Michael James Romeo (born March 6, 1968) is an American guitarist and a founding member of the

progressive metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad :Fusion music genres, fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven s ...

group

Symphony X Symphony X is an American progressive metal band from Middletown, New Jersey. Founded in 1994, the band consists of guitarist Michael Romeo, keyboardist Michael Pinnella, drummer Jason Rullo, lead vocalist Russell Allen and bassist Michael Lep ...

. He is one of two members to appear on every Symphony X release (the other being

Michael Pinnella Michael Pinnella (born August 29, 1969) is an American keyboard player, most notably for the band Symphony X. Michael is one of two Symphony X members to appear on all nine of the band's albums (the other being Michael Romeo). He has released ...

). Romeo was ranked #91 out of 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of All Time by

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original art ...

Early life

Michael Romeo's introduction to formal music training began with piano lessons when he was 10 years old.Symphony X website , Michael Romeo tells the story of his influences and musical career. He also played

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

. However, it wasn't until after hearing his first

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, ...

album that he seriously considered switching to the guitar. He ended up purchasing a cheap acoustic guitar at a garage sale. Influenced by

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

Rush Rush(es) may refer to: Places United States * Rush, Colorado * Rush, Kentucky * Rush, New York * Rush City, Minnesota * Rush Creek (Kishwaukee River tributary), Illinois * Rush Creek (Marin County, California), a stream * Rush Creek (Mono Cou ...

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

, and

Emerson, Lake & Palmer Emerson, Lake & Palmer (informally known as ELP) were an English progressive rock supergroup formed in London in 1970. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (vocals, bass, guitar, producer) and Carl Palmer (drums, percus ...

, he became serious about the guitar after listening to the albums ''

Blizzard of Ozz ''Blizzard of Ozz'' is the debut solo studio album by English singer Ozzy Osbourne, released on 12 September 1980 in the UK and on 27 March 1981 in the US. The album was Osbourne's first release following his firing from Black Sabbath in 1979. ...

'' and '' Diary of a Madman'' by

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

. He was also heavily influenced by the neoclassical technique and style of

Randy Rhoads Randall William Rhoads (December 6, 1956 – March 19, 1982) was an American guitarist. He was the co-founder and original guitarist of the heavy metal band Quiet Riot, and the guitarist and co-songwriter for Ozzy Osbourne's first two solo alb ...

Ritchie Blackmore Richard Hugh Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is an English guitarist and songwriter. He was a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968, playing jam-style hard rock music that mixed guitar riffs and organ sounds. He is prolific in creating guitar ...

Yngwie Malmsteen Yngwie Johan Malmsteen ( ; born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck, 30 June 1963) is a Swedish guitarist. He first became known in the 1980s for his neoclassical playing style in heavy metal, and has released 22 studio albums in a career spanning ov ...

, and

Uli Jon Roth Uli Jon Roth (born Ulrich Roth; 18 December 1954) is a German guitarist who became famous for his work with the hard rock band Scorpions and is one of the earliest contributors to the neoclassical metal genre. He is also the founder of Sky Aca ...

and guitar virtuosos like

Shawn Lane Shawn Lane (March 21, 1963 – September 26, 2003) was an American musician who released two studio albums and collaborated with a variety of musicians including Ringo Starr, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Reg ...

; along with well-known composers such as

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

and

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...

. Romeo's own influence has rubbed off on younger players, including

DragonForce DragonForce are a British power metal band from London, England. The band was formed in 1999 by guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman, and are known for their long and fast guitar solos, fantasy-themed lyrics and retro video game-influenced ...

Herman Li Herman Li (; born 3 October 1976) is a Hong Kong-born British musician who is one of two lead guitarists for the power metal band DragonForce. Li has played with the band based in England since it was formed in 1999 by Li along with Sam Totman, ...

, who listed Romeo among his Top 10 favorite guitarists in 2011. Romeo is a fan of ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

'', and has recorded an arrangement of themes from

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...

' scores for the series under the title "Star Wars Suite". His favorite Star Wars character is

Darth Vader Darth Vader is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. The character is the central antagonist of the original trilogy and, as Anakin Skywalker, is one of the main protagonists in the prequel trilogy. ''Star Wars'' creator George ...

Equipment

Since 2005, Romeo has taken advantage of a new custom model,

Caparison A caparison is a cloth covering laid over a horse or other animal for protection and decoration. In modern times, they are used mainly in parades and for historical reenactments. A similar term is horse-trapper. The word is derived from the Lat ...

Dellinger II – Michael Romeo Custom, which he used to record the

album ''

Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse (poetry), verse. A second edition fo ...

''. Romeo was introduced to Caparison by Henrik Danhage of

Evergrey Evergrey is a Swedish progressive metal band from Gothenburg. History Evergrey was formed in 1995 in Gothenburg, Sweden as a progressive power metal band, in contrast to the melodic death metal that Gothenburg is known for. Since then, the band ...

. Throughout his career, Romeo has also used

ESP ESP most commonly refers to: * Extrasensory perception, a paranormal ability ESP may also refer to: Arts, entertainment Music * ESP Guitars, a manufacturer of electric guitars * E.S. Posthumus, an independent music group formed in 2000, ...

M-II Deluxe guitars with EMG Active pickups and Fender Stratocasters to perform and record other albums from the band. In terms of amplification in the studio, he uses a
ENGL
Fireball as well as a recently acquired Engl SE E670 that is used strictly for recording purposes. Live, Romeo makes use of both the Engl Fireball and Powerball models as well as various

Line 6 (company) Line 6 is a musical instrument and audio equipment manufacturer. Their product lines include electric and acoustic guitars, basses, guitar and bass amplifiers, effects units, USB audio interfaces and guitar/bass wireless systems. The company w ...

models. Recent photographs that have been made available at Symphony X Official Website show him also using other

amplifiers An amplifier, electronic amplifier or (informally) amp is an electronic device that can increase the magnitude of a signal (a time-varying voltage or current). It may increase the power significantly, or its main effect may be to boost the v ...

from brands such as

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

and Madison. He has also been known to use a Mesa Boogie Triaxis and Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier for recording. In terms of effects, Romeo pairs his various amplifiers with a

TC Electronic TC Electronic (sometimes stylized as t.c. electronic) is a Danish audio equipment company that designs and imports guitar effects, bass amplification, computer audio interfaces, audio plug-in software, live sound equalisers, studio and post-pro ...

G System and a Boss NS2 Noisegate.

Side projects

In 1994, he released a solo album entitled ''

The Dark Chapter ''The Dark Chapter'' is the first studio album by Symphony X guitarist Michael Romeo, released in April 1994 through Zero Corporation (Japan) and reissued in 2000 through InsideOut Music (Europe). Overview Originally recorded in 1992 as a demo t ...

''. In 1995, Long Island Records of Germany released the self-titled debut Phantom's Opera album featuring Michael on lead guitar, Colie Brice on vocals, Bob Nelson on drums, Eric Walz on bass, and founding member Jack Young on keyboard and piano. The album was reissued with bonus tracks by Song Haus Music in the US in 1999. As a guest musician for

Ayreon Ayreon is a musical project by Dutch songwriter, singer, musician and record producer Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Ayreon's music is described as progressive rock, progressive metal and power metal sometimes combined with genres such as folk, electro ...

, Romeo has played guitar solos on the song "Dawn of a Million Souls" (featuring lead vocals by

Russell Allen Russell Allen (born July 19, 1971) is an American singer best known as the vocalist of the progressive metal band Symphony X. He has also worked with the supergroups Star One, Allen-Lande, Level 10, and as one of fourteen vocalists in the pr ...

