Picked up an old tape yesterday...

[Katastrophe]

... from my other guitar player in my band. It was Testament's Souls of Black, released in 1990. Out of nostalgia, I slapped 'er in the old tape player in my truck (yep, I have one of the last trucks that has a cassette player) and gave it a listen. It reminded me why Alex Skolnick is one of my favorite players... In the midst of all these heavy guitars and metal drum beats, that thick tone of his just cuts through... Incredible phrasing... I remember reading that he was getting into jazz at the time of the recording of that album, and it shows on some of the solos. Made me want to grab a guit-fiddle and get to practicing again...

[tremoloman***]

I remember those guys... I loved them big time in high school.

Did you know Alex Skolnick quit playing metal and now is a diehard jazz man? Take a look for "The Alex Skolnick Trio". Great stuff!

[Nelskie]

Wow. From Testament to a jazz trio. Talk about a long swing of the pendulum!

I seem to remember Alex having an instructional column in Guitar Player Magazine a ways back, and was always curious as to his playing credentials. Since this was about the time I was really getting into blues, however, I never really pursued it. A number of years later, a friend of mine bought me a really cool CD for my birthday called "Guitars That Rule The World" (a Guitar World-produced compilation), and Alex Skolnick was a featured artist. The song of his on that CD is called "Filet Of Soul", and it's a super funky, fusion-type number, which I think Les Claypool (Primus) plays on, too (don't quote me on that.) Anyways, here's a couple of links should anyone want to find out more about Alex Skolnick and his discography, or check out the previously mentioned Guitar World CD:

http://www.alexskolnick.com/index.asp
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=music

Also, tying this into one of the other recent posts in HYH - Nuno Bettencourt is another of the featured players on this CD, along with metal shredders Zakk Wylde and Yngwie Malmsteen. Button down the hatches, folks, this CD really rips!

[tremoloman***]

I own that CD... great stuff!

I've got some old cassettes from "Guitar For the Practicing Musician" volumes 1 and 2. I wish I could get those on CD since the tapes are getting tired. :P

Whatever happened to that magazine anyways?

[Katastrophe]

Thanks for the links, Nelskie! I think I spied my GFPM Vol: 1 in the storage room today, as a matter of fact... Gonna have to pull that back out again...

[marnold***]

I own that CD... great stuff!

I've got some old cassettes from "Guitar For the Practicing Musician" volumes 1 and 2. I wish I could get those on CD since the tapes are getting tired. :P

Whatever happened to that magazine anyways?

GftPM became GuitarOne.

Get a trial subscription to eMusic. I downloaded volumes one through three from them.

http://www.emusic.com/album/10605/10605605.html
http://www.emusic.com/album/10604/10604927.html
http://www.emusic.com/album/10605/10605127.html

[Nelskie]

AWESOME! Thanks for the links AND the sweet tip on the trial subscription, marnold. Indeed, it must be Christmas!!

[marnold***]

AWESOME! Thanks for the links AND the sweet tip on the trial subscription, marnold. Indeed, it must be Christmas!!

Any time! You might want to snag The Guitars that Ruled the World which is also from Koch Guitar. If 50 isn't enough downloads, you can snag the latest Winamp and get 100 free downloads.