Paul Crook (born February 12, 1966) is an American guitarist known for his work recording and performing with

Meat Loaf Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American rock singer and actor. He was noted for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. He is on t ...

. He has also recorded and toured with Anthrax,

Sebastian Bach Sebastian Philip Bierk (born April 3, 1968), known professionally as Sebastian Bach, is a Canadian-American singer who achieved mainstream success as the frontman of the hard rock band Skid Row from 1987 to 1996. He has acted on Broadway and ha ...

and

Marya Roxx Marya Roxx (born Maarja Kivi on 18 January 1986) is an Estonian hard rock/metal singer-songwriter residing in Los Angeles. She is a former member of the Estonian girl band Vanilla Ninja. Background When the girl band Vanilla Ninja was founded ...

Biography

Growing up in

Green Brook Township, New Jersey Green Brook Township is a township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. It is centrally located within the Raritan Valley region. As of the 2010 United States census, the township's population was 7,203, reflecting an increase of 1,5 ...

, he started playing guitar at the age of 10 when his parents (Dennis & Carol) bought him a basic acoustic as a Christmas gift.Lamberg, Erica
"Green Brook people"
''

Courier News The ''Courier News'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Somerville, New Jersey, that serves Somerset County and other areas of Central Jersey. The paper has been owned by Gannett since 1927. Notable employees *John Curley, former presid ...

'', May 19, 2004. Accessed March 28, 2011. "Crook, 38, was raised in Green Brook and said much of his spare time growing up was spent playing guitar." Crook took to the guitar quickly and found himself practicing hours-on-end. His father, after seeing this for a few years, then bought him his first "real" guitar: a black ''

Gibson Les Paul Custom The Gibson Les Paul Custom is a higher-end variation of the Gibson Les Paul guitar. It was developed in 1953 after Gibson had introduced the Les Paul model in 1952. History The 1952 Gibson Les Paul was originally made with a mahogany body with ...

''.

Professional career

Years later Crook teamed up with Jack Secret (aka Tony Geranios), the keyboard tech for Rush. They wrote and recorded several songs together. Some of which were Produced by

Alex Lifeson Aleksandar Živojinović, (born 27 August 1953), known professionally as Alex Lifeson (), is a Canadian musician, best known as the guitarist and backing vocalist of the progressive rock band Rush. In 1968, Lifeson co-founded the band that wo ...

Electric Lady Studios Electric Lady Studios is a recording studio in Greenwich Village, New York City. It was commissioned by rock musician Jimi Hendrix in 1968 and designed by architect John Storyk and audio engineer Eddie Kramer by 1970. Hendrix spent only ten we ...

, in New York City. Secret introduced Crook to the members of

Blue Öyster Cult Blue Öyster Cult ( ; sometimes abbreviated BÖC or BOC) is an American rock band formed on Long Island in Stony Brook, New York, in 1967, and best known for the singles "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", "Burnin' for You", and "Godzilla". The band h ...

(BOC), who took Crook out on the road in 1986 as a keyboard/guitar tech. While in Germany with BOC, Crook met

Bernie Marsden Bernard John Marsden (born 7 May 1951) is an English rock and blues guitarist. He is primarily known for his work with Whitesnake, having written or co-written with David Coverdale many of the group's hit songs, such as " Fool for Your Lovin ...

of Whitesnake fame. The two began to work together, writing and recording in the United Kingdom. In 1989 Crook met Anthrax through Rick Downey. Crook became guitar tech for

Dan Spitz Daniel Alan Spitz (born January 28, 1963) is an American musician best known for his work as the lead guitarist of the thrash metal band Anthrax from 1983 to 1995 and from 2005 to 2008. Spitz also founded the Christian music group Red Lamb, whi ...

, and, in 1995, replaced Spitz (although not an official member). Crook toured with Anthrax for the rest of the decade and performed on two records, ''

Stomp 442 ''Stomp 442'' is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Anthrax. It was released in 1995 by Elektra Records. The band and the Philadelphia-based producers Butcher Brothers produced the album, which includes the singles, "Fueled" ...

'' and '' Volume 8: The Threat Is Real'', which he also co-produced and engineered. In 1999,

Skid Row A skid row or skid road is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people " on the skids". This specifically refers to poor or homeless, considered disreputable, downtrodden or fo ...

fame asked Crook to join his band. They did shows together, touring around the world until 2004. Their only recording was "Rock Bottom", on a

KISS A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

tribute record. In 1999 Crook teamed up with Glenn Hughes. Together, they composed the ballad "Feels Like Home" for Glenn's solo record ''

Building The Machine ''Building the Machine'' is a studio album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/ bassist Glenn Hughes. It was his eighth solo studio album and was released in 2001 on SPV, DNA and Nippon Crown records. History ''Building ...

''. In 2000 Crook teamed up with Scott Metaxas from

Prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

and

Nuclear Assault Nuclear Assault was an American thrash metal band formed in New York City in 1984. Part of the mid-to-late 1980s thrash metal movement, they were one of the main bands of the genre to emerge from the East Coast along with Overkill, Whiplash, ...

fame. The two of them Co-produced

Billy Milano Billy Milano is an American heavy metal and hardcore punk musician. He is the singer and occasionally guitarist and bassist of crossover thrash band M.O.D., and was the singer of its predecessor, Stormtroopers of Death. Prior to these bands, ...

M.O.D. M.O.D. (abbreviation for Method of Destruction) is an American crossover thrash band from New York City, fronted by Stormtroopers of Death vocalist Billy Milano. The band has been around for years (minus one hiatus from 1997 to 2001), and rele ...

record '' The Rebel You Love to Hate''. In 2003

Kasim Sulton Kasim Sulton (born December 8, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, keyboardist and vocalist. Best known for his work with Utopia, Sulton sang lead on 1980's "Set Me Free," Utopia's only top 40 hit in the United States. As a solo artist, Sulton ...

asked Crook to join

Neverland Express Meat Loaf’s Neverland Express was the rotating backing band for the late American singer Meat Loaf. Band lineups 1977–78 (''Bat Out of Hell'') * Bob Kulick: lead guitars * Bruce Kulick: guitars * Steve Buslowe: bass, vocals * Jim Steinman: ...

. Crook appeared in the music video "Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself" and then hit the road for a long world tour including television appearances. A live DVD was filmed at the end of the tour (in Australia): '' Bat out of Hell: Live with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra''. In 2004 Crook auditioned for the musical ''

We Will Rock You "We Will Rock You" is a song written by Brian May and recorded by British rock band Queen for their 1977 album ''News of the World''. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it number 330 of " The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and it placed at num ...

'', featuring the music of

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

. He had to audition for

Brian May Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Freddie Mercury and ...

, one of his main influences. May trained Crook personally for the position. Crook relocated to

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

to perform his favorite Queen songs. After a 16-month run the show moved to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. To this day Crook remains in Las Vegas and still calls it his home. In 2006 Crook hit the studio with Meat Loaf and the Neverland Express to record '' Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose''. The album was produced by Desmond Child. While touring ''Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose'' a camera crew was called in to record every move the band made. This footage later became known as the documentary film: ''Meat Loaf In Search Of Paradise''. In 2007 (while on a tour break) Crook received a text message from famed producer

Kevin Shirley Kevin Shirley (born 29 June 1960), also known as The Caveman, is a South African music producer, engineer and mixer for many artists,Spencer et al, (2007Shirley, Kevinentry. Retrieved 4 February 2010. such as the bands Journey, Iron Maiden, ...

, who asked Crook to play on a heavy metal record for

. Shirley assembled a solid band: Crook (guitars), Scott Metaxas (bass), Derek Sherinian (keyboards) and

Brian Tichy Brian Tichy (born August 18, 1968) is an American musician, best known as having been the drummer for Whitesnake, Billy Idol, Foreigner, Sass Jordan, and Ozzy Osbourne. He was the drummer of Whitesnake from 2010 to 2013. His surname means ''si ...

(drums). They re-wrote and recorded 12 songs in 10 days at The Document Room in

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malib ...

. 2008 brought Crook out on the road for Meat Loaf's Casa De Carne tour. 2009 was a very busy year. After a tour of Europe with Marya Roxx, Crook jumped back in the studio with Meat Loaf. This time

Rob Cavallo Robert Siers Cavallo (born March 21, 1963) is an American record producer, musician, and record industry executive. He is among the biggest-selling producers in history, and has produced or had creative involvement in albums that have sold over ...

was called in to produce. They began recording on June 1 in Calabasas, California. Many stellar musicians were brought in to create the massive sound. Sharing guitar duties alongside Crook were

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai (; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist f ...

Justin Hawkins Justin David Hawkins (born 17 March 1975) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and YouTube personality best known for being the founder, lead singer, and lead guitarist of The Darkness. He was influenced by rock bands of the 1970s and ...

, Randy Flowers and

Tim Pierce Tim Pierce (born 1959 in Albuquerque) is an American session guitarist. He has worked for artists such as Joe Cocker, Crowded House, Goo Goo Dolls, Michael Jackson, Beth Hart, Roger Waters, Alice Cooper, Johnny Hallyday, Phil Collins, and the ...

. While recording Meat Loaf's '' Hang Cool, Teddy Bear'' album Crook was asked by

to record on a song with

Adam Lambert Adam Mitchel Lambert (born January 29, 1982) is an American singer and songwriter. Since 2009, he has sold over 3 million albums and 5 million singles worldwide. Lambert is known for his dynamic vocal performances that fuse his theatrical tra ...

from ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

'' fame. The song was " Time for Miracles". It was released and went to #9 on iTunes. "Time for Miracles" was a part of the motion picture soundtrack for ''

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

''. In 2010 Meat Loaf asked Crook to produce the album '' Hell In A Handbasket''. The album was released on September 30, 2011. Crook spent most of 2011/2012 on the road with Meat Loaf. Meat Loaf asked Crook to mix the ''Guilty Pleasure Tour, Live From Sydney''. In early 2013 Meat Loaf and Crook began song editing and video creation for the Last At Bat Tour. All of the video media used in the show was put together by the two of them. The tour mounted in April 2013 and took them through the UK, Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands. The Last At Bat Tour is considered to be Meat Loaf's greatest tour to date. After the Last At Bat Tour, Crook began working with Meat Loaf on song arrangements and video production for a Las Vegas residency... Rocktellz And Cocktails had a successful 26-week run at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. Summer 2014, Crook began production work on Meat Loaf's upcoming album '' Braver Than We Are''. While on break from recording ''Braver Than We Are'', Crook began production for Frank DiMino's album ''Old Habits Die Hard''. It was released on Frontiers Records in July 2015. July 2015 Crook found himself back in the studio with Meat Loaf, recording vocals on ''Braver Than We Are''. A majority of the work was done during an 11-week period in a rental house just outside of Nashville. Vocal overdubs and mixing were completed in Las Vegas (December 2015 - February 2016). Release date is slated for September 2016.

Work

*Meat Loaf: "Braver Than We Are" Produced, Engineered, Performed and Mixed. released Sept 2016. *Frank DiMino: "Old Habits Die Hard" Produced, Engineered, Performed and Mixed 2015. *Meat Loaf: "In And Out Of Hell", Full Feature Documentary Film. *Meat Loaf: "Guilty Pleasures, Live in Sydney, Australia" Mixed and performed, released in 2012 *Meat Loaf: "Hell In A Handbasket" Produced and Engineered by Paul Crook, released 10/2011 *Meat Loaf: "Hang Cool Teddy Bear" Produced by

released 4/2010 *Adam Lambert: "Time For Miracles" Soundtrack for the Major Motion Picture: "2012" *Meat Loaf: "In Search Of Paradise", Full Feature Documentary Film. *Meat Loaf: "Bat Out Of Hell III, The Monster's Loose" Produced by Desmond Child *

: "21?!" Produced by

*Meat Loaf: '' 3 Bats Live'' DVD and CD *Meat Loaf: '' Bat out of Hell: Live with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra'' DVD and CD. *Meat Loaf: '' Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose'' CD *Meat Loaf: "

Couldn't Have Said It Better ''Couldn't Have Said It Better'' is the eighth studio album by Meat Loaf, released in the UK on April 21, 2003. For only the third time in his career, he released an album without any songs written by Jim Steinman (not counting the bonus tracks) ...

" music video. *Anthrax: ''

'' CD *Anthrax: '' Volume 8: The Threat Is Real'' CD *Anthrax: "

Twisted Forever ''Twisted Forever – A Tribute to the Legendary Twisted Sister'' is a tribute album to Twisted Sister, released in 2001. Release of the album was on both CD, and a collector's edition released on double pink vinyl records. Track listing / Arti ...

" CD *Anthrax: "The Four Horsemen" CD *Sebastian Bach: " The Last Hard Men" *Glenn Hughes: "Building The Machine" *M.O.D.: '' The Rebel You Love to Hate'' CD *John Carpenter's: ''

Ghosts of Mars ''Ghosts of Mars'' (titled onscreen as ''John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars'') is a 2001 American science fiction action horror film written, directed and scored by John Carpenter. It was produced by Screen Gems and distributed by Sony Pictures Re ...

'' Major Motion Picture soundtrack

Bands

*Lead Guitarist for

*Lead Guitarist for the Queen musical ''

'' in Las Vegas 2004-05 *Lead Guitarist for Anthrax 1995-2001 *Lead Guitarist for

References

Sources

* https://web.archive.org/web/20071208232240/http://soundperformancelab.com/Ref/paul_crook.html * http://www.uberrock.co.uk/interviews/52-January-interviews/457-paul-crook-interview-exclusive.html

External links

Paul Crook's mySpaceCrook on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crook, Paul 1966 births American heavy metal guitarists Anthrax (American band) members Living people Neverland Express members People from Green Brook Township, New Jersey Musicians from Plainfield, New Jersey Guitarists from New Jersey 20th-century American guitarists