Slipknot

Listen Slipknot play music now :

Slipknot (sometimes typeset as SlipKnoT to fit their logo) is a Grammy-winning American nu metal band from Des Moines, Iowa. The nine-piece formed in 1996 and is currently signed to Roadrunner Records/Nuclear Blast. German-based record company Nuclear Blast Records handles the record sales of the band in Scandinavia while Roadrunner handles the sales worldwide.

Their albums and home videos have achieved platinum sales status. The band's Grammy award nominations include Best Metal Performance, which their song, "Before I Forget", won after six successive years of nomination.

Style
Slipknot has an extreme performance style provided by their massive line-up featuring a typical heavily downtuned guitar setup (lead, rhythm, and bass guitars), two percussionists in addition to the primary drummer, and electronics (samplers and turntables). Robert Cherry of Rolling Stone compared the band's sound to "a threshing machine devouring a military drum corps."

Their early work hosted a large range of vocal styles, ranging from rapping to occasional singing to grindcore-esque growling. Death metal growls can also be included.[citation needed] In more recent work, this vocal style remains present, but now includes more melodic singing. The lyrics generally follow a very aggressive tone, "[are] not generally quotable on a family website", and feature themes such as darkness, nihilism, anger, disaffection, love, Misanthropy and psychosis.

BAND MEMBERS
Current members
Corey Taylor — Vocals
Mick Thomson — Guitar
Shawn Crahan — Custom Percussion
Craig Jones — Samples/Media, Keyboards
James "Jim" Root — Guitar
Chris Fehn — Custom Percussion
Paul Gray — Bass
Joey Jordison — Drums
Sid Wilson — Turntables

Former members
Patrick M. Neuwirth - Guitar
Quan "Meld" Nong - Guitar
John Green - Guitar
Donnie Steele - Guitar
Anders Colsefini - Lead Vocals / Percussion, Backing Vocals
Greg "Cuddles" Welts - Percussion
Brandon Darner - Percussion
Josh "Gnar" Brainard - Guitar, Backing Vocals

Korn

Listen Korn sample music now :


Korn, sometimes typeset as KoЯn, is a band from Bakersfield, California, and are credited with creating and popularizing the nu metal genre. Along with other bands at the time, they have also inspired many nu metal and alternative metal bands throughout the mid 1990s and early 2000s.

The band's catalogue consists of nine consecutive debuts in the top ten of the Billboard 200, including a compilation album, Greatest Hits Vol.1, and their untitled eighth album, released on July 31, 2007. To date, Korn has sold over 30 million albums worldwide, along with earning six Grammy nominations, two of which they have won.

Genre
Korn can be credited for creating the nu metal genre, though the group has often said they don't like to be put in that category themselves.

LINEUP
Current members
Jonathan Davis - vocals, bagpipes
James "Munky" Shaffer - guitar
Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu - bass

Previous members
Brian "Head" Welch - guitar, backing vocals (1993-2005; left the band for religious reasons as well as reasons pertaining to his daughter and his drug addictions)
David Silveria - drums (1993-2006; on hiatus)

My Chemical Romance

Listen My Chemical Romance sample music now :


My Chemical Romance (often shortened to MCR or My Chem) is an American Music Award-nominated American rock band that formed in 2001. The current members of the band are Gerard Way, Mikey Way, Frank Iero, Ray Toro and Bob Bryar. Shortly after forming, the band signed to Eyeball Records and released their debut album I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love in 2002. They signed with Reprise Records the next year and released their major label debut Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge in 2004. The album was a major commercial success, selling over one million copies due in part to the success of the singles "Helena", "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)", and "The Ghost of You". The band followed this success with 2006's The Black Parade, featuring their hit singles, "Welcome to the Black Parade", "Famous Last Words", "I Don't Love You", "Teenagers" and upcoming single "Mama". While the band identifies their sound as simply "rock", the subgenre of the band's recordings has been a subject of debate among fans and the media.[citation needed] After a long hiatus, Mikey Way returned to the band in time to support Bon Jovi. The band also recently filmed their October 7 show in Mexico City as The Black Parade. This will be made into a DVD which is due for release next year.

Musical style and influences
My Chemical Romance's music has been described by the media as "pop punk",[23] "emo", "alternative rock", "post-hardcore"[23] and "punk revival".[23] The band themselves described their music as simply "rock" or "violent, dangerous pop" on their official website, as well as rejecting the term "emo" to describe their style, though another source quotes frontman Way stating that they are "What-else-ya-got-emo". Frontman Gerard Way has recently stated in an interview that they were never Emo, as he says emo is "a pile of shit."

