Really enjoying this new variety on SoT! More content like this please. George and Steven together, talking about a niche label, Brilliant! Great job guys!
Top label, top albums, top show! My top 10: Racer X - Street Lethal Fifth Angel - Fifth Angel Vicious Rumors - Soldiers of the Night Michael Lee Firkins - Michael Lee Firkins MacAlpine, Aldridge, Rock, Sarzo - Project: Driver Tony MacAlpine - Edge of Insanity Jason Becker - Perpetual Burn Joey Tafolla - Out of the Sun Richie Kotzen - Fever Dream Vinnie Moore - Mind's Eye 🤘😎 Rock'n'Ralf, Stuttgart/Germany
I love the various #SOT peeps doing shows like this. It's so nice. And call me a.big softie, but having Steven and George doing a show is like having two close pals over, chatting about the music we love. You guys really make me (and 'us' - hopefully) - feel like part of a family! Thanks for doing this guys ❤🎉❤🎉 #georgelamie #stevenreid #shrapnel #shrapnelrecords
Shrapnel were one of my favourite record labels back in those days. I didn't know they went into the late 90s. I used to buy them from a local record/import store that imported obscure and extreme record labels (and had there own, Modern Invasion) and Shrapnel just kind of disappeared from the record racks as death metal took over. That compilation that Steve showed is excellent and I actually quite like the Dr. Mastermind track that Steve Doesn't. Now let me say that Times Eye by Vinnie Moore is also my Favourite Shrapnel Album. Just Killer from start to finish. No weak tracks, Blazing Guitar everywhere and for a guitar album the keyboards by Tony MacAlpine are prominent and superb. For me, This is as near a perfect album that exists, the central 4 songs (last 2 side A, first 2 side B) are unparalleled. I saw Vinnie in "concert" at the Corner Hotel in Richmond - Melbourne (if my memory serves). And I think he played to backing tracks (such a long time ago) as he was actually on a guitar clinic tour and not a concert tour. He stopped for a very short Q&A, as like I said it was a supposed to be a guitar clinic. Now Vinnie at the time was one of those big haired guys, so when he asked for questions, someone shouted "What hair spray do you use". It was quite funny, the local metal scene (myself included) tended to be long, straight hair, no products to be seen. Thanks Guys, for the good memories about Shrapnel Records.
2 of the best on SoT!!! Mark Varney, Shrapnel. I remember his column in Guitar Player Magazine. You know I love my guitar players…thank you both!!! You can’t go wrong with Greg Howe…he’s amazing!
I loved shrapnel records. 1) Racer X. Second Heat 2) Steeler s/t 3) Le Mans. On the Streets 4) Hawaii. One Nation Underground 5) Culprit. Guilty as Charged
Holy cow, I've been waiting for a ranking the albums for Shrapnel Records as there was a lot of excellent music that came from that label and you guys both delivered, it was great to hear your choices. Keep up the good work guys and look forward to seeing you two again soon
Great prsenter combination, really nostalgic episode for those of us growing up along with labels like this. Racer x, Jason Becker, Paul Gilbert and so many more guitarists. Watching on Saturday morning 1st February.
Awesome show! Back in the day me and a coworker loved Edge of insanity so much we could, and did, sing along with the solos! To be fair, we did the same with albums like Casino, and even John Scofield’s Still Warm. Needless to say we both played guitar, ourselves.
