Sawyer's Shred Spotlight: Compilations Pt 2 - Guitars That Ate My Brain

Hello again shredders, welcome to Sawyer's Shred Spotlight. This week's post is the second part of the mini-series on shred compilations! Last week I showed you a classic shred compilation, and this week I'm going to bring you a more modern compilation with some of the best guitar players up & coming in metal today. This album is appropriately entitled: Guitars That Ate My Brain!! We dive into this compilation, right after the jump.

As mentioned above, this album features original compositions from some big name guitar players, of (or formerly of) bands like Between the Buried & Me, Death, Darkest Hour, and even Hevy Devy himself. Its really about as good of a shred album as you could possibly want. I'll get us started with a track by Dave Martone (of solo fame) , "Hybrid Angels". If the first few riffs in the song don't kick you in the nuts, then I don't know what the hell you want. Throw in some unique Eastern tonalities and a handful of spaced-out solos (2:30 always blows my mind), and you've got a great shred song.



Next up is a really interesting track from Devin Townsend (Devin Townsend Project, Strapping Young Lad), called "Nerd Alert". The song weaves through smooth, dreamy, "left brain" melodies and then to spastic, some times violent "right brain" carnage. Plus, you get a good dose of Townsend's trade mark humor, with little bits of narration like: "You can't stop me, I was born to rock!" (Sometimes I use the "Greetings fellow guitar nerds" to start off my radio show.)



And my last expose from this compilation is a more straight forward heavy rocker, "L.D.E." from ex-Megadeth guitar player Chris Poland. I really dig the bluesy/sabbath-esque riffs in the song, mixed with the wahed-out leads. Poland actually does a great job of making his lines feel like vocals.



Here is the full track listing for the album, as well as what band each dude is from:

1. Paul Waggoner (Between the Buried & Me) - "Boot Dagger Boogie"
2. Kris Norris (Ex-Darkest Hour) - "The Life and Times of Sir Walter Sickert
3. Dave Martone (Solo) - "Hybrid Angels"
4. Bumblefoot (Solo, G'N'R) - "Disengaged"
5. Eyal Levi/Emil Werstler (Dååth) - "The Unwavering Collapse"
6. Shane Gibson (Solo, Korn) - "Artichoke Samurai"
7. Devin Townsend (Strapping Young Lad) - "Nerd Alert"
8. Chris Poland (Ex-Megadeth, Ohm, Solo) - "L.D.E."
9. Ola Frenning (Ex-Soilwork)/Chris Mälmstrom (Darkane) - "Hydra"
10. Mike Orlando (Solo) - "Stomped"
11. James Murphy (Death, Testament) - "Maiden Voyage"
12. Hugues Lefebvre/Yann Mouhad (Anthropia) - "Schrodinger's Cat Paradox"

Try pronouncing those last two. Damn. Anyway, that's all for this week's SSS! Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out next week's post where I get to a pretty obscure compilation!!! And as always, I'll be on air tonight at 9 Central/10 Eastern so check it out at WSUM.org!

Lastly, I've entered the blogosphere, so if you'd like to get more shred throughout the week visit Night of the Living Shred!

Guns n' Roses to Tour This Spring? You've Been Warned

Brave Words had an article today on a possible leak of Chinese Democracy reissue and U.S tour news. Apparently we're supposed to watch the Super Bowl for this earth shattering announcement. So it took 15 years to make a mediocre solo album as a followup to the Use Your Illusion stuff. And it's taken 3 years for Axl and crew to come to the U.S. to tour for this. I guess it took that long to figure out of there was going to be a demand?

Look, there is no doubt in my mind that tons of people are going to pay to see this tour. Most of them just for the nostalgic factor of the 80's and early 90's. Because let's face it your average everyday person that grew up on this stuff doesn't keep track of the every day goings on in the hard rock world. But this is where we on the internet sites come in to say, you are going to be disappointed.