My Chemical Romance cite their main influences as Queen, Thursday, Iron Maiden, The Misfits, Morrissey/The Smiths and the Beastie Boys. Gerard Way has said, "We love bands like Queen, where it's huge and majestic, but also bands like Black Flag and the Misfits, who would go absolutely crazy." Way has also said that his band patterns their career after that of The Smashing Pumpkins, another band they admire. Geoff Rickly, the lead singer of Thursday, has compared My Chemical Romance to Ink & Dagger. Growing up, they were also very influenced by horror films and comic books, and therefore their music, lyrics, and image all have overt elements of fantasy, storytelling, horror, and theatricality.

BAND MEMBERS
Current members
Gerard Way - vocals
Ray Toro - guitar, vocals
Frank Iero - guitar, vocals (2002-present)
Mikey Way - bass guitar
Bob Bryar - drums, percussion (2004-present) (On hiatus).

Former members
Matt Pelissier - drums (2001-2004)

Trivium

Listen Trivium sample music now :


Trivium is a thrash metal band from Orlando, Florida. They formed in 2000, and after three years, released a demo. The demo helped them to get signed to Lifeforce Records, where they released Ember to Inferno. Following on from this, they were signed to Roadrunner Records and released Ascendancy. Their popularity grew, as their next, and most recent album, The Crusade peaked at #25 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and #7 in the UK. They have toured many countries and played alongside many different bands, including Iron Maiden, Metallica and Machine Head. Originally Trivium were a metalcore band, as is heard on their first two records. Recently, they have developed a more thrash metal sound as heard on their most recent album.

BAND MEMBERS
Current members
Matt Heafy - lead vocals, rhythm/lead guitars (2000–present)
Corey Beaulieu - lead/rhythm guitars, backing vocals (2003–present)
Paolo Gregoletto - bass guitar, backing vocals (2004–present)
Travis Smith - drums, percussion (2000–present)

Former members
Brent Young - bass guitar, rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2001–2004)[35]
Brad Lewter - lead vocals (2000)
Jarred Bonaparte

John Petrucci

Listen John Petrucci playing :

John Petrucci (born July 12, 1967, Kings Park, Long Island, New York) is an American guitarist best known as a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. He has produced (along with his bandmate Mike Portnoy) all Dream Theater albums since their 1999 release, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory. He is also one of the band's main lyricists.

Biography
Petrucci first played guitar at the age of eight when he noticed his sister (who was taking organ lessons at the time) was allowed to stay up past her bed time to practice. He soon dropped it when his plan failed. At age 12, he began playing again when he was invited into the band of his friend Kevin Moore, who would later become the first keyboardist of Dream Theater. Petrucci began to practice in earnest whilst exercising physically. He was a largely self-taught guitarist who developed his skills through attempts to match the skill of his idols, who included Steve Morse, Steve Howe, Steve Vai, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Al Di Meola, Alex Lifeson and Allan Holdsworth. He has jokingly referred to his guitar idols as "the Steves and the Als".

Petrucci attended Berklee College of Music in Boston with childhood friend John Myung (bass), where they met future bandmate Mike Portnoy (drums). These three in addition to another childhood friend of Petrucci and Myung, Kevin Moore (Keyboards), formed the band Majesty, which would later become Dream Theater.

While Dream Theater is what Petrucci is most commonly associated with, he is also a part of the project band Liquid Tension Experiment and has appeared as a guest on several records by other artists such as the Age of Impact album by the Explorer's Club.

Petrucci has released a guitar instructional video, "Rock Discipline", which covers warm up exercises, exercises to avoid injury while playing, alternate picking, sweep picking, chords and other techniques for developing one's guitar playing. Petrucci also has a book named "Guitar World presents John Petrucci's Wild Stringdom", which was compiled from columns he wrote for Guitar World magazine, bearing that same title.

In 2001 he was invited by Joe Satriani and Steve Vai to tour with them on the popular G3 guitar tour, which exposed him to a massive number of new fans and inspired him to record a solo album. Suspended Animation was released on March 1, 2005, and made available for order from his web site. He also appeared on the 2005, 2006 and 2007 G3 tours.

Petrucci also wrote and recorded two instrumental soundtrack songs for a Sega Saturn game titled Digital Pinball: Necronomicon. Each track is roughly two minutes long and they are simply titled "Prologue" and "Epilogue". Petrucci is an avid Sega Saturn gamer, and has revealed in interviews that he never tours without one.

In 2007, John Petrucci went on G3 tour again, this time with Joe Satriani and Paul Gilbert.

Dream Theater bandmate Jordan Rudess revealed in an interview that Petrucci is a practicing Catholic. Petrucci is married to Rena Sands, a guitarist in the all-female heavy metal band Meanstreak, and they have 3 children, SamiJo and Reny (who are twins), and Kiara.

Musical style
Petrucci is respected for his variety of guitar styles and skills. He has performed alongside Joe Satriani and Steve Vai on their annual G3 tour 6 times. Guitar magazines and fans worldwide consistently vote Petrucci as one of the world's finest guitar players. He has been labeled as a virtuoso on some fansites and webzines, including Sputnikmusic, and TheFunkyGibbons, among others.

