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Street Lethal
''Street Lethal'' is the first studio album by the American heavy metal band Racer X, released on January 1, 1986 through Shrapnel Records. The instrumental track "Y.R.O." stands for "Yngwie Rip-Off", as it bears similarities to "Black Star" by guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen (from his 1984 album ''Rising Force''), with an almost identical bassline. It later appeared in the 2009 video game ''Brütal Legend''. Critical reception In a contemporary review, Paul Henderson of ''Kerrang!'' found ''Street Lethal'' "a pretty good album despite the occasional over-emphasis on 'melt-down' guitar pyrotechnics"; he praised the song structures, which he thought would more likely turn up on a Van Halen album, and the band's musicianship which "would put to shame many of the so-called 'big names' of heavy rock." Because of Jeff Martin's vocals and Paul Gilbert's rhythmic guitar work, ''Rock Hard'' reviewer found similarities with the early works of Japanese bands Anthem and Loudness and concluded ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Racer X (band)
Racer X was an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1985. The group has gone through a hiatus and a few lineup changes, with bassist Juan Alderete and vocalist Jeff Martin being the sole constant members. The band is signed to Shrapnel Records. History 1980s Guitarist Paul Gilbert first gained notoriety when he was featured in Mike Varney's Spotlight Column in the February 1983 issue of Guitar Player magazine. Gilbert was 16 years old and was living in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. He later moved to Los Angeles and enrolled at the Guitar Institute of Technology (GIT), part of the Musicians Institute. After graduating from GIT, Gilbert was hired as an instructor and recorded the album "Trouble in the Streets" with Los Angeles metal band Black Sheep, released on Enigma Records in November 1985. While at GIT, Gilbert met fellow student Juan Alderete. Searching for a drummer, Alderete and Gilbert first turned to Scott Travis, who was living in Virginia at the time, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martin Popoff
Martin Popoff (born April 28, 1963) is a Canadian music journalist, critic and author. He is mainly known for writing about the genre of heavy metal music. The senior editor and co-founder of ''Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'', he has additionally written over twenty books that both critically evaluate heavy metal and document its history. He has been called "heavy metal's most widely recognized journalist" by his publisher. Popoff lives in Toronto, Ontario. Career Born in Castlegar, British Columbia, Popoff's interest in heavy metal began as a youth in Trail, British Columbia, in the early 1970s, when bands such as Led Zeppelin and Iron Butterfly were in the collections of the older brothers and cousins of Popoff and his friends. Black Sabbath played even heavier music, and became the group his circle of friends thought of as "our band, not the domain of our elders". Other heavy rock albums of the era, such as Nazareth's ''Razamanaz'' and Kiss' '' Hotter than Hell'', further shape ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Gschoesser
Harald "Harry" Gschoesser (born July 25, 1961) is an Austrian entrepreneur and musician. He is the founder of the social network for musicians, Speedgig. He is also a former band drummer of Racer X, which is an American heavy metal band based out of Los Angeles, and former drummer of Austrian rock bands No Bros and Speedy Weekend Band. Early life Gschoesser was born in Tirol, Austria. He started playing the drums at the late age of 17. He first attracted the attention of the Austrian band, Scream, with Andy Woerz, who later became an Austrian actor and singer. In 1981, Gschoesser started drumming for the Speedy Weekend Band, which became the most popular heavy metal band in Austria at that time. Playing all over Austria, they also opened for Eric Burdon, Roger Chapman, and others during their Austrian tour. History with No Bros After the Speedy Weekend Band broke up, Gschoesser was picked up by No Bros in 1983, an Austrian rock band. Managed by Gotthard Rieger, the band starte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shred Guitar
Shred guitar or shredding is a virtuoso lead guitar solo playing style for the guitar, based on various advanced and complex playing techniques, particularly rapid passages and advanced performance effects. Shred guitar includes "fast alternate picking, sweep-picked arpeggios, diminished and harmonic scales, finger-tapping and whammy-bar abuse", It is commonly used in heavy metal guitar playing, where guitarists use the electric guitar with a guitar amplifier and a range of electronic effects such as distortion, which create a more sustained guitar tone and facilitate guitar feedback effects. The term is sometimes used with reference to virtuoso playing by instrumentalists other than guitarists, as well. The term "shred" is also used outside the metal idiom, particularly in bluegrass musicians and jazz-rock fusion electric guitarists. History Many jazz guitarists in the 1950s such as Les Paul, Barney Kessel and Tal Farlow improvised various guitar techniques comparing to co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rob Halford
Robert John Arthur Halford (born 25 August 1951) is an English heavy metal singer. He is the lead vocalist of Judas Priest, which was formed in 1969 and has received accolades such as the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance. He has been noted for his powerful and wide ranging operatic vocal style and trademark leather-and-studs image, both of which have become iconic in heavy metal.Daniel Bukszpan (2003)"The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal"/ref> He has also been involved with several side projects, including Fight, Two, and Halford. AllMusic said of Halford, "There have been few vocalists in the history of heavy metal whose singing style has been as influential and instantly recognizable... able to effortlessly alternate between a throaty growl and an ear-splitting falsetto." He was ranked at No. 33 on the list of greatest voices in rock by Planet Rock listeners in 2009. He has also been nicknamed "Metal God" by fans. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judas Priest
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in the latter half of the 1970s, the band had struggled with indifferent record production and a lack of major commercial success until 1980, when they rose to commercial success with the album '' British Steel''. The band's membership has seen much turnover, including a revolving cast of drummers in the 1970s and the departure of singer Rob Halford in 1992. Tim "Ripper" Owens, formerly of Winter's Bane, replaced Halford in 1996 and recorded two albums with Judas Priest, before Halford returned to the band in 2003. The current line-up consists of Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill and drummer Scott Travis. The band's best-selling album is 1982's ''Screaming for Vengeance'', with their most commercially succe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loudness (band)
is a Japanese heavy metal band formed in 1981 by guitarist Akira Takasaki and drummer Munetaka Higuchi. They were the first Japanese metal act signed to a major label in the United States. Loudness subsequently released 26 studio albums (five licensed in America) and nine live albums by 2014 and reached the ''Billboard'' Top 100 during their heyday as well as charting on Oricon dozens of times. Despite numerous changes in its line-up, with Takasaki the sole constant member, the band continued their activities throughout the 1990s, finally reuniting the original line-up in 2001. This incarnation released a further seven albums until November 30, 2008, when original drummer Munetaka Higuchi died from liver cancer at a hospital in Osaka at age 49. He was replaced with Masayuki Suzuki. Biography 1980–1984: From Lazy to Loudness The band was started by guitarist Akira Takasaki, bassist Hiroyuki Tanaka and drummer Munetaka Higuchi, coming off the split-up of the rock band Lazy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthem (band)
is a Japanese heavy metal band that was formed during the early 1980s in Tokyo. They are among the many heavy metal bands founded in Japan during that time and are considered to be one of the most successful and influential, alongside Loudness and Earthshaker. History Early years (1981–1985) Anthem was founded in Tokyo during 1980 as a quartet, composed of singer Toshihito Maeda, guitarist Akifumi Koyanagi, bass player Naoto Shibata (also known as "Ski") and drummer Takamasa Ohuchi. Koyanagi left in late 1983 to be replaced by Hiroya Fukuda. In December 1984, vocalist Toshihito Maeda also left and Anthem drafted Eizo Sakamoto for their debut eponymous album, issued in July 1985 by Nexus and licensed to Europe via Roadrunner Records. Success (1985–1992) Their first studio release featured classic songs like "Wild Anthem" and "Warning Action". Their first EP single in 1986, entitled "Xanadu", was the first known song to be used for promotion of a brand new video game, nam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Gilbert
Paul Brandon Gilbert is an American hard rock and heavy metal guitarist. He is the co-founder of the band Mr. Big, and was also a member of Racer X, with whom he released several albums. In 1996, Gilbert launched a solo career, for which he has released numerous solo albums, and featured in numerous collaborations and guest appearances on other musicians' albums. Gilbert was voted fourth-best on GuitarOne magazine's 2007 "Top 10 Greatest Guitar Shredders of All Time". He was also ranked in ''Guitar World's'' 2008 list, "50 Fastest Guitarists of All Time". Shrapnel Records Gilbert was raised mostly in the small Pittsburgh suburb of Greensburg, Pennsylvania. He began playing music at age six; by age 15, he was touring local clubs with his band (Tau Zero), and had been featured in Guitar Player magazine (alongside fellow up-and-comer Yngwie Malmsteen). Around 1981, Gilbert first contacted Mike Varney (founder of Shrapnel Records), asking for a gig with metal mega-star O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeff Martin (American Musician)
Jeffery Louis Martin is an American musician, singer and drummer who has sung for the bands Racer X, Bad Dog, Surgical Steel and St. Michael and played drums for the bands Badlands, the Michael Schenker Group, Blindside Blues Band, Red Sea, St. Michael and The Electric Fence, a side project with Paul Gilbert and Russ Parrish. Jeff Martin played drums for Paul Gilbert, George Lynch, Dokken, and P.K. Mitchell. Martin played drums in Surgical Steel before switching to lead vocals and was the drummer/lead vocalist for St. Michael, both Phoenix, AZ-based bands. He released a lone solo album in 2006, ''The Fool'', featuring the guitar talents of Paul Gilbert and Michael Schenker and has also sung backing vocals for Judas Priest and The Scream. Martin appeared in the 1985 movie '' Thunder Alley'', starring Leif Garrett, with his band Surgical Steel. Discography Solo * ''The Fool'' (2006) with Racer X * '' Street Lethal'' (1986) * ''Second Heat'' (1987) * ''Extreme Volume Live'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rock Hard (magazine)
''Rock Hard'' (also ''RockHard'') is a German music magazine published in Dortmund, with other language editions in various countries worldwide, including France, Spain, Brazil, Portugal, Italy and Greece. The magazine focuses on hard rock and heavy metal content, including reports, interviews, specials, reviews and news. Next to the German edition of ''Metal Hammer'', it is the leading magazine for metal and hard rock in Germany. German news magazine ''Der Spiegel'' has called it the ' ("central organ") of heavy metal fandom in Germany; others have dubbed it a ' ("cult magazine"). Founded by Holger Stratmann, more than 300 issues have been published in Germany since 1983; it has been published monthly since 1989. ''Rock Hard'' magazine is independent from major media companies. Its slogan is "critical, competent, independent". Since 1990, magazine employees have also organized the Rock Hard Festival, which has been held annually in Gelsenkirchen on the Pentecost weekend since ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kerrang!
''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one-off supplement in the ''Sounds'' newspaper. Named after the onomatopoeic word that derives from the sound made when playing a power chord on a distorted electric guitar, ''Kerrang!'' was initially devoted to the new wave of British heavy metal and the rise of hard rock acts. In the early 2000s, it became the best-selling British music weekly. History ''Kerrang!'' was founded in 1981. The editor of the weekly music magazine ''Sounds'', Alan Lewis, suggested that Geoff Barton edit a one-off special edition focusing on the new wave of British heavy metal phenomenon and on the rise of other hard rock acts. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
