Guitar Heroes - Joe Satriani

Joe Satriani is one of the most incredible guitarists I have ever seen live – and I have seen many.

I first stumbled across his work in 1989, when I heard a superb song called “Big Bad Moon”. I loved the video accompanying the song and as I watched and listened I thought to myself, this guy can really play the bloody guitar.

I was so awestruck that I mentioned him to a mate at work, who turned out to be a huge fan. He lent me a video featuring videos and work from his second album “Surfing with the Alien”. I was converted and bought the album “Flying In A Blue Dream”, containing “Big Bad Moon”.

When Joe released the follow up album, “The Extremist”, he toured the UK and I had the chance to see him in Birmingham. As we travelled to the gig, I listened to “The Extremist” and was disappointed to hear that he didn’t sing. However, the more I heard it the more I thought, the songs stand out even without vocals.

As for the concert, I was stunned at how superb Joe Satriani was live; I have never seen a more technically advanced guitarist ever – he turned his guitar into a living entity. It was sheer brilliance. I have seen him twice now, the second time in Manchester, where he was even better.

What’s even more incredible is the fact that Joe Satriani actually helped two other guitar heroes of mine to learn the guitar: Kirk Hammett of Metallica and the incredible Steve Vai.

Furthermore, when Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple in the lurch in the 90’s, Joe Satriani stepped in and completed the tour. I would have loved to have seen the great man performing “Highway Star”. Not many (if any) can simply step into the shoes of the great Ritchie Blackmore.

Anyway, here are a few of my favourite Joe Satriani songs:

(1) Big Bad Moon
(2) Summer Song
(3) Crystal Planet
(4) War
(5) Satch Boogie
(6) Crowd Chant
(7) Ceremony
(8) Flying In A Blue Dream
(9) Surfing With The Alien
(10) Motorcycle Driver

He has now formed a supergroup with Sammy Hagar, Chad Smith and Michael Anthony. I can’t wait to hear what they sound like.

Finally, here is Joe performing “Big Bad Moon” with another legendary guitarist, Brian May, and the fantastic and sorely missed drummer, Cozy Powell, way back in 1992.

Guitar Heroes - Ritchie Blackmore

Ritchie Blackmore is probably my very first guitar hero. In the late seventies, as my musical taste drifted towards hard rock and heavy metal, the virtuosity of Ritchie Blackmore was a beacon that drew me in.

Deep Purple, at this stage, had imploded and Blackmore had created a new band called Rainbow. Both of these bands were extremely popular within my school and I began to collect their LPs, with what little cash I made from a paper round.

Chief amongst those albums was “Made In Japan”, a live recording made by Deep Purple’s unbelievable “Mark Two” line up in Tokyo and Osaka in 1972. I played the album so much that the vinyl almost melted. I became Ritchie Blackmore’s evil air guitar doppelganger as I leapt around my bedroom to the brilliant “Child In Time”, “Smoke On The Water”, “Space Truckin” and “Strange Kind Of Woman”.

I progressed onto Rainbow and continued to be an imaginary air guitarist, ripping through classic albums like “Rising” and “Long Live Rock And Roll” in my room. My father used to despair that his eldest son, now a mad haired heavy metal teenager, was leaping up and down, screaming in to the sound of music played at a volume that shook the walls.

Fast forward to 1984; a day that almost made me cry with joy - the reformation of Deep Purple with the classic “Mark Two” line up, with Ritchie, Ian Gillan, Jon Lord, Roger Glover and Ian Paice. The first album “Perfect Strangers” was a triumph as far as I was concerned. I also liked the follow up “The House Of Blue Light”.

Sadly, as brilliant a guitarist as he is, Ritchie Blackmore seems to have a streak in him that makes him very difficult to work with. Ian Gillan has been a famous casualty and their volatile relationship, although producing some classic timeless tunes, has also resulted in the initial destruction of Deep Purple at their peak and the eventual final departure of Blackmore from Deep Purple.

I was fortunate enough to see Deep Purple “Mark Two” at the Manchester Apollo in one of the last concerts before Blackmore left for good. The tension on the stage was tangible and Blackmore seemed to be so lonely there, almost as if he was playing a solo concert that happened to feature the rest of the band. I have only seen Ritchie Blackmore perform twice, and this second time was a disappointment. Sure, he played his guitar like it was part of himself, but there was something missing.

I keep thinking to myself, if only Blackmore hadn’t been so difficult, we could have had decades of Deep Purple brilliance.

Don’t get me wrong. Deep Purple are still making decent music even today. The only problem is, Blackmore is not part of the band. Instead, he has become sort of medieval mandolin player in a band called “Blackmore’s Night”, a style I can’t bring myself to like.

Despite the rollercoaster of Deep Purple, I still have nothing but the utmost admiration for Ritchie and he is still a huge hero of mine. As part of Rainbow, he produced the best rock album of the 1970’s – “Rising” – and on that album, one of the greatest rock songs of all time – “Stargazer”.