Paul Gilbert

Listen Paul Gilbert playing guitar :

Paul Brandon Gilbert (November 6, 1966) is a guitarist best known for his work with Racer X and Mr. Big. Following his departure from Mr. Big in 1996, Gilbert pursued a solo career.

Early history
Born in Carbondale, Illinois, into a middle class family, Paul started playing guitar at the age of 5, but soon gave up, becoming frustrated with just learning simple nursery rhymes. Around age 11, he took up the guitar again, but with a skewed memory of the technique. Paul revealed at an Ibanez sponsored guitar clinic August 12, 2005 in Concord, CA at Spitzer's Music, that he "played only with upstrokes, used only the low 'E' string and only used [his] middle finger on the fretboard." Frustrated after trying to play the intro to "Barracuda" by Heart, he took lessons and his teacher explained the error of his ways. His technique corrected, Gilbert continued practicing and by the age of 14 he developed a local band in Greensburg, PA named Missing Lynx. They played together for approximately two years and wrote their own material. After Missing Lynx he then went on to join another local band called Tau Zero, but left shortly after, and headed for California. He was spotlighted in Guitar Player Magazine alongside fellow up-and-comer Yngwie Malmsteen.

Racer X
Formed in Los Angeles, Racer X originally comprised Paul Gilbert (guitar), John Alderete (bass), Harry Gschoesser (drums) and Jeff Martin (vocals). They were heavily influenced by Judas Priest and Gilbert's playing was reminiscent of Yngwie Malmsteen, displaying fast-driven solos with extreme-level technique. Gschoesser was replaced by Scott Travis in 1986, and Bruce Bouillet was added as a second guitar player. Bouillet was a very skilled player, as he had to play over Gilbert's always difficult and challenging phrases. Scott Travis was later known for being the Judas Priest drummer. Paul Gilbert gained recognition as one of the fastest guitar players in the world due to incredibly technical pieces like "Frenzy", "Scarified", "Technical Difficulties" and "Scit Scat Wah". Gilbert left Racer X in 1988, but he eventually would rejoin the band in 1999. Currently the band is inactive, but Gilbert hasn't issued any statements that he has left the band.

Mr. Big
When Billy Sheehan left David Lee Roth's band in 1988, he joined with Paul Gilbert, who had left his former band, Racer X. They founded Mr. Big, with Pat Torpey on drums and singer Eric Martin. The band was a huge success in Japan, and became famous in 1991, with Lean Into It, their second album, which featured the ballad "To Be With You", which received strong media play and reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Gilbert continued playing in Mr. Big until the late 90s. He left the band in 1997 to pursue a solo career, and was replaced by Richie Kotzen.

Influences and Style
Talking about his influences, Paul mentions many different artists, including Jimmy Page, Judas Priest, Yngwie Malmsteen, Akira Takasaki, Kiss, Van Halen, Randy Rhoads and The Ramones. He is also a great fan of The Beach Boys and The Beatles. He states on the Space Ship Live DVD that George Harrison is one of his favorite guitar players.

Gilbert composes music in a wide variety of styles including pop, rock, metal, blues, jazz, funk and classical, but is perhaps best known for his versatility and speed, which helped him be named as one of the "Top 10 Shredders Of All Time" by Guitar One Magazine. He is also considered to be one of the best proponents of alternate picking, tapping and string skipping.

Michael Angelo Batio

Listen Michael Angelo Batio playing now :


Michael Angelo Batio (IPA: [bæ: ti o]) is an American instrumental rock/heavy metal guitarist and columnist from Chicago, Illinois. He attended Northeastern Illinois University and received a bachelor's degree in music theory and composition. Guitar One Magazine named him the fastest guitar player of all time.

Career
Batio began his recording career in the band Holland with vocalist Tommy Holland. Their Atlantic Records album, Little Monsters, met with moderate success in the mid-1980s. He later joined Jim Gillette on Gillette's solo album, Proud to Be Loud. The two metal stars, as well as bassist T.J. Racer and drummer Bobby Rock went on to found the metal band Nitro, releasing two albums. Nitro also filmed a music video for their song Freight Train among others which received air time on MTV.

Batio has been playing guitar since the age of ten, and could play faster than his teacher within two years. He plays as a right-handed person even though he is left-handed. He has stated at guitar clinics that he is ambidextrous teaching himself to play two guitars at the same time — either in synchronized or separate harmonies. He also invented and successfully played the very first 'quad' guitar. However, the instrument was stolen during a Nitro show in El Paso, Texas, and only two of the four parts required for its assembly have ever been recovered. It is because of this that he has not played the quad guitar in many years. However, Dean Guitars recently finished production on a new quad guitar for Batio. [2] The Double Guitar [3] is another of his innovations, which he commonly uses live, but never in studio recordings. Another innovation of his is a type of string dampener (specifically "The MAB String Dampener"), a guitar accessory attachable behind the nut of the guitar and flipped into active position during performance. The string dampener eliminates unnecessary buzz and noise from the guitar's strings, allowing the player to easily use legato techniques and finger-tapping techniques without any unwanted sounds. He is also noted for his "MAB Over-Under technique", which he invented, where he flips his hand over and under the neck, approaching the strings from above, then below, instead of from under the neck like other guitar players.

