
Cantrell has stuck with his core gear
Bogner and Marshall amps, afew
Les Pauls, and two G&L Rampage
guitars. “Those two guitars still are
the ones that I use the most,” he
says of the latter, now hard-to-find
inseruments, “I've been working
with G&L for the last two years to do
SE alongs
a reissue guitar, based on that model
with a couple of mods I've made.
think that guitar’s going to be
coming out sometime this yea.”
Cantrell, who sings more on this
album than on previous AIC records,
promises a“bone-crushingly heavy”
record thats true tothe band’s legacy
‘Losing Layne is a tremendous loss,
nodoubt about it’ he says, “To move
through all ofthat stuff and to be okay
with where we're heading, that's
statement of belief in the new material
Ifitsucked, or ifit was fucking
‘weird or fele ike it was cash-in or
something lke that, we wouldn't doit
Thats not how we're wired,
GUITAR WORLD 25DAVE MARTONE
MAIL BONDING
ager growing up in Vancouver
t heard Joe Satri-
when he
ani's Surfing withthe Alien,
The experience changed his life. “It
totally blew my face of
1 thought, That's what | want to do,
Satch became my hero.
Some 20 years later, Martone gota
‘hance to tell Satriani as much wher
the two met a recording studio in
then working
con his Super
Colossal album,
was impressed by
Marrone’s guitar
skills so much so
thathe of
tophyonatrack
ofsome demos
Martone was
making
My friends
laughed at me
Martone recalls. “They were like, ‘Joe
doesn't mean it; he's just being nice
foyow’ And sure enough, Tent hima
bunch of songs, and he didnt lik
them. I started to get real discouraged.
Then I emailed him wh:
was my weirdest song, called ‘Nail
Grinder.’ few weeks go by, and
suddenly 1
“THIS 5 A FLOWING legato unin
rior that’s primary based onthe B
Iinorpentatonie sale DEFZAlin
Seventh andinth postions but ao
incorporate saveal outside nates and
Shapes nd odd ythmieprouping:
arto he sith ingin bart
withsomehammerons within fariar
ox pattem ands couple of ascending
fing finger ses, moving up and scons
‘thenedk At the end of bar ond the
Baglnning of bars ncorporate the ninth,
les whe whmpess
Theres ofbar2sbasedona
compact duster of notes trom the 8 blues
Scale[8DEFFEA] in ninth postion, and
Inbar slide back down seventh
Position to get some ater epto,
Pirsig options happening Aros
Brats tre and four bar bi lt
the notes ¥ and ring together onthe
Cina string toceste minor second
‘ssonance then cor this witha
‘wide intra pl frm the major
Seventh, [cond string nh ett the
{iF event fre On beat two ot
borg revert tote more conventions)
riot ori, Seventh th et and
26 GurtarworLD
Martone says,
Thought
ot an email from him with
a file attachment—with Joe’s solo on it,
BETCHA CAN'T PLAY THIS!
MARTY FRIEDMAN
=a
And he didn’t want any money for it.
He just liked the song!
You can hear Satch's blazing slo
(along with appearances by other notables
such as Billy Sheehan and Greg Howe) on
la, Martone’s debt for Magma Carta
Records. The young guitarist rips up
‘on tracks that range from slamming rock
crunch (“Turn on the Water?) to sunny,
feel-good pop (“Angel Fish
For me, just to have a guitar
nstrumental record out is a major
statement,” Martone says,
chance to play inthe big leagues—with
the Satrianis and Vais. And even if 'm
a Blister to those guys that's okay.
pen 5
eppebete eer er = a
arog es
use the ninth, fon the fist sting. nth
fretto zeae ajay minor-tine sound
“around the middle of ardor
intersting chvomatieraon the 8 tng,
Incorporating bath the minor and sor
Sith, Gand Gt respectively andthe
‘nor seventh wrapup the pase bar
with busy and smewhst unl
hal steppe om the major
seventh At fourth sting eighth et
‘ete, fst sting. thet uptothe
perfect fh Fw dorm wih some
Feary bon at.”OUT OF TOM
RUSH TURN BACK THE CLOCK FOR RETROSPECTIVE II! (1989-2008).
guitarist
Alex Lifeson scanned the
track list for the band’s
latest “best of collec
tion, Retrospective ILI (1989-2008),
he was relieved about what he didn’t
e songs
Limelight “Spirit ofthe Radio’ “Tom
Sawyer’ that, We're alittle sick of
“Tom Sawyer’ by now, so it's nice to
see other tracks fora ch
admirers will give a fair hearing to
the new double-CD /bonus-DVD set,
which contains euts from the trio’s
ith Atlantic Records,
as proud of thos
25 Jot of our, you know,
‘classics.’ And face it: how many
times can we repackage ‘Tom
¢, "Tom Sawyer” is featured
1. The DVD includes video
forming the song last year
‘on Comedy Central's Colbert Report,
their first live appearance on U.S. TV
in33 years,
hat show was a lot of fun,
was the worst, probably because he
hhad only three drums to play instead
of 30. 1 was simply trying too damn
hard. Geddy had the
instruments from now on.”
a mas
Rust
|
28 curraRWoRLDTRACKS COLLECTOR
JASON BECKER ASSEMBLES HIS PERSONAL BEST, AS WELL AS A FEW STAR-
STUDDED GUEST SPOTS, ON HIS LATEST SHRAPNEL RELEASE, COLLECTION.
to buy all of my albu
30 currar wortDplayed on the final version. I thought
it would be fun for people to see how
the piece started out
‘Gw How were you able to incorporate
performances by Vai, Satriani, Friedman,
‘Steve Hlunter and others into the music?
Were they given certain guidelines or
tracks to play over?
secure Yes. My co-producer, Dan
Alvarez, and I put scratch mixes
together and told everyone where
I would like them to play. We sent
them a CD and they recorded their
parts at their home studios, Well,
Firkins came to the studio. I kept my
suggestions to a minimum because I
wanted to hear their interpretations
cof my crap. [love all oftheir styles
‘The music kind of dictated the mood
that I wanted. All of these players
are inspiring to me, and I am so
grateful and honored that they took
the time to give brilliant solos to my
crippled ass.
“Most ofthe vocalists got written
‘music and/or a CD with each
harmony part they needed to sing
‘They all ame to Dan's studio in
Berkeley, California. I usually record
parts for voices with a harp sound, so
that is what they heard. Iam not sure
‘what the range of a human voice is,
so Dan helps me arrange each part for
the correct singer.
‘Gw The fact that you continue to
write musie is quite miraculous, What
is the process like?
aeexee Thank you. When I was
losing my voice in 1996, only afew
people could sometimes barely
understand me. My dad was afraid T
‘wouldn't be able to say anything very
soon. He went into his art stu
day and invented a communication
system in maybe an hour. He brought
the “alphabet board” out to show me. I
avoided it for a while because I didn’t
‘want to stop exercising my voice.
