Jennifer Batten

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Jennifer Batten is a guitarist who first received word-of-mouth attention that eventually led guitar magazines to take notice of her highly original approach to the electric guitar. On Guitar Player Monthly's premier compilation CD, John Stix wrote, "It was Jennifer's version of John Coltrane's "Giant Steps" that was considered by her peers the "scariest and most requested cut on the disc."

At one point Batten was in six different bands playing many genres including rock, metal, fusion and funk. She was selected from over 100 guitarists to play in Michael Jackson's band on his one and a half year world tour. She played for a total of 4.5 million people on Jackson's first solo tour, the Bad Tour. In the following years she joined Michael on his "Dangerous Tour" as well as 1997's "HIStory Tour", traveling to such countries as South Africa and India. She also joined him in Super Bowl XXVII's half time entertainment which aired to the largest audience in television history (1.5 billion).

Following 1989's "Bad Tour" grand finale, she started work on her debut album with renowned producer (ex-Stevie Wonder guitarist) Michael Sembello (Sembello also wrote and performed the hit song "Maniac", which was featured in the soundtrack for the film Flashdance). The results can be heard on "Above, Below, and Beyond". Her second solo record, "Jennifer Batten's Tribal Rage", was released in 1997 and is heavily influenced by world music. In 1998 Jeff Beck asked Jennifer to join his band. She spent three years recording and touring in support of his albums Who Else!, and You Had It Coming. Tour dates included many dates with Sting. Guest recordings include: Jeff Beck's "Who Else" and "You Had It Coming", Carmine Appice's "Guitar Zeus" (featuring Brian May), Michael Sembellos' "Heavy Weather" , Carl Anderson's "Sunlight Again", Cindy Cruz's debut, Public Image bassist Bret Helm's "Doc Tahri" and the debut of The Immigrants. Music video appearances include Jeff Beck, Michael Jackson, Natalie Cole and Sara Hickman. She was also featured in "Hot Guitarist's" video magazine.

Between 1994 and 1999 she also joined for a few eurobeat songs to Dave Rodgers and Domino; "Sun City", "Music For the People", "Fly" and "Woa Woa Woa" feature her guitars. However, though uncredited, her writing and performing skills appear in several other songs under the A-Beat C label. Live Eurobeat appearances are limited to playing at the Tokyo Dome with Dave Rodgers and Queen of Hearts.

She's also authored two music books. Her third solo album, Whatever., was released in Japan in September 2007 and will be available in the U.S. soon.

Mattias Eklundh

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Mattias "IA" Eklundh (born 1969 in Gothenburg, Sweden) is a guitarist and vocalist, known for his work with the bands Freak Kitchen, Frozen Eyes, Fate and the Jonas Hellborg Trio; he has also released several noted solo albums. He was also prominently featured playing his trademark-style solos on 3 Soilwork albums.

Mattias began drumming at the age of six; when he was thirteen, he began playing guitar. He has named Frank Zappa and Kiss as his two major musical influences, but his record collection also included gypsy jazz, Miles Davis, and Slayer among many others.

Mattias began drumming at the age of six; when he was thirteen, he began playing guitar. He has named Frank Zappa and Kiss as his two major musical influences, but his record collection also included gypsy jazz, Miles Davis, and Slayer among many others.

In the mid-80's, Mattias formed the band Frozen Eyes. Frozen Eyes split up soon after their self-titled album was released in 1988 and Mattias subsequently joined Danish metal band Fate as lead guitarist. Mattias appears on their 1990 album Scratch 'n Sniff. He later returned to Sweden, forming his own band Freak Kitchen in 1992 with former Frozen Eyes drummer Joakim Sjöberg and bassplayer Christian Grönlund. The band played together for 8 years, until Sjöberg and Grönlund left in 2000, only to be replaced by Christer Örtefors and Björn Fryklund.

Outside of Freak Kitchen, Eklundh has recorded several solo albums, and made appearances as a guest musician for Swedish heavy metal bands like Evergrey and Soilwork. His two Freak Guitar solo albums are released on Steve Vai's Favored Nations label, and include drawings and other artwork by friend Anders Nyberg. In 2005, he grouped with Swedish bass guitarist and composer Jonas Hellborg in the Jonas Hellborg Trio along with drummer Niclas Campagnol and played their first gig in Mumbai, India and followed with a tour of India.

He also annually hosts and teaches at the Freak Guitar Camp. Mattias Eklundh endorses Caparison guitars, who make his signature Apple Horn guitar, and Yamaha Guitars for the company's unique Silent Guitar electroacoustic. He is also a long time user of Laney amplifiers, currently using a VH100R.

