[darcyb62]

Check out Thought Chamber.

Thought Chamber on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads

I like Dream Theater a lot but I definitely like these guys more.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaZa /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh yeah. OP, do you have Megadeth's latest album, Endgame? Its full of amazing solos.

And if you like it, check out the discography of Jag Panzer, from which Megadeth's current lead guitarist came. More and better of the same solos and leads from him! I'd check out Ample Destruction and Mechanized Warfare first.

 

[MaZa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer /img/forum/go_quote.gif And if you like it, check out the discography of Jag Panzer, from which Megadeth's current lead guitarist came. More and better of the same solos and leads from him! I'd check out Ample Destruction and Mechanized Warfare first.

Will definetly check them out then. Thanks!

 

[Meliboeus]

Jag Panzer is good traditional heavy/power metal, worth a listen for sure.

 

[Deathsnapper]

~ Michael Lee Firkins' first album (st) has excellent sound quality and absolutely stunning guitar playing. Sadly it went downhill after this due to (or so I've read) budget cuts. The self-titled album, though, is definitely one I would recomend as a "reference shred" album.

~ I feel that most Marty Friedman stuff is well recorded; for shred see Music for Speeding and True Obsessions.

~ Cacophony is pretty much the best band for tons of shred in my opinion, but their albums aren't especially well done. From memory I think their second album, Go Off!, was a good bit better than their first, Speed Metal Symphony as far as production goes; but for quality of guitar solos I lean slightly towards SMS (very slightly, Go Off! had some very good stuff).

~ Shawn Lane's "the Tri-Tone Fascination" is quite well recorded as well. But good luck getting that one. His previous album, Powers of Ten, wasn't so great in this aspect (that said he did record it at home, played all the instruments himself, and used a synth/midi keyboard for the drums; it's not a CD one should expect such quality from) but the music is wonderful. Some of the CDs he did with Jonas Hellborg were also done exceptionally well, but that's moving into the fusion genre and a bit away from the shred.

~ Paul Gilbert's Silence Followed by a Deafening Roar was quite high quality, and shoulden't be a problem at all to get a hold of (2008 release)

~ Takayoshi Ohmura - Emotions in Motion is very well done as well. Most of the songs are a bit more balanced between the rock/metal and the shred; but the solos are generally fantastic. What I really want is a full-length album similar to his Powers of Reality (see the song Pleasent Surprise) with slightly higher recording/mixing quality. That will be the day...

 

[LingLing1337]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deathsnapper /img/forum/go_quote.gif ~ Michael Lee Firkins' first album (st) has excellent sound quality and absolutely stunning guitar playing. Gonna see if I can get a hold of that ~ I feel that most Marty Friedman stuff is well recorded; for shred see Music for Speeding and True Obsessions. I have Music for Speeding, cool stuff. ~ Cacophony is pretty much the best band for tons of shred in my opinion, but their albums aren't especially well done. From memory I think their second album, Go Off!, was a good bit better than their first, Speed Metal Symphony as far as production goes; but for quality of guitar solos I lean slightly towards SMS (very slightly, Go Off! had some very good stuff). I have both albums and think they're both pretty lame I cannot stand the vocalist. SMS's Concerto, though, is amazing. ~ Shawn Lane's "the Tri-Tone Fascination" is quite well recorded as well. But good luck getting that one. I have that, I'll give it another look ~ Paul Gilbert's Silence Followed by a Deafening Roar was quite high quality, and shoulden't be a problem at all to get a hold of (2008 release) Yeah, this has pretty good quality and I love the music. ~ Takayoshi Ohmura - Emotions in Motion is very well done as well. Most of the songs are a bit more balanced between the rock/metal and the shred; but the solos are generally fantastic. Never heard of this, I'll check it out

See my comments in quotes.

 

[Deathsnapper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LingLing1337 /img/forum/go_quote.gif See my comments in quotes.

Good stuff.

I kind of agree on the cacophony vocalist. A few of the songs with vocals I enjoy, but in general I prefer the songs: SMS, Concerto, Go Off!, and Images (I don't think I missed any of their instrumentals there).

Since you have Music for Speeding I'll assume you've heard a good amount of Friedman's work. I forgot to mention Loudspeaker, which is also noteworthy. Very similar to Music for Speeding, but I recall it being a bit heavier. Has an excellent track called Viper with Steve Vai (some great dual guitar solos). I guess I forgot it because I haven't gotten around to picking up this album yet and only really glanced over what was on my desk/shelf. Anyways if you haven't his other CDs are, in general, more towards the classical and even newage genres. IMO his best music is a mix of Introductions and a few songs (i.e. Farewell) from True Obsessions.

At first I didn't like Shawn Lane much at all. For some reason I always associated him with the Rusty Cooley kind of shredders (which really doesn't make sense, maybe I saw some youtube clips or something). But eventually I listened through Powers of Ten and it immediately gave the spot as my favorite guitarist (tied with Jason Becker). For me Tri-Tone Fascination is better than Powers of Ten in almost every way. Fewer blistering guitar solos, but music that that overall makes me happier.

It's understandable to have never heard of Ohmura. He doesn't really have much fame yet and is heavily situated in Japan. Hard to get his CDs. But the kid really has a lot of talent.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deathsnapper /img/forum/go_quote.gif Since you have Music for Speeding I'll assume you've heard a good amount of Friedman's work. I forgot to mention Loudspeaker, which is also noteworthy. Very similar to Music for Speeding, but I recall it being a bit heavier. Has an excellent track called Viper with Steve Vai (some great dual guitar solos).

Whew, I really like both of these albums. They both have so much energy, melody, and range.

Marty sure has no lack of variety in his solo albums though. I have no idea what the last one (Future Addict) was supposed to be, but as soon as I heard the faux-cover of "Tornado of Souls" (my favorite Megadeth song), I was reaching for the air sickness bag!

 

[Deathsnapper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer /img/forum/go_quote.gif Marty sure has no lack of variety in his solo albums though. I have no idea what the last one (Future Addict) was supposed to be, but as soon as I heard the faux-cover of "Tornado of Souls" (my favorite Megadeth song), I was reaching for the air sickness bag!

This is one of those few areas that I feel almost as if I stand alone. Maybe it's just my poor taste, maybe it's because I grew up on punk music (i.e a mix of nostalgia and the ability to deal with vocals provided by a drummer). But of everyone I've ever consulted on the matter I'm the only person who really enjoyed the Tornado of Souls cover; in fact I liked it as much or even more than the original. I liked pretty much the whole album.

The two reason I didn't recomend it are because I understand that (and why) very few actually liked this album, and because it didn't seem as focused on shred guitar as the ones I did recomend. The former being far more important in my decision than the latter.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Don't get me wrong, I like some punk music myself, but that last Friedman album while perhaps leaning towards that style, did so with little quality, IMO. There have been many, many more successful cross-pollenations of punk and metal. As far as Tornado of Souls goes, I feel the original song was a classic, that just should have been left alone. I don't think there is much that could have improved on the original, so there wasn't much point, IMO, in a redo.