George Lynch

[Robert]

People keep talking about him (Reverend Rawk is one :) ) and I never did listen to him. What listening recommendations can you give that features some of his best playing?

What is it about his playing that so awesome?

[marnold]

Listening recommendations:
Anything off Dokken's "Tooth and Nail," "Under Lock and Key," or "Back for the Attack" albums ("Tooth and Nail" is my favorite). Specific tracks: "Paris Is Burning" (off "Breaking the Chains"), "Without Warning/Tooth and Nail," "Don't Close Your Eyes," "In My Dreams," "Mr. Scary," "Tierra del Fuego" (off his "Sacred Groove" solo album), and "Wicked Sensation" (off the Lynch Mob album of the same name).

Basically I think George's playing elevated Dokken above most of their "hair metal" contemporaries. His rhythm parts are much more than the typical "fist full of power chords and a cloud of dust" method that typifies so much metal. There were so many EVH wanna-bes in the 80s. While Lynch incorporates tapping, no one would ever confuse him with Eddie. He can shred with the best of them but really knows how to let a solo breathe ("In My Dreams" being a classic example). I also always liked his use of pinch harmonics that absolutely scream.

Granted I'm a hopeless fanboy so I'm by no means very objective about all of this. I guess to sum it up it would be really cool riffs that drive a song and then all kinds of "how the heck did he do that?" moments in his solos. Those are many of the same traits that I always admired in Randy Rhoads as well.

[Katastrophe]

The good Reverend nailed it.

"Mr. Scary" was an instrumental that had me jumping around in my room as a teenager, trying like hell to learn. For 80's "hair metal," his phrasing was unique. He could do the neoclassical stuff but didn't sound like Yngwie. He could do fast, bluesy stuff but didn't sound like Eddie. I also liked that he, to this day, hasn't stopped trying to improve his playing.

Back for the Attack came out at a time when I was trying to get serious about playing guitar. My teacher made me try to transcribe a tune into tab, and I chose "Kiss of Death" from that album. For me, Lynch's playing represented a near perfect blend of melody and aggression.

Listening now, some of their stuff might sound dated, and Dokken had a tendency to get nasally with his vocals. But man, did those guitar parts and solos smoke!

When you're in a "shreddy" mood, I highly recommend listening to "Mr. Scary" and "Kiss of Death" for Lynch in full furious 80s hair metal glory.

[Andy]

my favorite is 'under lock and key' but anything from 'tooth and nail' and 'back for the attack' is every bit as good. his vibrato style is hard to duplicate.

[Tone2TheBone]

You'll love his purple head Marshall tone.

[duhvoodooman]

I'm not really a Lynch fan, but this is a close-up view you won't generally find on YouTube:

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The man has serious chops, no doubt....