He has also had a long-term relationship with Dean Guitars, promoting their equipment and leading Dean-sponsored guitar clinics around the world to teach his techniques. Batio has released two popular instructional DVDs, entitled Speed Lives and Speed Kills. The other one was intended to teach fellow guitarists how to play his pieces of music. Furthermore, he is releasing a DVD featuring his Double Guitar Solo, which can now be seen on the Dean Guitars website[4]. It features tribute covers of Deep Purple's Smoke on the Water, Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze and Ozzy Osbourne's Crazy Train, with Batio's full backing band.

Batio mentions on his official website ,"I am left handed so my right or "picking" hand was overall, the weakest part of my playing. I worked for 2 years in my early teens to master alternate picking while later working on tapping. Basically, anything and everything I could to strengthen my right hand. I started out being a purely legato player. You would never know that now. I concentrated on my 2 weakest areas- Alternate picking and tapping and perfected those. I am a firm believer in working on something you are deficient in. Once you master a technique that gives you "trouble", other areas of your playing improve dramatically."

Batio taught guitarist Tom Morello (of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave fame) while Batio was attending college. Tom has credited MAB with teaching him in a feature article in Guitar World Magazine in 2005.

Batio currently writes "Time To Burn," a monthly column for Guitar World Magazine.

Batio has a Dean signature 6 string model tentatively due for release in Winter 2008 and has released a signature overdrive pedal from T-Rex of Denmark seen here.

Eddie Van Halen

Listen Eddie Van Halen playing now :


Edward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen (born January 26, 1955)[1], is a Dutch guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and producer most famous for being the lead guitarist and a co-founder of the hard rock band, Van Halen.
He is widely considered to be one of the greatest guitarists of all time.

Technique
Edward Van Halen's approach to the guitar involves several distinctive components. His innovative use of two-handed tapping, natural and artificial harmonics, vibrato, and tremolo picking - combined with rhythmic sensibility and a melodic approach - have influenced an entire generation of guitarists.
Whilst relatively commonplace today, Van Halen's ground-breaking techniques were originally a closely guarded secret; before the release of the band's eponymous first album, the guitarist would often play solos and more complex riffs with his back to the live audience. This was done at the advice of his bandmates to prevent any guitar players from stealing his style and technique before the album came out in 1978.

Tapping
Van Halen has claimed he developed his signature tapping approach after studying the guitar solo from the Led Zeppelin song "Heartbreaker" (played by Jimmy Page)

Strange Guitar

Buy A VW, Get A Guitar

In one of the most bizarre bits of marketing we’ve seen, Volkswagen announced today that any customer that buys or leases a 2007 Jetta, Jetta GLI, GTI, Rabbit, New Beetle and New Beetle Convertible will get a custom guitar that can play through the car’s audio system. Each guitar is custom made to match the car itself: it comes in the same color and has the car’s Vehicle Identification Number displayed on it, in addition to various VW emblems. Obviously, the marketing campaign, featuring rocker Slash and sort-of rocker John Mayer, is for the First Act guitar company itself, but we’re guessing VW hopes to sell a few more cars at the same time. Click below for a closer look at the First Act GarageMaster model VW buyers will get.

Licata Custom Knives & Guitars

Four layers of 304 non magnetic stainless steel
Jackson pickups, schaller tuneomatic bridge and an ebony frett board - $8,000

X Series WRXT Warrior

Basswood body (with flame maple veneer on trans finishes), bolt-on maple neck, compound radius rosewood fingerboard, Duncan Designed™ Detonator™ humbucking pickups, Jackson double-locking tremolo and chrome hardware.

KE2 Kelly

A Jackson classic. Alder body, quartersawn eastern hard rock maple neck (through body), compound radius ebony fingerboard, Seymour Duncan® humbucking pickups, Floyd Rose® Original tremolo and black hardware. Available with flame maple top and chrome hardware on trans finishes.

Pro Series DK2M Dinky

Alder body (with flame maple veneer on trans finishes), bolt-on maple neck, compound radius maple fingerboard, Seymour Duncan® humbucking pickups, Jackson low-profile double-locking tremolo and black hardware.

KV2T King V

A true Jackson beauty. Mahogany body, three-piece mahogany neck (through body), compound radius ebony fingerboard, 24 3/4" scale, Seymour Duncan® humbucking pickups, string-through-body bridge and black hardware. Available with chrome hardware on trans finishes.