1. Racer X: Second Heat 2. Vicious Rumors: Digital Dictator 3. Marty Friedman: Dragon's Kiss 4. Vinnie Moore: Mind's Eye 5. Jason Becker: Perpetual Burn 6. Michael Lee Firkins: S/T 7. Tony MacAlpine: Maximum Security 8. Greg Howe: Introspection 9. Ritchie Kotzen: Electric Joy 10. Kotzen, Howe: Tilt (I'm cheating a bit) Honorables: Greg Howe S/T only because I can't put two albums from the same artist
If I can only choose one per artist here goes. I may have missed one or two. I am mostly picking shred guitar albums and not actual bands. 1 Tony Macalpine - Edge of Insanity 2 Vinnie Moore - Mind's Eye 3 Greg Howe - debut 4 Jason Becker - Perpetual Burn 5 Michael Lee Firkins - Debut (local guy that I know) 6 Marty Friedman - Scenes 7 Johansson, Johansson & Holdsworth - Heavy Machinery 8 Chastain - Ruler of the Wasteland 9 Darren Housholder - debut 10 Joey Tafolla - Out of the Sun
My top 10 Shrapnel Albums Are : #1 Griffin - Flight of the Griffin #2 Chastain - Mystery of Illusion #3 The Rods - In the Raw #4 Vicious Rumors - Digital Dictators #5 Chastain - Ruler Of The Wasteland #6 Exciter - Heavy Metal Maniac #7 Le Mans - On The Streets ( RIP Derek Frigo ) #8 Hexx - Under The Spell #9 Joey Tofolla - Out of the Sun #10 Trauma - Scratch & Scream
That Tony macalpine album and Vinnie Moore's mind's eye, are my two favorite rock guitar instrumental albums from shrapnel... Check out David t chastain's instrumental variations, that's my third place but not on shrapnel
Great stuff. I quite selectively bought many of those albums - much as I like Friedman and Paul Gilbert, I didn't buy Cacophony or Racer X (I have streamed them more recently) - but I highly rate Mind's Eye, Tony McAlpine's Maximum Security, the first Greg Howe album (love how he's developed as more of a fusion player) and the Michael Lee Firkins. I guess they had to share bandwidth with the Yngwie albums, the Vai and Satriani I was buying around the same time.
Great show guys! They recorded a lot of those albums in Cotati up here in Northern California. I never knew where it was until I drove thru it on the way to that part of the coast one day.
You both smashed this discussion/ranking. This is a label I have been into for decades. I have the MARS, Cacophony, Greg Howe, Tony Macalpine, Marty Friedman, Jason Becker, Michael Lee Firkins and Vinnie Moore albums you mention. Unsure how I overlooked Darren Housholder. Will have to check him out. Thanks.
Dragon's Kiss - Jewel is one song that inspired me to play guitar, but Perpetual Burn is an album from another universe. As a duo, I thought Go Off was a much more mature album than their first album. Richie Kotzen probably deserves an honourable mention here.
10. Vitalij Kuprij - Extreme Measures 9. Crimeny - Peat 8. Greg Howe - Introspection 7. Tony Macalpine - Edge of Insanity 6. Hajis Kitchen - s/t 5. Jason Becker - Perpetual Burn 4. Eniac Requiem - Space Eternal Void 3. Artension - Phoenix Rising 2. Marty Friedman - Dragons Kiss 1. Apocrypha - The Eyes of Time I snoozed and forgot Joey Tafolla. He should have been 8th
Surprised neither of you had any Racer X on the list. I was glad to see George pull out the more obscure band stuff the label put out, like Crimeny and Haji’s Kitchen. Derek Taylor’s Double Ought Spool was another strange, interesting album from the label. As far as my favorites that you didn’t mention, I would have to include the first two Ron Thal albums, and John West’s second solo album, Permanent Mark. Jeff Kollman and Scott Stine just rip throughout and West sounds superb…very Glenn Hughes-like.
My top 10 would be very similar to Steven's. The Guitar Masters-album was my entry point into the world of Shrapnel as well. "Scenes" would be my Friedman-pick instead of Dragon's Kiss. As great as the debut is, "Scenes" the one I listen to most. Beautiful album! I'd replace two albums on Steven's list; Darren Housholder and MARS, but I can't decide who gets the empty slots. Chastain, Kotzen, Becker, Gilbert, Racer X..? Thanks to George for picking some stuff I haven't heard. I'm already listening to Crimeny. Sounds good so far, despite obviously copying Alice in Chains.
I'm not well-versed in shredder albums. I don't own any albums by any virtuoso guitarist, barring a few Malmsteen albums. That said, my emphasis is on song-based albums and there are a handful of Shrapnel releases that I really dig. 01) Dr Mastermind - Dr Mastermind (Corny concept by some ex-Wild Dogs personnel but INSANE musicianship and great metal songwriting. Sadly overlooked.) 02) Exciter - Heavy Metal Maniac (A stone cold classic. The only drawback is the production, which is paper thin) 03) Wild Dogs - Wild Dogs (Great songwriting. This band had potential but were short-lived) 04) Wild Dogs - Man's Best Friend 05) Keel - Lay Down The Law (A little tougher sounding than their major label debut, The Right To Rock.)