Each letter requires me to make
‘wo eye movements. The first
32 GUITAR WoRLD
‘movement isto point to one of the
six squares. The second movement
is to point to one ofthe four letters
in that square. Ittakes abit to get it
fast, but after two or three weeks of
doing it, the “Patient” and “Caregiver”
‘memorize it and don't need the board.
‘Then you start talking faster than
any computer could, [Visit the News
section of GuitarWorld.com to see
video of Jason demonstrating his eye-
‘moverient communication system]
T took a break from composing,
for a while because the technology.
stank for just eye movement. finally
‘went crazy enough to try using my
‘communication system to instruct
‘my caregivers what to play on the
keyboard. My buddies Dan, Mike and
Franklin, taught me how to use the
‘music software called LogiePro witha
‘Mac GS computer. My dad, mom and
girlfriends aren't keyboard players,
so once they record a few notes, I can
go into a “matrix” and see the notes.
Once there, Lean direct my peeps
‘on how to edit the notes tobe in the
correct spots, with the right volume,
velocity, length, instrument, and so on.
eventually wound up with hundreds
of tracks on the piece “Electric Prayer
for Peace." Since I can usually hear a
kind of final result in my head, i isn’t
frustrating to go ata slow pace. The
only bummer is when my dad and
run ito computer difficulties and start
arguing. Hal
‘GW Not many people know about
the Jason Becker Signature Model
from Paradise Guitars USA. What can
‘you tellus about it? How did you hook
up with Paradise, and is there talk
of doing a signature model with any
ther companies?
secxen My old friend David got me
Intouch with them, We all wanted to
recreate the numbered fretboard guitar
Thad designed back when I was with
| David Lee Roth, Hove the guitar. Ithas
an alder wood body, DiMarzio pickups
an cat
enter srr
lam so
al
in ive different colors, a tung-oil finish,
and a maple neck with 24 frets. It plays
like my old guitars—fast and easy.
{ike to be able to easily reach the
24th fret. I insisted on jumbo, yet
frets. I designed the headstock
because that is important to me. We
all worked closely on all aspects of
have wanted to make this available to
‘my fans for many years, and Paradise
‘made this a priority. They added a
really cool feature: the Floyd Rose Pro
floats like 1 always liked, but you ean
also lock the bridge into place. You
can easily detune that way.
Tam not talking with other
companies right now. Iam thinking
thatin the relatively near future, we
will work on a copy of my blue Carvin
guitar. I bet we will also do a guitar
with a painting of my dad's on it.
Talso havea JB distortion pedal
available wth Pro Tone Pedal. It
has two switches: one emulates the
‘amp sound that Iiked, and the other
emulates the overdrive pedal that I used,
‘GW How are you feeling these days?
accu I am feeling really good,
thanks. I got sick fora few weeks
December, but I got over it. am
mostly mentally cool. Ihave my down
days like anyone else. I feel best when
Tam busy. [am stoked about Obama.
‘aw What else might you be looking.
toaccomplish in 2009?
secxer So many things. Iwant to go
‘on a date with the beautiful [Slumdog
Millionaire actress} Freida Pinto.
Twant to be on the cover of Guitar
‘World, daramitt 1 want to work with
iy favorite guitarist, Jeff Beck. Tmet
the brilliant Uli Jon Roth last year;
he absolutely loves my new album, so
maybe we will work together. [want to
‘work with Sarah MacLachlan, I want to
bbe on Oprah, Colbert and Jon Stewart.
My story needs to inspire more people.
‘want to finish my autobiography.
‘Qw What are your thoughts on
turning 40 this year?
‘BeexER I am cool with i; I don’t
feel 40.1 still feel like I am 19.
Inside, 1 am probably less mature
than Iwas at 19. The doctors told
‘me I would be dead before I turned
25, so that is pretty keen. I guess
challenges give you character.
Enough character already! OF
1dear guitar hero
ULI JON ROTH
HE'S A FORMER SCORPIONS GUITARIST AND A FAN OF GYPSY-INSPIRED MENSWEAR. BUT
WHAT GUITAR WORLD READERS REALLY WANT TO KNOW IS... [ineerv
tthe moment, ma neither op
nor pessimistic: 'm kind of both. think
Tmon the knife’s edge, and the album
reflects that. To me, the album doesn’t
seem ominous. It does feel uplifting but
ina different way compared to my other
albums, which were more euphoric
This one as light and shade, but ialso,
has alot of unanswered questions
peerey
[laughs] Funny question! There's no
special store. Certainly, in the late
Sixties and early Seventies, adopted
style that seemed to go with my
personality and guitar playing, like
sof, lowing clothes, and I don't like
uniforms, particularly for myself. It’s
just something that came to me. The
34 cUITAR WoRLD
everyday world isnt interesting tome,
and my clothes reflect that
sper
‘The best guitar work i probably on
Virgin Killer, but there's some great
stuff on In Trance, Taken by Force and
Tokyo Tapes as well
oboe
‘The original idea came to me atthe end
of 1982 Lalways had the urge to play
higher than I could on a traditional
‘uitar, and so Thad the idea of putting
two extra frets on my Strat. That went
really well and got me thinking: what
would be the ultimate guitar for me?
‘That's how I came up with that concept,
and that’s how the frst guitar came to
have avastly extended upper rang
A few years later, I added the seventh
string for the bass end, and it ended up
with a sixoctave range. tend to use all
ofthat when I play all ofthe virtuoso
material. We are talking with a major
manufacturer about producing it for the
nd I think it could be
sarly as this year
eeety
ve never been content with traditional
forms. lot of people are very good
at writing within forms, anda lot of
classical masters have written within
structured form, Pve always feltan
urge to find new forms for each piece
‘of music, so you'll hardly find a song by
‘me that’s verse-chorus-verse-chorus
bridge-chorus kind of thing. The forms
that come up with allow me complete
freedom. There's shape and structure,
but maybe the structure isn't so
discernible when you first look att
soe
T always use it in a symbolic way
hardly ever use it in reference to
the sky above. Teonnect "sky" with
Sod," “creatvity”—the source oft
all, Although I ive on Earth, I never
felt connected to it. Maybe my playing
reflects that in some way. But the main
ason [use “sky” alot is because
it’s always funny to use a word so
frequently. It's like a primary color
tome, and itdoesn't always mean the
same thing.
see
don try tobe avessel—I ama vessel
Weal are. When I'm playing, Igo into
totally different mindset where I'm
utilizing alpha waves, as opposed t@
playing from everyday consciousness.
ve done that for a very, very long time.