Kevin Bond Signature Rhoads

Mahogany body, mahogany neck (through body) with compound radius ebony fingerboard featuring pentagram inlays, ivoriod binding on neck and headstock, one Seymour Duncan® “Iommi” humbucking pickup in the bridge position, adjustable JT390 bridge with Schaller® fine-tuning tailpiece, black hardware and blood red Jackson logo.

Pro Series RR24 Rhoads

The real metal deal—delivers the goods in the spirit of its legendary namesake. The RR24 Randy Rhoads guitar is a 24-fret no-nonsense neck-through-body monster with a single, brutal EMG® 81 humbucking bridge pickup, ebony fingerboard, Floyd Rose® tremolo, single volume knob and black hardware. Beware.

Roswell Rhoads Chlorine Custom Shop Small Batch

12 Piece Limited Edition.
Mahogany body with quilt maple top. Quartersawn maple speed neck, ebony fretboard with Abalone Sharkfin inlays. Tunomatic brodge with strings thru the body. Bone nut, Gotoh tuners, gold plated hardware, Abalone knob tops & logo.

Death Angel Archtop TBK

This gorgeous archtop was carved by Masterbuilder Pablo Santana.

Alder body, ¾” flame maple carved top, quartersawn maple speed (thin profile) neck, flame maple headcap, 25.5” scale length, 24 Jumbo frets, Mother of Pearl & Sterling Silver Grim Reaper Scythe inlays on ebony fretboard, black hardware, Original Floyd Rose non-recessed tremolo, Jackson Gotoh tuners, EMG-81 pickup, .09-.42 string guage, 1 volume control, Trans Black stained finish, Mother of Pearl Jackson logo.

Angus Young Signature SG

Firebird VII

V-Factor X (Flying V)

X-plorer

Firebird V

Les Paul Standard

SG Standard

Gibson's new solidbody guitar of the '60s, the SG, broke through traditional concepts of solidbody electrics and became an instant classic. The SG body style has remained in production since its first appearance in 1961.

Guitar & Bas String

Other unique guitar.

five-neck Guitars

Electric Guitar detail (five-neck custom model) Hamer Guitars, 1981

Pikasso Four necks - Two sound holes - 42 strings

Pikasso Four necks. Two sound holes. 42 strings. Two access doors; one on the upper player's side and one at the tail block.

Created by luthier Linda Manzer for guitarist Pat Metheny, the instrument took 2 years to build (approximately 1000 hours), and when the 42 strings are strung up to high tension, the Pikasso is under approximately 1000 lbs pressure. It weighs 6.7 kg or 14 3/4 lbs.

The body is tapered so that the side closest to the player is thinner than the side that rests on the players knee, thus leaning the top back towards the player for a more aerial view. This is also more comfortable under the player's arm.

The instrument is outfitted with a complete state of the art piezo pickup system. (Designed and installed by Mark Herbert, Boston)

This included a hexaphonic pickup on the 6 string section that allowed Metheny to access his Syclavier computer system thus triggering any sound including sampled sounds.

Two mounting holes on the treble side (knee side) so that the guitar can be mounted on internal brass insets attaching to a stand, leaving hands free for playing or viewing.

12-neck stratocaster

the bonkers art of Yoshihiko Satoh. His 12-neck stratocaster

Michael Angelo Batio - Double Guitar

Erik Mongrain- Air Tap

Paul Gilbert Ibanez PGM

Ibanez PGM is an electric guitar from Ibanez, which was first produced in 1990. The guitar is Racer X and Mr. Big guitarist Paul Gilbert's signature guitar model. As of 2007 Ibanez has publicly released 15 PGM guitars including two anniversary models and the acoustic PGA1000.

Most PGM model guitars have the same body shape as the Ibanez RG guitar models with removed tone knob and volume knob placed to Paul Gilbert's personal prefrence. Although PGM guitars come in various colors they all have two fake F-holes that make them easily distinguishable from an Ibanez RG.

Joe Satriani Ibanez JS Series

The Ibanez JS Series is a signature series of guitars endorsed by Joe Satriani and manufactured by Ibanez guitars. It is essentially the discontinued Radius Ibanez series, with Joe's select pickups installed. The JS100 is a lower end model in comparison to the JS1000 and the JS1200. The JS1000 and JS1200 feature necks that are digitally reproduced from one of Joe Satriani's guitars.

Steve Vai JEM7V

Ibanez JEM is an electric guitar manufactured by Ibanez, which was first produced in 1987. The guitar's most notable user is its co-designer, Steve Vai. As of 2006, there are five sub-models of the Ibanez JEM, which are the JEM7, JEM77, JEM777, JEM555 and the Universe. Although the Ibanez JEM series is a signature

series guitar, Ibanez mass-produces several of the guitar's sub-models.

The Ibanez JEM series is heavily influenced by the superstrat concept, which is about a more aggressive guitar in terms of shape and specifications compared to the Stratocaster. Moreover, in the production process, Ibanez and Steve Vai compared the specifications of the Stratocaster, Ibanez RG and Steve's older guitars.