I really enjoy Chastain, maybe not A-tier stuff but definitely a solid B-tier with a lot of charm. Their pieces are always written as songs and they feel like a proprer "band". And Leather Leone is an awesome singer, love her she's a real badass. I agree that Macalpine is one of the best songwriters among those shredders (yet he can shred like nobody's business) Vicious Rumours is a band that floored me when I started digging into US Power Metal and a friemd recomended them. Such tight heavy riffing, it almost falls into technical Thrash! Total riff storm. With drum power to match. And excellent tunes. I've listened to that album many many times.
God, I love Shrapnel Records and the catalog! Have everything on this episode except Vicious Rumors. My only disappointment here is that neither George not Stephen chose a Racer X album. Kudos to George for listing the Derek Taylor and Haji stuff, but Racer X needed to make the list. IMO, of course.
Really enjoying this new variety on SoT! More content like this please. George and Steven together, talking about a niche label, Brilliant! Great job guys!
They are a great duo
That Cacophony album Steven mentioned has some of the most insane guitar playing i've ever heard.
Top label, top albums, top show! My top 10:
Racer X - Street Lethal
Fifth Angel - Fifth Angel
Vicious Rumors - Soldiers of the Night
Michael Lee Firkins - Michael Lee Firkins
MacAlpine, Aldridge, Rock, Sarzo - Project: Driver
Tony MacAlpine - Edge of Insanity
Jason Becker - Perpetual Burn
Joey Tafolla - Out of the Sun
Richie Kotzen - Fever Dream
Vinnie Moore - Mind's Eye
🤘😎 Rock'n'Ralf, Stuttgart/Germany
Fifth Angel was a great album
Top choices, danke
Damn. I didn’t see notification. I never miss you two guys live. But, I’m watching now. Thanks. GEORGE/. Steven 👍💯
Thanks guys great job!!
I love the various #SOT peeps doing shows like this. It's so nice. And call me a.big softie, but having Steven and George doing a show is like having two close pals over, chatting about the music we love. You guys really make me (and 'us' - hopefully) - feel like part of a family! Thanks for doing this guys ❤🎉❤🎉 #georgelamie #stevenreid #shrapnel #shrapnelrecords
Thanks for the kind words!
Excellent episode kudos gentleman. Cheers from The Captain 🍺
Shrapnel were one of my favourite record labels back in those days. I didn't know they went into the late 90s. I used to buy them from a local record/import store that imported obscure and extreme record labels (and had there own, Modern Invasion) and Shrapnel just kind of disappeared from the record racks as death metal took over. That compilation that Steve showed is excellent and I actually quite like the Dr. Mastermind track that Steve Doesn't.
Now let me say that Times Eye by Vinnie Moore is also my Favourite Shrapnel Album. Just Killer from start to finish. No weak tracks, Blazing Guitar everywhere and for a guitar album the keyboards by Tony MacAlpine are prominent and superb. For me, This is as near a perfect album that exists, the central 4 songs (last 2 side A, first 2 side B) are unparalleled.
I saw Vinnie in "concert" at the Corner Hotel in Richmond - Melbourne (if my memory serves). And I think he played to backing tracks (such a long time ago) as he was actually on a guitar clinic tour and not a concert tour. He stopped for a very short Q&A, as like I said it was a supposed to be a guitar clinic. Now Vinnie at the time was one of those big haired guys, so when he asked for questions, someone shouted "What hair spray do you use". It was quite funny, the local metal scene (myself included) tended to be long, straight hair, no products to be seen.
Thanks Guys, for the good memories about Shrapnel Records.
2 of the best on SoT!!!
Mark Varney, Shrapnel. I remember his column in Guitar Player Magazine. You know I love my guitar players…thank you both!!!
You can’t go wrong with Greg Howe…he’s amazing!
I loved shrapnel records.