T'mcompletely disconnected from the
‘everyday world, and the musie does flow
through me, so it's very easy for me to get
constant flow of ideas. I don’t do any
special practices. I used to meditate alt,
and that really helped me to focus my
‘mind. Nowadays, [don't have much time
tomeditare, but ean switch on that state
of mind within seconds,
speek
Hove to teach, and I taught classical
guitar before I joined the Scorpions at
the age of17. Recently, [felt an urge to
make a contribution in that field and
share what Lfele was important about
guitar playing What {teach is almost
like “musical awareness.” find that
alot of players and musicians, even
advanced ones, are disconnected from
their instruments and often from the
music itself. There's lot of unwanted
stuffin between them and what they
want ro express, and that’s what keeps
them from getting better. Breaking
through that stuff seems to be my
specialty. We do masterclasses with
concentration exercises and all sorts
of things. I's not so much technique-
orientated, although we do speak about
technical aspects. Iecertainly works,
because the students that have been
there for three years ina row have
gotten a itbetter within that ime, and
that'sall the proof you need,| TUNE-UPS *the setlist ee
JOE DUPLANTIER
or GOJIRA
TERMINAL 5 + DECEMBER 7, 2008 * NEW YORK, NY
interview by KORY GROW Photographs by OSTIN BORUCKI]
FLYING
Intro
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{nather dimension. When wrote imagined that was
these is | enteing one
theband, because you "TO SIRIUS" °At the end ofthe song, ther’ oop
westartto play”
we dont unt after
36 GUITAR WoRLDWW,
ROM THE WIDE,
Inside the house, the signifies of Adler's
day job are evident. Adjacent toa family room
isa makeshift demo studio, outfitted with a
computer and various instruments and pieces
cof gear. Ona living room wall hangs a row of
guitars, including two new camouflage ver
sions of Adler's ESP signature model and an
‘old B.C. Rich Bich, the white body adorned
with Metallica and Mr. stickers. “That was
ry frst guitar,” Adler says of the beat-up a.
Tused that ona lot of the early Lamb of God
material” As he administers the brief tour,
‘wo eager dogs roam the premises, and, in'a
cage by the back door, Paco, his green parrot,
sits ona perch. At the moment, Adler is less
than pleased withthe bird. “He shits ot,” he
says. “One of the dogs was laying underneath
40 curTaRwoRLD
hhim the other day, and he shit all over her:
But the parrot has its redeeming qualities.
loves the metal. be blaring the heaviest
stuff from the music room, and then I'l come
in here and he'll be in his cage, dancing.”
‘Today, Paco will have ample reason to
dance. Later in the afternoon, Adler and
Lamb of God co-guitarist Mark Morton will
siton acouch in Adler’ living room, plug in
‘uitars and run through some of thei great
estriff, including the ones that comprise
“Set to Fail,” the first single from the band's
new album, Wrath (Epic). Afterward, Adler
will grab an advance copy ofthe dsc from his
wife's ear, pop it in his studio's computer and
crankit throughout the house. He'll highlight
‘moments he’s especially proud of -a particu:
He
Cag
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ror
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erry
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larly snaky riff, or one of Morton's solos—by
cracking wide grin and playing air guitar
along with the part.
At present, however, Mark Morton hs
to materialize. As it turns out, he took a
turn on the drive over—odd,
two guitarists live only afew miles apart.
When Morton finally shows up, he admits that
despite their proximity to one another, this is,
the first time he has actually been to Adler's
house. "Look,” he says with a smile, extending
his arm out horizontally, "for two years ata
time we live about this far from each other. So
when we get off the road, I don’t need to come
lover and~I don’t know-—wateh the game.
The two will soon enough be once again
living at arm's length. In a week, Lamb of
God head off to Finland to begin touring for
Wrath. They hit the US. for their frst heed:
lining run in the spring and look to be on
the road for “at least the next 18 months or
50," Adler says, At present, the band—which
also includes drummer (and Willie's older
brother) Chris Adler, bassist John Campbell
and singer Randy Blythe—has been home for
only a few weeks, having just finished up a
month of support dates for Metallica on their
World Magnetic tour. “That was really excit-
ing.” Morton says. “Of all the bands that were
big influences on us—Slayer, Megadeth, those
types of guys~there are very few left that we
haven't done shows with, Metallica were one
of them, and now they're not." The gi
presented Lamb of God with what isa rare
scenario these days~facing an audience thatmay have no idea who they are. “Metallica is
such a commercially successful act that alot
of their crowd is not what I would consider to
bbe metal fans” Morton says. “So it was a chal
Tenge. But I think it was really good for us to
be thrown into open water like that and have
to figure it out. At this point, i's not often that
wwe find ourselves in situations we haven't
experienced before:
Tndeed, there isn’t much Lamb of God
hhaven’t seen or done by this stage of their
career. Since forming in Richmond in the
early Nineties as Burn the Priest, they've been
‘om asteady rise to the top ofthe metal heap.
Many of their albums, including 2000's New
American Gospel and 2003's As the Palaces
Burn, stand as defining documents of post:
Pantera metal—rooted in elassc thrash and
speed metal bt executed with heightened
Hhncal facility and fury, and topped with
hhardcore-ish vocals that alternate between a
clipped bark and an all-consuming roar. les
hardly a recipe for mainst
Lamb of God’ last dise—and second for major
label Epic—Sacrament, debuted at number
eight on the Billboard album chart and was
crowned the biggest-selling metal record of
2006. Add to that an almost nonstop tour
‘schedule that has seen them play slongside—
now that Metallica has been crossed off the
lise—just about everyone, and it's hardly
surprising that Morton is up for any new chal-
Tenge that comes Lamb of God's way
‘Which brings us to Wrath, which is being
touted as something ofa return to form for the
banda rawer, more direct effort than Sacra-
‘ment. Though Sacrament was Lamb of God's
bigest success to date, the consensus was that
its songs suffered from overly fussy produc-
tion: vocals and guitars were at times extrava-
sgantly layered, and in a particularly egregious
‘move, some arrangements were bolstered with
keyboards. During the recording of Wrath, at
Teast one band member appeared tobe suffer
=Mark Morton
inglingering damage rom the experience
There was a point where we were check
ing mixes for one of the new songs, ‘Broken
Hands?” Morton sys, “and inthe chorus 1
had done these sliding octaves that added 8
real dept, almost like a tring arrangement
Chris [dlr heard itand was lke, We gotta
dump that bit" And Tsai What do you
tou? Itsounda cool’ And his respons way
“Teeounds realy cool. In fac, think it adds
tothe part Butt sounds like asynthesizer’” |
Morton pres, il somewhat pursed by the
conversation that followed, “So told Chris
that what he was hearing wasnt a synthesizer,
twas my guitar. And he said, Tknow itis.
know you played it, You did a great job, But it
still sounds like a synth. It’s gotta go’ And we
kept going back and forth like this for I don't
know how long. finally backed him dawn
by just saying, ‘Chris, you're trippin’? And he
stopped and looked me and said, ‘You're right.