Why? Because Axl Rose does not give a fuck about the general public. He will show up late. He will cut the short set. He may even cancel some of those dates. And when he does this, America, I don't want to see a bunch of bitching and griping about it. Guns n' Roses is a shell of it's former self and thusly you will be spending over 100 dollars for a product that wasn't good live since 1988.Trust me, I know. Ask Europe about last year. I walked out of a Gn'R show in 1992 at the height of their powers because it was so bad. Axl will take your money and not give a damn about your feelings or if you got your money's worth. You will be treated like a whore. As the subject line says you've been warned. Don't come to me for sympathy because you won't get it. As long as people blindly keep shelling out money for this 'product' it enables Axl rose to continue do these things he does. My advice would be to just enjoy Paradise City and Welcome to the Jungle for the 1000th time on the radio and stay home.

Shuffled Playlist Random Thoughts : 1-15-11

I think I'm going to start doing these regularly on Saturdays. There is usually nothing in the way of news or reviews to do most of the time. So why not press my luck for mockery on music tastes eh? Let's see what the old shuffle has to say about that after the jump.

Ugh. Guns N' Roses 'You Could be Mine'. I'm so done with G n' R. And this song. It got played to death when both Use Your Illusion albums came out. Probably thanks to Terminator 2 being a monster hit. I mean it was an ok song at first but just one of those filler songs that you don't actively seek out on an album. Oh well, my cred is still intact I guess. But speaking of Guns. I wonder if Axl is ever going to be man enough to play in the States? I really want to see what kind of turnout
there is. I know alot of clueless jackasses still living in the 90's will pay to see them. And then I can mock all the articles about people crying about late starts and tantrums.

The Greeks know their Metal Part IV

I want to get this over with so I'm mustering the energy and finishing this out.

25. METALLICA - "...And Justice for All" One of the good ones by them. Suffered from crap production with the bass being replaced with some low end distortion that rattled speakers and gave a muffled sound. Definatly a prog/thrash masterpiece though otherwise.

24. JUDAS PRIEST - "British Steel" More Priest for Greece. Ha! I'm a poet. Catchy but not particularly heavy. I consider this one of the top 3 favorites.

23. PARADISE LOST - "Draconian Times" Considered to be their masterpiece. Interesting that it's so high up on this poll.It doesn't suck but left me bored.

22. DEEP PURPLE - "Machine Head" Ok so Greeks consider influential metal. I'll stop harping on that.

21. AC/DC - "Highway to Hell" I won't stop harping about this though. AC/DC is not metal and never have been. Stop it world.

20. METALLICA - "Kill 'em All" Hello world...we're Metallica and we're going to be the most successful metal band in the world until we go soft in the 90's only to attempt to return to form in 2008.

19. HELLOWEEN - "Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I" Really...these guys in the top 20. Ok.

18. METALLICA - "Ride the Lightning" Close second as my favorite album. They mastered their thrash sound here and then expanded later. Personally I think it should be higher.

17. DIO - "Holy Diver" My favorite solo Dio effort. The Greeks love their sword and sorcery, no doubt.

16. MEGADETH - "Rust in Peace" Megadeth's best all around album. Interesting that it's ahead of some of Metallica's greatest albums.

15. GUNS N' ROSES - "Appetite for Destruction" Borderline metal. But yeah I can see it being on this list. Would be a top 5 in the States. G n' R should have stuck with this sound.

14. LED ZEPPELIN - "[Untitled] (a.k.a. "Led Zeppelin IV")Sigh...not going there.

13. BLACK SABBATH - "Black Sabbath" Damn...thought this would be in the top 10. All things metal sprung from this.

12. IRON MAIDEN - "Powerslave" This is getting wierd how this is shaping up. I'd rank this lower though a very good album. One of their best.

11. MOTÖRHEAD - "Ace of Spades" More genres sprung from this. Classic stuff.

10. IRON MAIDEN - "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" Top 10 land. And no shit. The most underrated album in the states gets a top 10 in Greece. Wild.I love this album though.

09. BLACK SABBATH - "Paranoid" More Sabbath high up. I guess this ranks higher due to more popular songs then the debut?

08. BLACK SABBATH - "Heaven and Hell" Whoa a Dio fronted Sabbath beats the original and scores of other albums. This would be ranked waaaay lower in the States. Like I said Sword and sorcery ftw in Greece.

07. SLAYER - "Reign in Blood" Slayer ahead of Megadeth and Metallica. I feel like I'm in some alternate dimension. Slayers "we're maturing album".