Freak Kitchen

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Freak Kitchen is a heavy metal/hard rock band from Gothenburg, Sweden, formed in 1992. The high technical level of their compositions usually makes people refer to their style as somewhat of a progressive metal or progressive rock band.

Freak Kitchen's style of music is influenced by many genres besides the traditional heavy metal, ranging from jazz to pop. The band described their third album as "A corny little heavy-pop-rock-latin-world-jazz-avant-garde-metal-blues-record".

Lyrics contain heavy criticism against capitalist society, conformity, racism and the attitude of huge record companies.

Frontman Mattias Eklundh is widely known as a guitarist of high technical ability, and live shows often contain parts where Eklundh plays the guitar using several foreign objects such as a vibrating dildo. Eklundh has also released three solo albums, Sensually Primitive (1997) (under the pseudonym Mr. Libido), Freak Guitar (1999) and Freak Guitar - The Road Less Traveled (2004). The band announced a new album "Land of the Freaks", which will be released in 2008.

Cacophony

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Cacophony was an American neoclassical speed metal band formed in 1986 by guitarists Marty Friedman and Jason Becker. Cacophony is often recognized for its technically challenging, neo-classical metal elements, as well as featuring two shred guitarists. The band broke up in 1989, with Friedman joining the successful thrash metal band Megadeth and Becker joining David Lee Roth's solo band.

Their first album, the predominantly instrumental Speed Metal Symphony, fused classical and hard rock styles with Friedman's preference of exotic scales (especially obvious in the song "The Ninja"). It featured exceptionally fast, melodic and technical music.

Their second release Go Off! was a more song-oriented album, while still displaying the virtuosity of the two guitarists. Besides Becker, Friedman and Marrino, it featured a new bassist and a new drummer. The drums were played by Deen Castronovo, however the picture of new drummer Kenny Stavropoulos was included on the back cover. The guitar playing is more technical and the harmonization of the lead lines and solos is different from the common twin-guitar harmonies made common in heavy metal by such bands as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest.

Though the second album was a commercial failure, it spawned cult followings around the band. Cacophony broke up with Jason Becker joining David Lee Roth and Marty Friedman joining Megadeth. Friedman and Becker have since left Megadeth and David Lee Roth's band respectively (in Becker's case due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). Both released several solo albums that include a wide variety of music.

Dokken

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Dokken is an American heavy metal band which was formed in 1976. The group became one of the classic metal bands from their era, accumulating numerous charting singles and selling over 10 million albums. While the band became associated with bands like Ratt, Judas Priest, Motley Crue, Quiet Riot, Warlock, and Def Leppard, their style of traditional metal characterized by extravagant use of lead guitars and soaring melodic vocals backed by a heavy thumping bass still sets them apart from similar acts to this day. Though some have insisted that Dokken produced a image that was somewhat "glam," their music, due largely to the unique style of world renowned guitarist George Lynch, was traditionally heavy with technical expertise, and the band relied much less on a "glam" image than later glam metal bands such as Poison and Cinderella, focusing more on the musical aspect. Nevertheless, they failed to achieve the same commercial success as any of the aforementioned bands.

Dokken was composed of founder Don Dokken on vocals, George Lynch on lead guitars, Jeff Pilson on bass, and Mick Brown on drums. Currently, only Dokken and Brown remain from the original lineup. After several lineup changes on guitar, Dokken's attorney, Jon Levin, stepped in to fill the role. In 2001, Barry Sparks replaced Jeff Pilson on the bass guitar.

Duran Duran

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Duran Duran are an award-winning English rock band notable for a long series of popular singles and vivid music videos. They were the most commercially successful of the New Romantic bands and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States. They were credited with bringing New wave to a mainstream audience. During the past three decades they have placed 21 singles in the Billboard Hot 100 and 30 in the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart, and have sold more than 85 million records.

The band's hit singles include "Girls on Film", "Rio","Hungry Like the Wolf", "Save a Prayer", "Is There Something I Should Know?", "Planet Earth", "Union of the Snake", "The Reflex", "Wild Boys," "Notorious", and the James Bond theme "A View to a Kill" in the 1980s, "Ordinary World" and "Come Undone" in the early 1990s, and "Sunrise", and "What Happens Tomorrow" in the 2000s. A new single, "Falling Down" has been released from their 2007 album Red Carpet Massacre. They have won two Grammy Awards for their music videos.

Duran Duran was created by Nick Rhodes (keyboards) and John Taylor (bass), with the later addition of Roger Taylor (drums), Andy Taylor (guitar), and Simon Le Bon (lead vocals); none of the Taylors are related. The group has never disbanded, but the line-up changed to include guitarist Warren Cuccurullo from 1989 to 2001, and drummer Sterling Campbell from 1989 to 1991. The reunion of the original five members in the early 2000s created a stir among music media and the band's fans. Andy Taylor has since left the band once more.

Extreme

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Extreme is an American rock band that achieved popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Some of Extreme's influences, Queen and Van Halen (the latter of which Gary Cherone would eventually join and later leave), are easily apparent from their music's multi-part vocal harmonies and electric guitar tone and instrumental techniques. The band lends the listener a sound that blends the genre of glam metal with the shredding guitar work from thrash metal. Being asked about their style, Extreme categorized their music as 'Funky Metal'.

Extreme has released four studio albums, two EPs (in Japan) and two compilations since its formation. The band was one of the most successful bands from the early 1990s, selling over 10 million albums worldwide.[1] Extreme rose to fame with its 1990 release Pornograffitti, which peaked at number 10 on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold in May 1991 and 2x multi-platinum in October 1992.[2] That album also featured the acoustic ballad hit single "More Than Words", which reached #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 in the United States. Extreme is currently working on its first studio album since 1995's Waiting for the Punchline. This will be the first album the band has released since their 1996 disbandment and 2007 reformation.

Buckethead

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Buckethead (born Brian Carroll (Unconfirmed)) is an American guitarist and composer. He is known for wearing a white plastic mask and a KFC bucket on his head while performing.

He is a prolific composer, having released 38 solo albums and performed on over 50 more. He has also made a guest appearance on 44 different albums from various artists. His music spans across diverse areas such as thrash metal, funk, electronica, jazz and avant-garde music.

Although a multi-instrumentalist (playing acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, banjo, keyboards, ukulele, organ, violin, clarinet, saxophone, recorder, drums, gong, and piano), Buckethead is best known for his electric guitar playing, characterized by diverse playing styles spanning thrash guitar, fingerpicking, and slap guitar. Guitar One voted him number 8 on a list of the "Top 10 Greatest Guitar Shredders of All Time". Buckethead makes extreme use of tritones in his music which sound dissonant and give the impression of robotic and unnatural sounds.

Although Buckethead now works primarily as a solo artist touring the United States with a trio, he has had a wide variety of high profile collaborations with such artists as Les Claypool, Tony Williams, Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell, Iggy Pop, Serj Tankian, Guns N' Roses, Saul Williams, Mike Patton, Viggo Mortensen and with Bill Laswell on Praxis.

Buckethead also has a career writing and performing music for major motion pictures. Some of the films he has worked on include: Saw II, Ghosts of Mars, Beverly Hills Ninja, Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Last Action Hero and the soundtrack of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie.

Crazy Guitar

Slash

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Saul Hudson (born July 23, 1965), more widely known as Slash, is an English-American guitarist best known as the former lead guitarist of Guns N' Roses and as the current lead guitarist of Velvet Revolver.
and Slash won the "Best Guitarist" prize in the 2005 Esky Music Awards in Esquire magazine. A write-up in the magazine announced Slash's win read as follows: "He's who we see ourselves as every time we strap on an air guitar. The top hat. The hair. The dangling cigarette. The near-death experiences. He'll always be Slash of Guns N' Roses to us, but we also congratulate him for beating the comeback odds with a surprisingly legitimate and vital outfit, Velvet Revolver."
Accepting the award, Slash has issued the following statement: This is my first guitarist award ever. It's very humbling. I'd like to thank my parents, and I'd also like to thank everyone I've ever fucking worked with in the music business from the point I started at up until now — the bands I've been in, the sessions I've done, and the artists I've worked with. My wife is at least half of the reason I'm still walking. I'd also like to thank Robert Wolin; he got me to switch from bass to guitar. Thank you.
In January 2007, Slash was honored with a star on the Rock Walk of Fame; his name being placed side by side with friends and legends Jimmy PageEddie Van Halen. In 2007, Slash was awarded the coveted title of "Riff Lord" during the fourth annual Metal Hammer Golden Gods awards. Slash was selected to perform "Hey Joe", a signature song of the late great Jimi Hendrix in a posthumous tribute at the UK Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Steve Winwood as vocalist, Billy Cox playing bass, and Mitch Mitchell on drums (the only original member left from the Jimi Hendrix Experience) playing. "Welcome to the Jungle" is considered to be one of the greatest hard rock hits of all time. It was ranked #2 on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs.
In addition, "Welcome to the Jungle" ranked #467 on Rolling Stones' "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Also, it was #764 on Q Magazine's 1001 Best Songs Ever and #26 on VH1's 100 Greatest 80s Songs. Most recently, the song was named the "Greatest Song About Los Angeles" by a poll in Blender magazine. "Sweet Child o' Mine" placed #37 on Guitar World's list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Solos." It also came in at number three on Blender's 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born, and at number 196 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
In March 2005, Q magazine placed it at number 6 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. The introduction's famous D-flat based riff was also voted number-one riff of all-time by the readers of Total Guitar magazine. It was also in Rolling Stones 40 Greatest Songs that Changed the World. "Paradise City" is ranked #21 on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs of All Time,[1] #3 in Total Guitar Magazine's list of the 100 greatest solos of all time, and has won various similar awards over the years. It ranked #453 on Rolling Stones' "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". "November Rain" holds the record for the longest guitar solo in a U.S. top 10 hit. The song is also listed at number 6 in the "The 100 Greatest Guitar Solos" by Guitar World. Additionally, "November Rain" was voted #1 on the Rock 1000 in 2006, an annual countdown of the top 1000 rock songs by New Zealand radio listeners.

Jeff Beck

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Geoffrey Arnold ("Jeff") Beck (born June 24, 1944 to Arnold and Ethel Beck in Wallington, Greater London) is an English rock guitarist. He was one of three noted guitarists — the others being Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page — to have recorded with the band The Yardbirds. Beck has never attained the sustained commercial success of his fellow Yardbirds guitarists, though the band, along with Beck, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. Jeff Beck wise-cracked at the ceremony stating: “ Someone told me I should be proud tonight...But I'm not, because they kicked me out. Fuck them! (Laughs)... ”
Much of his output has been instrumental, and his releases have spanned genres, ranging from blues-rock, heavy metal, jazz fusion and (currently) a blend of guitar-rock and electronica. This versatility has made it difficult for Beck to establish and maintain a broad following. Nevertheless, Beck has gained wide critical acclaim for his work as a guitarist.[1] He has won four Grammy awards in the category for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. Away from the stage, Beck is an avid collector of American-style hot rods. Hot rods are a recurring theme in many of his more recent albums.

Eric Clapton

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Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE (born 30 March 1945), nicknamed Slowhand, is a Grammy Award-winning English rock guitarist, singer, songwriter and composer. He is one of the most successful musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries, garnering an unprecedented three inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (The Yardbirds, Cream, and solo). Often viewed by critics and fans alike as one of the greatest guitarists of all time, Clapton was ranked fourth in Rolling Stone Magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #53 on their list of the Immortals: 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Although Clapton's musical style has varied throughout his career, it has always remained rooted in the blues. Clapton is credited as an innovator in several phases of his career, which have included blues-rock (with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and The Yardbirds) and psychedelic rock (with Cream). Clapton has also achieved great chart success in genres ranging from Delta blues (Me and Mr. Johnson) to pop ("Change the World") and reggae (Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff"). Clapton also achieved fame with Derek and the Dominos through the hit song "Layla".

Awards and honours
In 1983, Clapton was presented the Silver Clef Award from Princess Michael of Kent for outstanding contribution to British music. Clapton was awarded the Order of the British Empire for services to music in 1994. In 2000 Clapton was inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the third time, this time as a solo artist. He was earlier inducted as a member of the bands Cream and The Yardbirds. Clapton was made a CBE in November 2004, receiving the award from the Princess Royal at Buckingham Palace as part of the New Year's Honours list. "Tears In Heaven" won three Grammy awards for Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Male Pop Vocal Performance in 1993.

Foreigner

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Foreigner is a rock band formed in New York City in 1976 by veteran musicians Mick Jones and ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald, along with then-unknown vocalist Lou Gramm (Louis Grammatico). Foreigner has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide (including over 36 million in the United States alone).
Foreigner has been referenced multiple times on the show Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Most notably was the episode in which the Mooninites won the Belt of Foreigner at a local carnival, which according to Ignignokt, gives the wearer of the belt "all of the superpowers of '70s supergroup, Foreigner." The character Carl is also known to be a big fan of Foreigner, having seen them at the Meadowlands in '83. During this concert he copped a feel off a passed out "broad" and now whenever he hears the song "Urgent" he thinks of "her boobs covered in vomit". They also have three songs within the Grand Theft Auto video game series: one on Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, one on Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, and one on Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.