Vm trippin’! And he dropped it.
“The thing is," Willie adds, “Sacrament
was a very epic-sounding record. It was very
produced, very processed. There was lots of
layering, lots of ouside sounds woven into
the arrangements. And that was fine for that
record, It worked, But we weren't going to go
furcher in that direction. So this time it felt
very natural to strip away all that pretense
and just be a heavy metal band playing heavy
‘metal riffs.”
‘That's not to say that Wrath isa retread. In
very elemental ways, the band has ventured
into new territory on the die, For starters,
Lamb of God parted ways with Machine, who
nad produced the band’s two major-label
| efforts. In his place, they chose to work with
Josh Wilbur who, despite being a Grammy
Award-winning engineer, had almost no
experiencing helming a project on his own.
We stuck our necks out a litle, letting some.
‘one produce who had technically never done
itbefore,” Morton admits. “I mean, i's a
major-label release, and within the metal com-
munity i's a pretty high-profile record. Cer-
tainly tous it’s an important project. But Josh
GUITAR WORLD 41‘was really motivated and hungry to doit, and
‘we knew his work ethic and trusted his ear:
Furthermore, the band already had a
long-standing working relationship with
Wilbur, who engineered Chris Adler's
drums and much of Morton's guitar work
‘on Sacrament, and mixed the live band
audio on their 2008 DVD, Walk wich Me in
Hell. Their easy rapport paid off on Wrath,
which Adler calls “representative of the
sound you hear when you come see us
play.” In point of fact, many of the album's
tracks are not only evocative of the band in
alive setting but also distill to its essence
the sound on which Lamb of God have built
their reputation. Go-for-the-throat songs
like “Set to Fail” and “Grace” explode with
dizzying, labyrinthine riffs and rampag-
ing rhythms, while “Contractor,” on which
Blythe contributes a guttural, rapid-fire
vocal, is among the most bracing and
{impressive tunes in the band’s entire cata
log, splitting the difference between punk
veriom and death-metal pummel
=Morton
For ther guitar parts, Morton and Adler
worked together more closely than they have in
the recent pas. “Inthe early days we basically sat
next to each other and spun out riff,” Morton
says."But over the course ofthe last few albums
‘we kind of split so that we would each just show
"up with whole tunes written, And by the time of
Sacrament we were working pretty independent
Iy of one another. That brings a cool dynamic, but
Think we each got too heavily into our own wip.
So for this record wees did some writing
Vidually, but we communicated that the process
needed to be more open and inclusive.”
‘The openness led to some ofthe album's
standout moments, such asthe two-minute
instrumental coda tothe song “In Your
Words.” Where most thrash-style metal
bands would take the opportunity of an
extended, vocal-less section to jam in as many
hot-shot shred licks as possible, Morton and
Adler instead orchestrate a hazy, heavily
atmospheric progression that turns almost
hypnotic in its droning repetitiveness.
“That's a perfect example of collaboration,
Morton says. "Willie was kind of directing
‘that tune, and he had this open chord progres
sion that was really cool. And I thought, How
do [take this to another level? So we came up
‘with melodies and counter-melodies and just
kept building on it. That part isnt technically
diffcut, bu its badass.
42 currar wortGUITAR WORLD 43an outsider in his own band was, accordi
to Adler, “part ofthis album, right from p
production. Typically, Randy writes alot of
his stuf after we have some of the landscape
‘complete, but this time he was there from day
fone.” Ie’s hardly an overstatement to say that
Blythe's authoritative vocals and outsized
often borderline-psychotie, onstage persona
are among Lamb of God's defining character
Isties, but on Wrath he also contributes some
of is most impressive Iyries, particularly on
the song “Contractor:
“Randy and I had been talking about writing
song like that fora longtime,” Morton says
‘brought the rifin, which is real simple
lots of pedaling, lots of accents, wth room for
sneering vocals. And he just took off with it
Blythe's lyrics, a vividly drawn sereed
lambasting the Haliburton-type corporations
‘thathave used the Iraq war as means to wage
their own personal gold rush, drop the listener
straight into Baghdad, “stomping lines in inter
national sand” and “running red lights in a green
zone." Its amanie yet detailed account and also
introduces what is sure to become a crowd-
chanting eatchphrase:"Guaran-fucking-teed,
“Morton calls the song “one of Randy's
best,” which is significant for two reasons:
he and Blythe are the two primary lyricists in
the band, and Morton has at times been the
iger's most forthright adversary. Exhibit
in that regard isthe now infamous fight,
captured for posterity on the 2005 DVD Kil
ladelphia and endlessly replayed on YouTube,
between the two on the strets of Glasgow
ekeree
ae Howse eet Nah) en le Pe ae
JF L0H WeveRsone) cha cody 00} SoTT CORAM (TaN 22
Dee}
44 cuITAR WorLD‘ee
=Willie Adler
Scotland, in which Morto
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ONG
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out abit,
one of my best friend
have that kind of re
about Randy that he'll god
‘That's the kind of motherfucker he is, and I
effect ofthe tam effort on Wrath “Th
ut this album,” Adler
collaborative than any Wi
y really stepped up to the
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pmiitted suicide atthe age of 14
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as luck would have tthe best
inthe backyard of
FILL THE ADJECTIVES one
could use to describe Mastodon's epic
new album, CRACK THE SKYE, “relax-
ing” probably wouldn't be one of them. But
that is exactly how guitarist Brent Hinds
describes his band’s latest effort. sao aa eal anette
m, Weill give birth to
Sect e ee eee eee eee eee eee eethe album and then twill take few months
before we think about having sex with each
other and creating another baby. Everything
islined up tobe mega, mega big for us We've
tthe music and we'e all in good health and
spirits. We're going to go out there one more
time and try to take aver the world
RR Ik
‘auran wont You've each had a couple of
near-death experiences in the time since the
lase Mastodon record. Brent, you suffered a
severe head injury in an altercation in Las
Vegas, and Bill,you were admitted tothe hos-
pital in England lst November with strange
symptoms, Did those episodes have any effect
éonyouoron the making of Crack the Skye?
Itdidn'treally change anything,
1 think that Brent's incident
chilled him out abit, He was prety messed up
fora while after that, and he basicaly stayed
at home lot, resting and writing songs on
his acoustic guitar. When you get second
chance like that it makes you think ewiee
about alot of things in lif. He could have
been lle.
Itmight have slowed me down alittle
bit—a very litle bit. Not much.
Inmy situation, the doctors told
e that hadn't made it tothe hospital
when I did, could have died within the next
couple of day. I got really sick. [thought
‘would just go away in acouple of days but it
kept geting worse I count eat, pee or shit,
and Twas hallucinating. My whole body was
shutting down, and Thad no idea what was
sping on. That incident made me think how
precious life canbe. Everyone is here for a
reason. Mines to bea dad and tobe a musi
in that writes good music that people can
set nto. Iewas a life-changing experience.