Yngwie Malmsteen Stratocaster®

A top seller with new revisions! Our Yngwie Malmsteen Stratocaster guitar continues to unleash the fury with new and updated features that are pure Yngwie—a deeper-scalloped fingerboard, White/Black/White pickguard, bullet truss rod nut and machine-screw neck mounting.

Fender Jazzmaster

The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar that was first introduced at the 1958 NAMM show and was designed as a more upmarket instrument than the Fender Stratocaster, which was originally to replace the current Telecaster model. As its name indicates, it was initially marketed at jazz guitarists. It was later used by surf rock guitarists and, more recently, alternative rock artists.

Fender Stratocaster XII

The Fender Stratocaster XII is the 12 string version of the Fender Stratocaster electric guitar made by Fender. It was introduced in January 2005. Unlike the Fender Electric XII, it uses a Strat-style body.

The Stratocaster XII, although made in Japan was designed in the United States. An earlier model featured some slight differences compared to the model made in 2005; it had a larger bridge and saddle system similar to that of an Electric XII and an altered headstock shape with raised machine heads. It also used a 22-fret neck with a rosewood fingerboard and pearloid dots. The current version features a modified hard-tail Strat bridge, a pao ferro fretboard with 21 frets and clay dot inlays.

Fender Mustang

The Fender Mustang is an electric guitar by the Fender Musical Instruments Company, introduced in 1964 as the basis of a major redesign of Fender's student models then consisting of the Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic. It was produced until 1982 and reissued in 1990.

It attained cult status in the 1990s largely as a result of its use by a number of alternative rock bands. Early examples are generally seen as the most collectable of all the short-scale Fender guitars.

The Fender Mustang is an electric guitar by the Fender Musical Instruments Company, introduced in 1964 as the basis of a major redesign of Fender's student models then consisting of the Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic. It was produced until 1982 and reissued in 1990.

Fender Showmaster

The Fender Showmaster is a model of electric guitar made by Fender, and is characteristic of a superstrat.

The Showmaster is hence its most recent foray into the superstrat niche, and was introduced in 1998. Gene Baker, the masterbuilder of Fender's custom shop at the time, was responsible for the creation of this set-neck, carved top instrument. Early Showmaster models (prototypes) were originally labeled as Stratocasters on their headstocks and are very rare.

Fender Jaguar

The Fender Jaguar is an electric guitar that was introduced in 1962. The Jaguar was originally intended to be a Jazz guitar. However, it quickly caught-on in the emerging surf music scene. It was then marketed and seen as a surf guitar, along with its sister guitar, the Fender Jazzmaster, both of which became quite popular among surf rock groups in the early to mid 1960s. It became popular again in the 1990s when it was used by a number of alternative rock players. It has a rare extension called the Sierah which is used wide spread through Jazz intersection players.

Fender Telecaster

The Fender Telecaster, also known as a Tele, is typically a dual-pickup, solid-body electric guitar made by Fender. Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacture and popular music. Introduced for national distribution as the Broadcaster in the fall of 1950, it was the first guitar of its kind to be produced on a substantial scale. Its commercial production can be traced as far back as the spring of 1950, when the single- and dual-pickup Esquire models were first sold. From that time to the present, the Telecaster has been in continuous production in one form or another, making it the world's senior solid-body electric guitar.

Fender Stratocaster

The Fender Stratocaster, (often referred to as a Strat), is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender and Freddie Tavares in the early 1950s, and manufactured continuously to the present. The Stratocaster has been used by many leading guitarists, and thus can be heard on many historic recordings. Along with the Gibson Les Paul, Gibson SG, and the Fender Telecaster, it is one of the most enduring and common models of electric guitar in the world.

The Stratocaster has been widely copied; as a result "Stratocaster" or "Strat" is often used when referring to any guitar that has the same general features as the original, regardless of manufacturer.

Alcatrazz

The American heavy metal band Alcatrazz was formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by Jimmy Waldo, Gary Shea and Graham Bonnet. The band was first meant to feature ex-Nazareth guitarist Zal Cleminson and ex-Jethro Tull drummer Barriemore Barlow but they both pulled out at the last moment. Instead they found Yngwie Malmsteen after their manager Andy Trueman had been chatting with a heavy metal fan at Ozz Records who recommended him. Cozy Powell had promised them to help out if they had any problems finding a drummer but when he got an offer to join Whitesnake he could not refuse. Aynsley Dunbar was considered and ex-Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr was in the seat for a week but as he wanted to be based in England and not in LA they had to find someone else. After having gone through about fifty drummers they finally settled with Jan Uvena. In July / August 1983 they started recording their debut album which was released later that year. Touring both in the US and Japan followed and their Japanese tour was recorded for a live album. During these tours Bonnet and Malmsteen had several disputes, resulting in Malmsteen leaving after the tour. The band called it a day in 1987.