06. QUEENSRŸCHE - "Operation: Mindcrime" Probably their best but 6th best of all time? Crazy.

05. METALLICA - "Metallica" (a.k.a. Black Album) No no no. Best selling is not the best. Oh well it's not my country.

04. AC/DC - "Back in Black" Moving on now.

03. Judas Priest - "Painkiller" Why do I have this compulsion to call these Greek voters idiots. Are you fucking kidding me? This as the 3rd greatest album of all time? Alright I want to get this done so I'm moving on. What a crock.

02. Iron Maiden - "The Number of the Beast" This doesn't make up for number 3 but yeah a solid choice.

01. METALLICA - "Master of Puppets" Interesting. I wonder what made the Greeks like this album more then any other on the list.It's going to add to my headache so there you go I'm done.

I will never do this again unless it's an American publication. then I can go all out and really lay into people there because I'm familiar with the culture here.
And by the way ,Greece a little suggestion. Go listen to some Testament and replace at least Painkiller with that. How could you have everybody on their but Testament? Or more Overkill, listen to more Opeth, and check out Kataonia. Entries from those would have replaced the glaring non metal shit you have on this list.

Oh well at least that country has topless beaches with hot chicks. We don't so what do I know?

Yeah...about Chinese Democracy

So yeah, Axl Rose did actually release Chinese Democracy. Pretty epic news right? Well you wouldn't know it. Go here to get an idea of the debacle that was the release of this.

Like I stated way back in June, people should not be surprised that this was a flop. But some people are. I truly believe that going over the past 15 years or so of this album and with the way it was released and marketed,that Axl Rose truly was done with the music business a long time ago.

You don't go from one of the biggest if not biggest bands in the world to spending 15years of no new material, minimal tours, or anything just to release an obvious half ass effort like this if you truly love being a recording artist. You just don't. I doubt seriously too that Axl was living off of royalties and merchandise for 15 years sitting like a mad professor trying to put this thing together. He had to have had other business ventures going at the same time.

I think that Axl Rose fed too much off the hype of Appetite ( no pun intended) and decided to see if he go bigger on the next releases and ended up creating a beast he could not control and burned himself out.

I've listened to this album and it's more of a scrapbook of tunes he patched together over the years probably trying to decide if he wanted to come back. I don't know if the pressure to release it finally got to him so he pulled the trigger or still owed Geffen a album and this completes the deal, but I would seriously be surprised if a major world tour and further albums are released. Despite what Axl said in his fan board.

Be honest with people William Bailey and tell the world that Axl Rose is no more. You'd probably get more respect then you ever got as Axl Rose.

OMG Gn'R News

So apparently Chinese Democracy got leaked last week and I totally missed it......coz......I had better things to do. Fortuantly the crack reporters at Rolling Stone have the scoop.

Seriously, why in the hell does anyone care at this point? Is the idea of a new Guns & Roses cd that appealing that we clamor like idiots to catch a whiff of a track.....really?

Personally I'm attributing a Guns & Roses release to be right up there with Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster. People claim to have heard it, claimed to see it, and I'm pretty sure scientists have been involved in some way to authenticate any clues on it. I kid of course.

Look, in all honesty GnR blew it's wad on Appetite for Destruction. To this day when you say GnR that's the cd that first comes to mind. IN 1987. Yes there was Use Your Illusion 1 and 2 but those were products of an overinflated ego built up by the hype and success of Appetite. Those albums had none of the qualities that made the debut great though. G n'R Lies EP was cool though but that was snuggled between both those studio albums.



Now it's 2008 and stuff like this is continuing to pop up. How is Axel still making a living? Democracy was reported to have begun work in 1993 for God's sake. In an era where cd sales are hard to come by and any revenue generated by even world famous artists, how is this able to be strung out for so long and any kind of living be made? It's baffling to me. 15 years in a music artists lifetime is an eternity without a release.

If this gets released and I do say IF, don't be surprised at the utter disappointment you'll feel when after all this time of waiting Chinese Democracy fails to be any good. Think Phantom Menace, people. And by the time we realize this it will have become the biggest selling album of the 21st century thanks to magical ability of Axel and his people to hype this just enough to keep everyone intrigued.