Tan'tdrink any more, and that was always
big partof my life beingin a rock band,
touring and partying too much. Ithelped me
become more focused in life. 've really cn-
centrated on my playing.
‘@w You've deseribed Crack the Skye asthe
album ways wanted to make.
What was different about making this album?
All ofthe planets aligned when we
‘made this record, We initially hada couple
of different producers in mind, and Brendan
O'Brien wasn't one of them. All of the other
‘guys fell through and our best option became
Brendan, who also happens to be based here
in Atlanta where we live
‘We wanted to work with Rich Costey
[the Mars Volta, Rage Against the Machine},
bute wasnt available, Working w
ddan herein Atlanta had its advan
‘great to be able to go home and sleepin your
‘own bed when you're done forthe day. Ifyou
ddon’thave tobe at the studio you ean go home
and hang out at your own houise. Brendan is
killer to work with. He brought a lot of spon:
taneity, comedy, laughs, talent and ideas. His
ideas were pretty much the same as mine
Everytime he suggested something it was
always what | was thinking we shoud do,
My neighbor, who isa good friend
of mine, works at Southern Tracks Record
ing, and he has always been trying to get me
to go to there, Ies one of the greatest rock
studios in the southeast United States, Ies
FOO kk tk
OI Ik Oe
a realy expensive studio, so I was really
surprised to find out that we were going to
bbe working there with Brendan O'Brien. 1
‘thought he only worked with bands that are
much bigger than us, He's recorded Bruce
Springsteen, and he had just finished AC;
DC's last album, Lalways thou
stripped-down rock produc
Tot with what we had, and its
sounding like a big, sonic record
‘Gw How did you prepare to make this
album?
Tis time we already had the record
‘written and had done preproduction on it
before we started working with Brendan. We
‘were more than ready
We were very well prepared for
thisrecord. Thave Pro Tools on my laptop, so
I started messing around with that. [recorded
some ideas really early on, and invited
everybody aver to my house to play into the
‘computer. [brought my laptop o our prac
tice space and plugged some mics nto itto
capture some drums. From that I moved on to
‘a Tascam digital eight-track recorder witha
built-in CD burner, which was more portable
and easier to take to our rehearsal space and
plugmore mics into. We did preproduction
aSyi
F
‘on that every day from noon until 5 pt
hammering out as many riffs as we could and
trying to hook stuf together. We were really
hard on ourselves. We played things over
and over and kept rearranging things until
itsounded like asong. We ended up writing
bout 18 songs, and the best of those ended up
‘onthe recor
Before we met up with Brendan we went
into a studio here in Atlanta to record some
demos, We pretended like we were making
the record that week, so we went in and did
the best that we could, We even did some
guitar overdubs, added some keyboards and
experimented with some vocal ideas. The
songs realy started coming together, When
‘we hooked up with Brendan, he eame down
toour rehearsal space and we played all of
‘our songs for him. He produced the songs
from there, giving us his ideas and impres
sions of what we needed todo, He told us
that he was going tobe rally brutal on our
‘music, He said that if we weren't 100 percent
sure about a part, just take it out. We took
his advice for the most part. By the time we
went into the studio we knew exactly what
‘we wanted todo. About the only things that
changed were some voeal parts, but that’s
‘mainly because vocals always come last in
‘our recording process,
4Gw Many of the songs have intricate
vocal harmonies
That's my fworite part of music
1 always love to hear vocal and guitarhar
‘monies. That's ig part of my musical
background. love music like Weezer and the
Beach Boys, and I'm excited that we've now
_rten to the stage where we can do that
‘ew It sounds like you did alot of exper
‘menting with guitar tones on this record.
50 auirarworto
Definite
Brendan had so many.
different guitars, amps, effects and pedals,
that we used to doa lot of layering and cre-
ate different guitar sounds. From day one it
was an amazing recording experience. He
had arack of 25 guitars inthe studio, and
we just randomly picked things up. He'd
grab a guitar and go, “Try this fr that part.”
He knew what each guitar was going to
sound like and how it would fit in
ng to se Brencian’s gear was the
‘most fun part of making this album, We had a
‘last ryingall ofthese different guitar tones
and exploring the world of vintage amps. We
Ihave some really good tones on this album.
Iesa textured, tangible sound that you can
almost reach out and touch. We used alot
‘ofsmaller amps, which atually allow you
tohear the guitar better. [realy liked this
ool ld “Plexi” Marshal that Brendan has. 1
played his six-strng banjo on the beginning of
“Divinations.” We aways throw that country
‘utmegin there whenever wecan. I used a
different amp and adifferene guitar on every-
thing whenever I could, That helped define
the different chapters of the CD. Llove the
organ tracks that Brendan put on the record
‘That's my favorite part ofthe album.
Brendan had an old Telecaster
that Fused on a couple of clean, bu gritty,
parts onthe record. Alotof those parts aren't
totally predominant, but they're mixed in
there, played a Danelectro baritone on the
smidale part of “Ghost of Karlin.” Lused an
‘open tuning, which allowed the open strings
toring out and made the part easier to play
We used the Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail
reverb pedal extensively on the record, some
tremolo and octave pedals like the Electro-
Harmonix POG and a realy old Leslie speak
‘er cabinet that has a really Zeppelin-y sound
‘ona few songs. I played this 12-string electric
‘that has the smallest neck—it was so tiny
that I could wrap my whole hand around it
twice. Lused it on this realy intricate clean
partin the midale of “Oblivion” and ended
‘up muting half the notes I was trying to play
told Brendan, “Idon't know ifit's me or if
this guitar is really small.” He suid, “No, i's
really small, On a neck lke that you aren't
supposed to hit ll the notes anyway.”
We just scratched the surface of
allof the coo stuff that Brendan has. used
Teles, Strats, Flying Vs and Les Pauls. also
played a1968 SG that I've had fora realy long
time and have just started taking onthe rod.
Itkind of makes me nervous to ply it, but
when you've gota have it, you've gotta have
it. Guitars are made for destroying. 'ma firm
believer in that.
une Brent played mos ofthe acoustic
gitar parts on the record. Ihave a First Act
pine-string electric guitar, which has a double
cutaway and weighs about 20 or 30 pounds.
Its the heaviest guitar I've ever played. The
high strings are doubled up sot produces a
chorus effect. I used that on a couple of songs.
{ew It sounds like you used an EBow on,
“The Czar”
T can space out on the EBow for
hours, That's the thing about working with
Brenclan. Iwas just sitting there fucking
around with the EBow, and Brendan recorded
{cand sed it without my knowing about it
Hee putt on the song, and when [heard it
said, “Whats that? That sounds awesome!”
He said, “Remember when you were playing
EBow that day? I was recording it” 1 was lke,
“Wow, Pm never going to beable to do that
live. Thanks alot” Tes going to be a really bigchallenge to play the new material ive
‘guitar I would think that you've already
worked out the basie structure for playing
the songs live
‘Exactly. already know the skel
ton of the song because it started out as a
skeleton to begin with. I don't write any-
thing on electric guitar. I don’ have an elec:
tric guitar in my house because it's too loud
and there's too much shit to fuck with—the
amp, cord, and guitar. Thave a Martin D-1S,
Iying around, and just pick itup and see
‘what happens. I never have any intentions
of writing anything I just comes to me
‘ew Have you made any additions to your
live rigto duplicate all the new sounds on
Crack the Skye?
Tmstillusing the same gear. I still
hhave a Marshall. ]CMB0O reissue head anda
Kerry King head, Thave a tremolo pedal with
a tubebuit into it that I'm tying to use on a
lotmore stuf Pd like to get a Leslie or some
thing that emulates one
Thave a 1972 silverface Fender
‘Twin. I took the two 100-watt speakers
‘out and replaced them with two 200-watt
12-inch bass Celestions that are more ike
woofers than tweeters. Underneath that I
have two 300-wate 15-inch Celestions in a
Fender silverface cabinet. ll f thats run-
ning with a1976 Marshall JMP MII Lead
100-watt heed, which is slaved with a Mar-
shall Vintage Modern into two 4x2 cabinets
loaded with 75-watt Celestion speakers. Irs
pretty amazing. run itll through my digital
Aelay, which pongs the sound through all
the different speakers. I's really spacey and
psychedelic when you stand in front oft
52 GUITAR WORLD
‘The Twin has that Stooges tone. The way it
breaks up naturally sa badass sound, Noone
‘makes a pedal that sounds like tht.
ELMER just gota nice white 2008
Explorer. My frst Gibson guitar was exactly
the same~a 992 Explorerbutitgot stolen
along with a Les Paul Studio Thad. A couple
of years later I found it atthe House of Guitars
in Rochester, New York, and they gave ieback
tome. Itwas kind of beat up from being on
the streets fora while. ended up trading it
fora Marshall head, Pve always wanted to get
another white Explorer. just bought 1981
B/2 [aka. Explorer 11] with a tobacco sun-
burst finish, white binding and gold hardware.
Ie the most beautiful and most awesome:
sounding playing guitar ve ever had. Itjust
crushes and plays so smooth. I put some
‘Seymour Duncan Distortion pickups in itike
1 putin all ofmy guitars, and itbarks ike a
rabid dog. Its my main ax now. Lal
Artist RD witha Silverburst finish, I
‘only 400 made. I'm trying to break cha guitar
in right now. Pm not used to playing brand.
new guitars. I took out the Dirty Fingers pick
upsthat were in
‘@w Each Mastodon record has focused on.
aspecific element fire, water, earth and now
sly, space or ether. Was that the band’s plan
from the beginning?
You need to havea theme to work
with. Ifyou don't you lose direction. Once you
have your topic you can start your research
When we wrote our frst album,
Remission, there just happened to bea lot
offire elements to the lyrics. When the idea
for Leviathan came around we had a water
theme going. Then we eame up withthe idea
for Blood Mountain and we were stuck with
the earth theme. Is kind of ike the origin of
carth and the band: ithad a fiery beginning,
and then water cooled the fire. Then the
‘mountains rose up and the band was on solid
round. Now we're getting trippy and into
‘outer space and out-of body experiences,
‘aw Astral projection, Rasputin, the Russian
hlysty religious cule and the Tibetan Book of.
the Dead are not your typical subject matter
Where di you learn about these subjects?
aman Brann took trip to Russia about
two years ago while we were on a break. He
sucks in alot of influences on his travels. On
the past couple of records he's stepped up to
the plate when itcomes to writing lvies. He
had to.come up with these themes, and his
trip ro Russia hada lotto do with it
Brann isa waterfall of knowledge
His brain just flows with really cool ideas
He's always very curious, and he has a
resourceful mind, Ym more concerned with
the musical side ofthe band, so write alot of
the guitar parts: Brann is the more educated
‘ofthe band so he waites more of the
Iyries. Leome up with titles and write lyrics
probably 3/sths ofthe time
Brann also has a deeper connee-
tion withthe record, His sister Skye com-
mitted suicide when she was M4 He had a
crazy life when he was growing up, and this
album helped him bring some closure to his
situation by bringing it out in the open. I's
bout out-of-body experiences, people com:
ing back from the dead and not dying. We
don’ like to write about polities, religion or
familiar subjects, lke our girlfriends, so we
have to think alot harder about the topics we
write about. Our lyrics are getting deeper as
Hele! ogencWAS COMPLETELY SCARED TO DEATH OF BEING
“AMOUS,” Steve Vai confides. “And I just thought,
‘There's no way I could sell this music I've made. I
(clove enc a iY!
nt to try to sell it! It’s too personal.”
‘The music that Vaiis discussing is Flex- ble, his firs solo album
Released in 1984, a quarter of a century ago this year, thas become a
classic among fans of virtuoso rock guitar and landmark ofthe Eighties
shred phenomenon that forever raised the bar for rock guitar technique.
thas been reissued many times and in many formats, along withthe now
equally famous Flex-Able Leftovers bomus tracks, In commemoration of ts
silver anniversary, Vas preparing a specially remastered, 25¢h anniver-
sary deluxe reissue ofthe album that put him on the map.
Flex-Able was the dse that introduced Steve Vai tothe world Although
he had already made several albums with Frank Zappa, Flex-Able was the
firstrecord that presented him on his own terms. His uncanny mastery of
the fretboard, the strange voodoo he could work with a whammy bar, the
soul-searching lyricism of is ballad playing, his compositional fai, even
his mystical, tantric alien love god persona~the whole Vai story begins
with Fler-Able
The album is also an important early example ofa rock musician siz
ing control ofthe means of preduction and distribution, and having it
his own way. Vai recorded itin a home studio that he built with his own
hans, and then released it independently. In that respect, Flex-Ableis
an important harbinger of ur own digital D.LY. era of MySpace and
YouTube, Pro Tools and Garage Band—except that Vai did ital analog,
ata time before personal computers had even made their way into most
people's homes and the internet was still more than a decade down the
road. Nonetheless, Flex-Able has old more than 300,000 copies to date.
Notbad for music that its creator thought would never sell
‘These days Steve Vai is no longer scared to death of fame. Posingin an
LA. photo studio for this month's Guitar World cover (in which he recre-
ates Flex-Able's jacket art), Vai relaxed and assured, completely com.
fortable in his tll, lanky rock sar frame, working the lens with the same
‘easygoing command he exhibits onthe fretboard. But he also remains one
ofthe nicest, most unassuming guys in rock, with a kind word for every
‘one inthe room, ajoke ora concerned inquiry asto the other person's well
being, Settling into a sofa after the shoot, he seems eager to discuss his
plans forthe special 25th anniversary reissue of Flex-Abl.
"What 'm working on is remastering Flex-Able and Flex-Able Leftovers
{in ther original form, and releasing that, along with a phoco book and
the whole story ofthat time in my lif,” he explains. “The bonus material
includes a whole lew of stuf that was recorded even before Flex-Able, in
an earlier home studio Thad. Is some realy weind staff. [say ‘weird; but
‘what I really mean issilly. When Ilisten back to some of it chink, Who
the heck was this guy who made this silystutfe"
hat guy was a guitarist in his erly twenties from suburban Carle
Place, Long Island, who'd been plucked from the Berklee School of Music
by none other than Frank Zappa and whisked offto L.A. to serve as Zap-
a's music transcriptonistand “stunt guitarist,” the Zappa band member
who played the “impossible” guitar parts. The young Mr. Vai also pos-
sessed an almost lifelong obsession with audio recording
"Even when I was a young boy” he recalls, “besides the guitar itself, the
thing that fascinated me most was the ida of recording sound on sound
1 started recording stuf the day’I started playing guitar, Even today, 1
record myself playing the guitar at least an hour a day, probably four or
five days a week. I just sit and play, and I record it 1 don't even know why.
‘There's maybe the idea of some kind of posterity, which more and more
seems lke aig waste of ime. But just maybe the ida of going back and
listening to the person who I was a that time.
Vai arived in Los Angeles on his 20¢h birthday and set himself up in an
apartment at 1435 North Fairfax, where he assembled alittle four-track
studio he called “Sy Vy.” When he wasn’t working with Zappa, he was
inhis apartment cutting his own tracks. In the early Eighties, the home
recording boom was really getting underway. Tascam and Fostex had
begun releasing the first aflordable reel-to-reel multitrack tape machines
inthe late Seventies. The dawn ofthe Eighties brought the Portastudio
concept: fur tracks on cassette, with an integrated mixer. Prior to ths,
musicians without a record contractor other financial means of paying for
‘commercial studio time had no affordable means by which to record thei
‘own music. The advent of home studios profoundly affected the evolution
‘of popular music and the music business in the decades that followed.
A few years into Vas tenure with Zappa, he'd saved enough money
for adown payment on alte house in
Me eek oe ee
FLEXABLE Eee
WAS THE
a Fostex eight-rack, 14-inch reel-to-reel
tape machine and aCarvin consol. It
START
OFA
MUSICAL, Heeeer creas
AND ee eta
SPIRITUAL
QUEST
FOR THE
ABSOLUTE,
A JOURNEY
THAT HAS
covers]. The tape machine had a vari-speed
TAKEN HIM
control—halfa step up in pitch and half
step down, I wrote this linear piece of
TO THE
HIGHEST
bizarre muse, with ll these polyrhythms,
PINNACLES
and I recorded it eight times on each of
the eight tacks, each time changing the
[tape] speed a lite bit And then tipped
the tape backward. So when you listen to
the piece, you get this eight piece octonal
bizarre piece of muse.
OF ROCK
GUITAR
ARTISTRY. Ihe would give to friends. Flexi discs were
Phonograph records pressed on very thin,
Aexible sheets of vinyl that were often bound ino the pages of music mag
azines as free giveaway. The flexi disc idea may well have contributed to
the genesis ofthe album tte Flex-Able.
“Many of the Flex-Able tracks originated
as wild studio experiments or even jokes.
‘But when printing up the discs proved tobe too complicated, Vai
Aecided, reluctantly, to attempt to secure a conventional record contract.
Vai brought his friends in on the record
ings, along with fellow Zappa band mem-
‘bers Chad Wackerman and Bob Farris
and bassis Stuart Hamm, Pia Maioc
soon to be Mrs. Vai, was also in atten-
dance, And because these tracks were
basically goofball home recordings, a's
‘nitial chougint was merely to press up the
‘music ona limited run of flexi dises that
He was shocked at what he discovered, Then as now, the standard record
eal involves signing away all of your copyrights in return for an upfront
advance (generally around $10,000 a that time) and a minuscule royalty
ofa few cents for each record sold.
“T thought, This is absurd; 'd never sign anything like that," Vai
recounts, "Record labels bank on the fact that artists believe that a
arecord deal isthe Holy Grail,
so they're willing to sell their
intellectual property very
cheaply. But I had no attach-
ment to the idea of being
famous or having my record
‘he built at his home in Syimar, released by a record com-
California. twas here that he | = pany. And that gave me the
made Fex-Ablein 1984. freedom to turn avray from
that kind of deal without
even considering it.
Instead Vai formed his own label, Akashic Records, and found a
distributor, Cliff Cultreri of Important Records, a raving Zappa fan
who became Vai’ lifelong friend and ally. The Important distribu-
tion deal netted Vai a generous $4.10 per record sold, and Vai retained
his copyrights—a dramatically better deal than a conventional record
contract. And Flex-Able began to sel. The shres/metal virtuoso guitar
phenomenon was getting underway, and Blex-ble became one of the
genre's cult classics, Starting in the late Seventies, indie records had
been a key component ofthe punk,/new wave scene. And now the indie
concept was fueling another kind of rock phenomenon.
But Flex-Ab\e's appeal transcends the Eighties, The album continues
tobea solid seller. And as vinyl record gave way to CDs, and Important
Records was acquired by Sony, Vai found himself sitting even prettier
To this day, Sony distributes Flex-Able, and they have to account
to me for $7.50 for every CD sold," Vai says. “That's more than they've
ever paid any artist in history, I'm sure, Because i’ a distribution
deal, nota record deal. And I've so, like, 300 to 400 thousand cop:
ies of Flex-Able, Pve made millions of dollars from that litte record
by retaining my rights, I don't mean to
“WHEN sound like I'm bragging, but itjust goes
to show you that it can be done—even
YOU'RE A _ witharecord as bizarre as tat one
‘Vai seems tobe in a career-retro
KID AND _ secivemode oftate.tn addition to
remastering Flex-Able, he is releasing a
YOU SBE __ rewsetotalscshecals Naked Tracts,
Basically, he's gone back tothe master
on [XC __ recordings for all his post Fiex-Able solo
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‘Guar wort What sort of memories, feelings and reflections came up
for you in the process of remastering Flex-Able?
Alotof things come flooding in when 1 listen to Flex-Able
Twas made ata time when life seemed so easy. I was surrounded by
friends and people Tloved. I was with Pia even back then. 1 didn’t have
a care in the world. [had no expectations of being great or having tonine oF 10 people iv ‘Most people who yout
know that [know lived in that house atone time or
other. Iwas realy, truly a glorious time, We had
nthe backyard Right outside my window
all these things come flooding to mind.