Saosin

Listen Saosin sample music now :


Californian hardcore band Saosin has achieved an amazing amount of respect from the underground scene. The band held a structured fan base even before the release of the band's first EP, Translating the Name. Pre- orders for the record were extremely high as devoted fans, starving for the CD after being teased with a sampler located on the band's site, quickly brought the EP to the #1 spot on Smartpunk.com's Top 100 CD orders. To put it simply--Saosin is the name on everyone's tongue that nobody can pronounce.
Beau comments, “At the time we started the band, we were actually listening to a ton of Bjork and Sunny Day Real Estate, and I remember thinking how cool it would be to start a hardcore Bjork band.”

Past reviews read about this CD compares Saosin to the likes of popular hardcore bands such as Glassjaw, Taking Back Sunday, and Finch. Saosin seems to be in a league of it’s own. Guitarists Justin and Beau swap powerful-yet-melodic riffs, with Chris on bass and Alex on drums. Anthony covers the lead vocals. Every note, so clear and perfect, dumbfounds you as it is quickly joined by well-executed screams that give the hardcore genre its label.

“All of the lyrics I write for this band are inspired by the members of the band. The whole new record, all the songs that I'm writing, are going to be about the tour and the time that I spend living in Beau's garage. They are all about members of the band, the band as a whole, them as my friends, our time together, and the fears that come with it all (with the exception of SEVENYEARS, which is the last thing I wrote in my pre-California life),” Anthony says.

"Saosin... it was our singer's idea. Saosin, it's this Chinese proverb, which means... like... keep your heart small, because nothing is forever. You know. Don't let yourself get attached to something, because that thing's gonna be gone eventually."

The Used

Listen The Used sample music now :


On October 5, 1999 a 4-piece band known as "Dumb Luck" was formed by Quinn Allman, Jeph Howard, Branden Steineckert and Ashton Johnson. Not long after the release of their EP, Dumb Luck went through a few line-up changes. Dumb Luck was short-lived. Eventually the band was forced to change its name. They changed it to "Used" when singer Jeph Howard moved to bass and Bert McCracken took over the vocals.[1] The band sent their songs to the producer John Feldman from the punk group Goldfinger. After he heard "A Box Full of Sharp Objects" he called them in for a demo. In 2001, the band finished the demo and he got them signed to Reprise Records all within a few months of meeting them. "Used" then had to change their name to "The Used" when it was discovered that a Boston band had already taken that name. Since then, The Used have released two platinum studio albums.

Present Day and Future Plans
The Used released their third album Lies for the Liars on May 22 2007, and plan on releasing 2 EPs according to an interview in the May 2007 article of Blunt Magazine. The EPs are expected to be released later this year and early next year. They are also planning on releasing a live DVD of their Australian tour, however it is unknown which show will appear on the DVD as both the Melbourne and Sydney shows were filmed, on the 26th and 27th of May 2007 (respectively).

Bert McCracken - Lead Vocals, Piano
Quinn Allman - Guitar, Backup Vocals
Jeph Howard - Bass, Backup Vocals
Dan Whitesides - Drums

Greg Bester - Touring Gutarist - Played with band on tour in early 2000s but has returned to his native country.
Branden Steineckert - Drums, Backup Vocals - Branden was kicked out of the band in the summer of 2006.
Dean Butterworth - Drums - Dean recorded the drums for Lies for the Liars after Branden was kicked out of the band.

Steineckert's Departure
The line up remained unchanged until September 12, 2006 when announced that Steineckert was no longer the drummer of The Used. The Used expressed that they needed to move forward without him but owed him a great deal of gratitude for all his hard work over the years. All the same, they wished him the best for his future endeavours. Later that year, it was announced drummer Dan Whitesides from the New Transit Direction replaced Branden Steineckert. Steineckert has since joined Rancid to replace former drummer Brett Reed.

Helloween

Helloween is a German power/speed metal band founded in the early 1980s by members of Iron Fist and Powerfool. Helloween are known as one of the pioneering power metal bands.

Studio albums
Helloween (1985) - Though an EP, officially considered as a mini-LP.
Walls of Jericho (1985)
Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 1 (1987)
Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 2 (1988)
Pink Bubbles Go Ape (1991)
Chameleon (1993)
Master of the Rings (1994)
The Time of the Oath (1996)
Better Than Raw (1998)
The Dark Ride (2000)
Rabbit Don't Come Easy (2003)
Keeper of the Seven Keys - The Legacy (2005)
Gambling with the Devil (2007)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Iron Maiden

Iron Maiden are a British heavy metal band from east London. The band were formed in 1975 by bassist Steve Harris, formerly a member of Gypsy's Kiss and Smiler. Iron Maiden are one of the most successful and influential bands in the heavy metal genre, having sold over 80 million albums worldwide. The band won the Ivor Novello Awards for international achievement in 2002. The band was also inducted into the Hollywood Rock Walk during their tour in the United States in 2005.