My favourite songs featuring Ritchie Blackmore are:

(1) Child In Time – Deep Purple
(2) Highway Star – Deep Purple
(3) Strange Kind Of Woman – Deep Purple
(4) Perfect Strangers – Deep Purple
(5) Space Truckin – Deep Purple
(6) Stargazer – Rainbow
(7) A Light In The Black – Rainbow
(8) Kill The King – Rainbow
(9) Spotlight Kid – Rainbow
(10) Difficult To Cure – Rainbow

His style is unique and his talent is almost immeasurable. The man was and is a true rock god. I would love to see Ritchie Blackmore abandon his medieval Renaissance folk rock and return to the axe-wielding rock guitar hero of my youth.

Finally, if you follow the link below you will find Ritchie Blackmore with the greatest Deep Purple line up performing "Child In Time" way back in 1970:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnts-7uNbC0

Guitar Heroes - Alex Lifeson

In 1982, a friend of mine handed over a cassette tape labelled “Signals” and said “Listen to this! You will love it”. At the time I was willing to listen to all sorts of music so I popped it into my cassette player and pressed “play”.

I was hooked from the first note of the first song. “Who is this?” I asked incredulously.

“Rush,” he replied. “Good aren’t they?”

That was an understatement; they were and still are brilliant. I rushed out (if you’ll pardon the pun) and bought as many Rush albums as I could find. I couldn’t get enough of the band – I still can’t. I was lucky enough to see them at Birmingham NEC shortly afterwards and they left a lasting impression.

The Canadian trio have been my favourite band ever since.

Just about every milestone in my life since that point has a Rush song associated with it. When I listen to the Rush back catalogue, shivers run down my spine – even today. I have every album, including live ones, and have seen them four times in total. I would have seen them more often had they visited our shores more often. The last time was the tour accompanying their latest album “Snakes and Arrows” a year or two ago, and they were as good then as they were in the early 80’s.

All three members are musical geniuses:

Geddy Lee sings, plays a mean bass guitar as well as keyboards.

Neil Peart is one of the greatest drummers I have seen and writes all of the lyrics.

Alex Lifeson is the guitarist and one of the greatest I have seen. He has a unique style and complements the other band members perfectly. Obviously he plays guitar but he has also played bouzouki, mandolin and mandola on some of the more recent Rush albums. He has been responsible for some of the best solos I have heard or seen live. Apparently he is the joker of the band and has been known to have a rant during live performances of the classic “La Villa Strangiato”.

There are too many Rush songs to even begin to select a bunch of favourites – I love them all, every single one of them. So instead I will list my favourite Rush albums (in chronological order):

(1) 2112 (1976)
(2) Hemispheres (1978)
(3) Permanent Waves (1980)
(4) Moving Pictures (1981)
(5) Signals (1982)
(6) Power Windows (1985)
(7) Hold Your Fire (1987)
(8) Counterparts (1993)
(9) Vapor Trails (2002)
(10)Snakes And Arrows (2007)

I also love the remaining albums they have released.

I can’t wait for the next album and the next time the band tours – I really hope they come to Manchester again.

If you have never heard Rush I urge you to do so. I hope their music has the same effect on you as “Signals” had on me 27 years ago. I will leave you with Alex Lifeson and the band, performing “La Villa Strangiato” in 1978, a song that highlights just how brilliant Alex, Geddy and Neil are.

Guitar Heroes - Angus Young

I have decided to pepper my usual inane drivel with a few posts about my favourite guitar players. I would like to start with Angus Young, mainly because I went to see AC/DC at the Manchester Evening News Arena last night.

As incredible as the band were, I was particularly awestruck by Angus Young, a man who is in his fifties yet runs around the stage like a twenty year old and plays the guitar in an amazing way.

AC/DC have been a constant companion from my teenage years until now, yet bizarrely, last night was the first time I have seen them live. They delivered everything I expected and more. There I was singing along with Brian Johnson as he belted out a series of classic and new songs. I felt like a kid again. The man standing next to me kept glancing over, presumably because occasionally he heard my wailing out of tune voice. I didn’t care one jot.

Angus was in fine form and has inspired me to post about those axe men who have given me so much pleasure over the years.

I love most songs by the band but here are my favourite AC/DC songs in no particular order:

(1) Thunderstruck
(2) Let There Be Rock
(3) Whole Lotta Rosie
(4) For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)
(5) Dirty Deeds (Done Dirt Cheap)
(6) Touch Too Much
(7) Fire Your Guns
(8) Highway To Hell
(9) Safe In New York City
(10)Stiff Upper Lip

Here is a very young Angus Young in 1977 performing “Let There Be Rock” with the legendary Bon Scott on vocals. It doesn’t get much better than this.