‘ofall places?
in' like it is today. It was
There was no smog. It’s at the base of
the San Gabriel mountains. We would go hiking and
Fn the mountains, There was a ranch across
the street with horses. Ic worked out really well that
n L.A. Pia actually found the place.
hhad somewhere [could play
‘tool shed inthe backyard,
itby the previous
ive months and $5,000—money T
‘earned giving guitar essons—and built this studio,
Stucco Blue, in that backyard shed. There's photos
fof me doing it. wen ght che wood ull the
studio and put the gu myself
‘Qw And Frank Zappa contributed some ofthe studio
sear?
If not for Frank's support—with the equip,
ment he gave me and his encouragement~I never
would have made o | Flex-Able. Frank
elt about editing. He taught me how to
with a razor bla ne the two
1] machine that I mixed down to and that L
purchasing from i
fine [used on the album
itback to him I had to go to usin
Frank gave me compressors, a flan
nd when I gave
eal drummer
phasers..real
ar. [could never have afforded anything like
influence is also profoundly pres-
aly on tracks like “Lite Green
Men’ and “Sala the Sun.” I don’ think any
one as ever approximated Frank's compositional style
as effectively as you have.
rank was my mentor. If wasn’t in my apart
enton the album,
men He was
very innocent and completely coarse in my makeup. I
st this kd
Thin
because he supported me.
‘only one I ever played this tuff for when T
was working on tI played it for him, and for fiends who
were there.
‘aw Al n-oriented pieces ike
a lealso introduces alot of the
Something lke “The
‘extreme guitar arobates that would become si
Attitude Song” is almost ikea brief synopsis of what was to come in yo
The Attitude Song ally recorded in Sy Vy Studios on Fairfax Avenue a
for Alice Cooper, cause I'd heard Alice was look iar player. The audition tap
the nextday. So wrote and recorded “The Attitude Song” in one night, and itwas called “The Night
efor.” Improvised a bass part, an then T just built the guitars ontop of it. And then when I gotto
Stucco Blue, I rerecorded it
‘GW Were the more rock-band-oriented songs on Flex-AB
the studio with the rhythm seetion? Would you cut a
No. I could eut abasic track by myself, and then Pd
what to play. I didn’ rehearse that stuff itwas all built up track by track inthe studio. Or at least
The Attitude Song” was, Something like "Viv Woman,” we would just play that together all the
time, and then we ust threw it down to ta
‘Gw Your sole guitar for Flex-Able was a Seventies Fender Strat?
A°77, think, yeah, Ialso had ablue guitar made by Performance Guitar, (continued on p82)
elke “The Attitude Song” cut live in
ack with the drummer and bassist?
the drummer in there and tll him
ae
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Better lhan Flex?
NAKED TRACKS lets you play along with Steve.
Are you ready to walk on the Vai side? ny a\
n di Perna
AKE THE BEST STEVE VAI
tracks of all time and...take
out Steve Vai? That’s the
premise behind the new Naked
Tracks box set, which collects the
best part of six Vai solo dises—Pas-
sion & Warfare, Sex & Religion, Alien
Love Secrets, Fire Garden, Alive in
an Ultra World, The Ultra Zone, Real
Illusions: Reflections—stripping away
Vai’s own space and time warping
leads. This leaves you room to play
your own leads over some of the best
backing tracks available anywhere.
Don't panic, Steve is with you every step of the way. Detailed liner notes
offer both technical playing advice and creative strategies. You've never
had a better shot at playing and thinking like Steve Vai-to the extent
‘which that is humanly possible.
Itseems the virtuoso guitar hero has been in serious education mode of,
Inte. Vai has als been traveling around offering Alien Guitar Secrets, live
‘Buta clinics filed with sage advice from the master himself. And soon
Alien Guitar Secrets willbe available via VaiTunes, a new internet sub-
scription service that will dole ut a monthly dose of instructional videos
and rare, previously unreleased tracks from the Vai vaults,
Allin ll then, the future is brimming with possiblities to get interactive
‘with Steve Vai
‘aumtan wort How did you arrive at the idea to put together the Naked
Tracks box se?
‘STVEVAL Through the years, whenever T mixed my records, T would
always doa mix without the lead guitar so’ have something to play along.
to. I didn't do that with Flex-Able because I did’t really have the technol
‘gy at the time, Bue with all the ather albums T though, One day Til make
these tracks available so people can play along. And through the years 1
have, toa degree, ut now I've decided that Pm going to take everything
that somebody could play along to and release ill in one box set, right
now, No excuses, And I created ths five-CD box called Naked Tracks. It
probably has 60 or so tracks of mine, spanning the years, without the lead
pie
‘guitar. And just listening to them without the lead guitar i very interest-
‘ng, because you can hear alot ofthe production.
‘Gw You really expect people tobe able to reproduce your leads?
‘val That's the great part. I wouldn't really expect people to take these
‘racks and play my parts; you ean play anything you want against them.
Andi’ really cool because all of sudden you have these very colorful
backing tracks that aren't just canned beat material that you download for
GarageBand; these are real songs to which you ean add your own interest-
ing playing.
‘The idea to release Naked Tracks also came from the fact that I goon
YouTube and sce alot of kids who play along to someone's tack. So we've
just started this contest online. It’s called Real Guitar Hero, People can
‘download a track, and basically there are two categories: one is "Play Like
the Record,” and the other is"“Create Your Own Concept” Ie willbe very
interesting to hear the results. Idi this once before with “Jibboom” [from
‘The: ne]. This company wanted to have acontest, and 10 people
hhad sent in tracks they'd ereated from the naked track of “Jibboom.” And it
‘was astonishing how diffrent and diverse they all were. The way I played
fon the song sounded really conservative compared to what these guys
were doing.
‘GW So the Guitar Hero phenomenon influenced you todo allthis?
‘vat Yeah, I support the whole Guitar Hero thing, because it actually—
statistically encourages kids to pick up an instrument. Fr that, think i's
pretty worthwhile. You know, the guitar is the coolest instrument in the
‘world, Everybody loves it. 've discovered that most people want to play it.
‘And the people who say they don't probably do.
"The guitaris just so expressive. 'm abig proponent ofthe idea that,
‘everybody should play guitar. Even ifyou're just banging out aD chord
‘ran E minor chord, you're hitting itand making strings vibrate, and that
resonates with the human soul just the sound of strings vibrating Its
great, cathartic thing todo, So when people are picking up a game and
doingit is a form of pseudo instant gratification. But it eneaurages
‘them to actually pick up the real instrument and make the strings resonate,
that’s cool
‘GW You said that you don't expect everybody to play exactly what you
played on the original tracks, But how many people do you think are out
RoR
Titi
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