The band have headlined several major events in its career, notably Rock in Rio, Ozzfest alongside Black Sabbath, Donington's "Monsters of Rock" and "Download" Festivals and the "Reading and Leeds Festivals."

Iron Maiden are influenced by Thin Lizzy, UFO and Deep Purple amongst others. Iron Maiden's mascot, Eddie, is a perennial fixture in the band's horror-influenced album cover art, as well as in live shows. Eddie was drawn by Derek Riggs until 1992, although there have been various incarnations by numerous artists including Melvyn Grant. Eddie is also featured in a first-person shooter video game from the band, Ed Hunter, as well as numerous books, graphic comics and band-related merchandise.

Studio albums
* Iron Maiden (1980)
* Killers (1981)
* The Number of the Beast (1982)
* Piece of Mind (1983)
* Powerslave (1984)
* Somewhere in Time (1986)
* Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)
* No Prayer for the Dying (1990)
* Fear of the Dark (1992)
* The X Factor (1995)
* Virtual XI (1998)
* Brave New World (2000)
* Dance of Death (2003)
* A Matter of Life and Death (2006)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alcatrazz

Alcatrazz is a melodic hard rock band formed in 1983 in Los Angeles by Graham Bonnet, Jimmy Waldo and Gary Shea.

The band's initial line-up consisted of Graham Bonnet (former Rainbow / Michael Schenker Group - lead vocals), Yngwie Malmsteen (guitar), Gary Shea (bass), Jimmy Waldo (keyboards, vocals) and Jan Uvena (drums, vocals). Shea And Waldo were previously members of the group New England. The majority of their material was written by Malmsteen and Bonnet, with Jimmy Waldo co-writing on a few tracks. Shea dubbed the group "Alcatrazz".

After recording the first two albums, creative differences between Malmsteen and Bonnet surfaced while on tour. Due to this and his admitted desire to begin a solo career, Malmsteen quit in 1984. Waldo replaced Malmsteen with Steve Vai despite resistance from Bonnet, and the band signed with Capitol Records. After recording the album Disturbing The Peace, Steve Vai left in order to join David Lee Roth's solo band. He was replaced by guitarist Danny Johnson, who recorded what would become Alcatrazz's final studio album, "Dangerous Games", which was released in 1986. Shortly afterwards, Johnson also quit to join the band Private Life. Disheartened by an ever revolving door of guitarists, and dwindling album sales, they split up in 1987.

God Blessed Video appeared in the 2002 videogame soundtrack Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, playing on Rock station "V-Rock", a fictional radio station in the video games Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.

Bonnet has reformed the band with all new members (including former Jeff Scott Soto/Talisman guitarist Howie Simon, Impellitteri/ex-Beautiful Creatures drummer Glen Sobel, and bassist Tim Luce) and finished touring Japan as "Alcatrazz featuring Graham Bonnet" in May/June 2007. This tour was co-headlined with another ex-Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner. Their new website is located at . They are currently writing their new cd to be released in late 2007.

Meanwhile, Waldo, Shea and Uvena have put together their own new incarnation of Alcatrazz with guitarist Stig Mathisen. The project is currently lacking a vocalist, but does have its own MySpace page located at . They are threatening to sue Bonnet over the use of the name Alcatrazz, because, according to them, its use violates their intellectual property rights. Yet according to official trademark records, no one owns the name. Waldo, Shea, and Uvena applied for a trademark registration at the United States Patent Office on the same day the new version of the band announced their Japanese tour, but the registration has been denied in examination by the Patent Office so far.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dream Theater

Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band comprising James LaBrie, John Petrucci, Jordan Rudess, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy.

Dream Theater was formed in 1985 under the name "Majesty" by Petrucci, Myung, and Portnoy, while they all were studying at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, before dropping out to help support the band. Though a number of lineup changes followed, the three original members remain today along with LaBrie and Rudess. Dream Theater has become one of the most commercially successful progressive bands since the height of progressive rock in the mid-1970s, despite being relatively unknown in mainstream rock circles. Though the band has had a few extremely successful hits (notably 'Pull Me Under' in the early 1990s, which had extensive MTV rotation), it has mostly stayed underground for its career, feeding off support from fans.

The band is well known for the technical proficiency of its instrumentalists, who have won many awards from music instruction magazines. Dream Theater's members have collaborated with many other notable musicians. Guitarist John Petrucci was named as the third player on the G3 tour six times, more than any other invited guitarist, following in the footsteps of Eric Johnson, Robert Fripp, and Yngwie Malmsteen.

The band's two highest selling albums are Images and Words (1992), which was awarded a gold record although it reached only #61 on the Billboard 200 charts; and Awake (1994) which reached #32 on the Billboard 200. Dream Theater has sold over two million albums in the U.S., and over eight million albums and DVDs worldwide.

The band is currently promoting their latest effort, Systematic Chaos, and went on the North American leg of their world tour, which began on July 24, 2007 in San Diego, California.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia