Sawyer's Shred Spotlight: Compilations Pt 1 - The Guitars That Rule The World

Hey friends! Welcome to another edition of Sawyer's Shred Spotlight, where I hope to expose you to the greatness that is shred. Today I'll be starting off a series of posts on some of my favorite shred compilations. I'm going to be presenting them in semi-chronological order, starting with Guitar World's 1992 compilation The Guitars That Rule the World off Metal blade Records. TGTRTW is a solid album, featuring a lot of big names in the realm of guitar from the early nineties: Yngwie Malmsteen, Paul Gilbert, Zakk Wylde, Alex Skolnick, just to name a few. And the various tracks span the genre continuum. We'll dig in to the album right after the jump!


Reb Beach (probably most known for his work as a founding member of Winger, as well as replacing George Lynch in Dokken) provides the first track on the album, "Black Magic". "Black Magic" is one of my favorites from this album for a number of reasons. First of all, its a bit heavier of a song compared to the many lighter songs on the album. But mostly, Beach's crisp yet head-spinning playing makes this track stand out. Specifically, check out the licks being spit out around 1:20.



Another phenomenal track, "Filet of Soul" is a bluesy/jazzy piece from former Testament guitar player Alex Skolnick. Blues and Jazz where a bit of a change of pace for the thrasher at the time, but he's now devoted all of his efforts into fusion with the Alex Skolnick Trio. Its also interesting to note that Les Claypool of Primus provides that bass for this jam.



And just for kicks here is Zakk Wylde's contribution, "Farm Fiddlin'". The bluegrass/chicken pickin' intro is pretty interesting, but at 2 minutes long its kind of overkill. Once the song actually kicks in, its heavy blues in true Zakk Wylde fashion. And if ol' Zakk doesn't keep your attention, then maybe the animals attacking each other in the accompanying video will.



Full Track Listing:

1. Reb Beach - Black Magic
2. Richie Sambora - Mr. Sambo
3. Yngwie J. Malmsteen - Leviathan
4. Paul Gilbert - I Understand Completely
5. Elliot Easton - Walk on Walden
6. Zakk Wylde - Farm Fiddlin'
7. Nuno Bettencourt - Bumble Bee (Crash Landing)
8. Alex Skolnick - Filet of Soul
9. Richie Kotzen - Chype Fluxx
10. Albert Collins - Blues for Stevie
11. Dickey Betts & Warren Haynes - Willie and Poor Bob
12. Reeves Gabrels - Why Do I Feel Like I'm Bleeding
13. Earl Slick - Surfer Junkie Dude

Alright that's all for now! Next week I'll be showing you a more modern shred compilation with some of today's hot shots. Remember, if you like what you hear on SSS, you can tune into my weekly radio show: Night of the Living Shred, every Friday Night at 9 PM C/10 PM E on WSUM.