), from Ayreon's 2000 album '' Universal Migrator Part 2: Flight of the Migrator'', and on the song "E=MC²", from Ayreon's 2008 release, ''

01011001 ''01011001'' is the seventh studio album by Arjen Anthony Lucassen's long-running Ayreon project. "01011001" is the binary representation of the ASCII value of the letter '' Y''. ''01011001'' is a concept album that tells the story of aliens ca ...

''. He played a solo on "

Revel in Time ''Revel in Time'' is the third studio album by Arjen Anthony Lucassen's progressive metal project/ supergroup Star One, released via Inside Out on 18 February 2022. As with previous Star One albums, here Lucassen focuses on the "metal" side of hi ...

" as well, the album done in 2022 by

Arjen Lucassen Arjen Anthony Lucassen (born 3 April 1960) is a Dutch singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist musician and record producer best known for his long-running progressive metal/rock opera project Ayreon. Lucassen started his career in 1980 as the ...

's side project,

Star One Star One was an Indian pay television network based in Mumbai. It was launched on 1 November 2004 and was it owned by Star TV and distributed worldwide by Fox International Channels. In November 2006, Star One was launched in the UK on Sky. S ...

. Romeo also did the guitar work for

Vitalij Kuprij Ring of Fire is an American neoclassical/progressive/power metal band from Chula Vista, California formed in 2000. Fronted by former Yngwie J. Malmsteen collaborator Mark Boals after the release of his solo album ''Ring of Fire'', the band also in ...

on his "Piano Overture' song in his album ''Forward and Beyond''. Romeo also played a guest solo on the Eidolon album The Parallel Otherworld on the song Arcturus #9. Romeo also did some orchestration work on 3 songs of Steve Walsh's solo album Shadowman. In 2012, Romeo recorded some solos and guitar work for the debut album of progressive rock project Flaud Logic. He also made a guest appearance on the new Pat Gesualdo Iceland album. In 2018, Romeo announced the release of a new full-length solo album called '' War of the Worlds, Pt. 1'', also featuring Rick Castellano (vocals), John "JD" DeServio (bass) and

John Macaluso John Macaluso (born January 21, 1968) is an American drummer who has played for bands such as Ark, TNT, and Yngwie Malmsteen. Born in Commack, New York, Macaluso started playing drums at age 11. He has recorded over 200 records and played multi ...

(drums) as the backing band. It was released on July 27 via Music Theories Recordings /

Mascot Label Group Mascot Label Group is an independently-owned record label. Founded in 1989 in The Netherlands under the name Mascot Records, the company was renamed Mascot-Provogue in 1999 and since 2010 has been known as the Mascot Label Group. The company is ba ...

. A sequel album, ''

War of the Worlds, Pt. 2 ''War of the Worlds, Pt. 2'' is the third solo album by Symphony X guitarist Michael Romeo, released on 25 March 2022 via Inside Out Music. It is a sequel to his previous album released in 2018, ''War of the Worlds, Pt. 1''. It was originally sche ...

'' was released in March 2022 with

Dino Jelusick Dino Jelusić (born 4 June 1992), also known by his stage name Dino Jelusick, is a Croatian rock singer, musician, and songwriter. He is the founder, principal songwriter, and lead singer of progressive rock band Animal Drive, which was formed i ...

replacing Castellano on vocals.

Discography

With Symphony X

Solo

* ''

'' (1994) * '' War of the Worlds, Pt. 1'' (2018) * ''

'' (2022)

As a guest

* "Desperation (Part I-IV)" ('' Redemption'') – Redemption (2003) * "Dawn of a Million Souls" ('' Universal Migrator Part 2: Flight of the Migrator'') –

(2000) * "E=mc²" (''

'') – Ayreon (2008) * "Fate of Man" (''

'') –

(2022)

References

External links

Biography of Michael Romeo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Romeo, Michael American heavy metal guitarists 1968 births Living people Lead guitarists Progressive rock guitarists Progressive metal guitarists Symphony X members 20th-century American guitarists American people of Italian descent