TUTE SETS NTT] “YANKEE ROSE Bia al] “THE ATTITUDE SONG Le “INTO THE VOID JASON MRAZ UNTIL PA. Ue ae ra LIVES a Mant ASD) v7 sii SEG “etka a mS — Y Magis) ALICE IN CHAINS Miss ai ety aa baa Teva Ts APLACE 10 BURY STRANGERSVOL.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 CoatedVOL.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 tcTHE 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 25DAVE 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 curraRWoRLDTRACKS 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 wortDplayed 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 1dear 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 ‘Toxic GARBAGE Sue tape onthe pedal indatesthe queer channel and naturalto place righ after ‘Cone were track the uta fr or ou de one do’ even se thea because the ft albu, From Maso Si Jesh andj ove soe nd pow. sa cet atthe end ofthe ong when wel sowe cle EV an they srt re ads thnk *. rely good ga: 6G. wrmoThisis actualy the iden rack on ouratum | weuse during these, Some bands elt of oer, From Marti Ws the out thatcomesat the end after | but we uraly ure just one per song, wth may 'B. weran incr supporter ofthe Tibetan peop “Th ‘white ight as wll When you ne clr, i's tase to dig int the atmo rong. It keeps rented we ike that Wee tokep very sober. my ab. Hopetlly, some people wil stand Il reming them ofthe sitation hee” 'B. ncxsoN sts CUAR"ove ike the shape, and the necks wide enough but prety thin. every pei, prety ec an ‘tpeape want ohare, becuse they sy ight thinks nt tight enough We're sti working a 2. ore weaviest Maren oF TH UNIVERSE” Wes about blackhole, which are like a dor opening into {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 WoRLDWW, 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 wT Corry peers ror Sa Pas GuitarWorld, Pr ror Po rg erry rang Sant Por id 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 thatmay 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 wortGUITAR WORLD 43an 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 SN ) ONG CN AR! 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 A CTO CULE TL END US YOUR MOST HISANE PICTURE OF YOU WITH YOUR AXL ea eR) WWW.ARLGUITARS.COMad i album s more mel ones” Hind = list Brann Dail pmiitted suicide atthe age of 14 triplet-note patterns, blud; shifetime in firsech 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 eethe 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 aSyi 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 bigchallenge 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! ogencWAS 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 arecord 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 PICTURES Getpetiaieten sere mins OF A inn Uta World The Ura Zoe, Rea “EAB eftcton and sped SPUTTAR, | Seindpireeh crea STP Steve Vas the world ver can py slong YOU GET siinrhebacking tacks Alongwith tis WOOD. subscription service the wl leune one WE iets rc utesesraseuteer sesSemperinnnn combed cet sin were scolar Ure the Wd There documenting stop denis 2007 ome Tata tran esaringaatl tne at nana Yt acing ral macy ges ack ofl abu that stared al burnt Vl Forbin Feels war astnl th fin octeofsse sareceasres ia tate clad cecal quate anys pong afloat Gehlert ste ‘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 tonine 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 MOTORIZED Ree 2 ad SE Oe UP 10 70% FASTER! Ute eT ee arte are Parti! Pe GUITAR’ UU Alaa CAPABILITIES Ea ea ey aL)A HI AEE ee 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 LANA AAA