1) Racer X. Second Heat
2) Steeler s/t
3) Le Mans. On the Streets
4) Hawaii. One Nation Underground
5) Culprit. Guilty as Charged
Holy cow, I've been waiting for a ranking the albums for Shrapnel Records as there was a lot of excellent music that came from that label and you guys both delivered, it was great to hear your choices. Keep up the good work guys and look forward to seeing you two again soon
Great prsenter combination, really nostalgic episode for those of us growing up along with labels like this. Racer x, Jason Becker, Paul Gilbert and so many more guitarists. Watching on Saturday morning 1st February.
Awesome show! Back in the day me and a coworker loved Edge of insanity so much we could, and did, sing along with the solos! To be fair, we did the same with albums like Casino, and even John Scofield’s Still Warm.
Needless to say we both played guitar, ourselves.
Great vid! We have some new hidden gems to investigate.
1. Racer X: Second Heat
2. Vicious Rumors: Digital Dictator
3. Marty Friedman: Dragon's Kiss
4. Vinnie Moore: Mind's Eye
5. Jason Becker: Perpetual Burn
6. Michael Lee Firkins: S/T
7. Tony MacAlpine: Maximum Security
8. Greg Howe: Introspection
9. Ritchie Kotzen: Electric Joy
10. Kotzen, Howe: Tilt (I'm cheating a bit)
Honorables: Greg Howe S/T only because I can't put two albums from the same artist
Nice list
If I can only choose one per artist here goes. I may have missed one or two. I am mostly picking shred guitar albums and not actual bands.
1 Tony Macalpine - Edge of Insanity
2 Vinnie Moore - Mind's Eye
3 Greg Howe - debut
4 Jason Becker - Perpetual Burn
5 Michael Lee Firkins - Debut (local guy that I know)
6 Marty Friedman - Scenes
7 Johansson, Johansson & Holdsworth - Heavy Machinery
8 Chastain - Ruler of the Wasteland
9 Darren Housholder - debut
10 Joey Tafolla - Out of the Sun
My top 10 Shrapnel Albums Are :
#1 Griffin - Flight of the Griffin
#2 Chastain - Mystery of Illusion
#3 The Rods - In the Raw
#4 Vicious Rumors - Digital Dictators
#5 Chastain - Ruler Of The Wasteland
#6 Exciter - Heavy Metal Maniac
#7 Le Mans - On The Streets ( RIP Derek Frigo )
#8 Hexx - Under The Spell
#9 Joey Tofolla - Out of the Sun
#10 Trauma - Scratch & Scream
Bro - LeMans is a killer album.
Steven and George know😊
Mike Varney was instrumental in launching the careers of many incredible musicians. Nice of you to pay tribute!
I LOVE Tony Macalpines Edge of Insanity! Such memorable melodies. Great video guys!
That Tony macalpine album and Vinnie Moore's mind's eye, are my two favorite rock guitar instrumental albums from shrapnel... Check out David t chastain's instrumental variations, that's my third place but not on shrapnel
@@ronaldsmith1484The 2nd albums by Moore and MacAlpine were better than the debuts but they were not released by Shrapnel.
Great episode. A new Dynamic Duo in the makings here! This brings back ton of memories from those days
Tony MacAlpine's "Edge of Insanity" is awesome. I have the cover with the stilettos and the two scary grabbing right hands...
Great stuff. I quite selectively bought many of those albums - much as I like Friedman and Paul Gilbert, I didn't buy Cacophony or Racer X (I have streamed them more recently) - but I highly rate Mind's Eye, Tony McAlpine's Maximum Security, the first Greg Howe album (love how he's developed as more of a fusion player) and the Michael Lee Firkins. I guess they had to share bandwidth with the Yngwie albums, the Vai and Satriani I was buying around the same time.
I´m glad to see Michael Lee Firkins here, such a great player. "Rain in the tunnel" and "The Sargasso Sea" are such beauts!
Dude, Rain In The Tunnel might be the best song ever released on the label. Great job!
Great show guys! They recorded a lot of those albums in Cotati up here in Northern California. I never knew where it was until I drove thru it on the way to that part of the coast one day.
That's right! Prarie Sun Studios
@georgelamie7001 I always thought it was in SoCal for some reason
Oh wow... great idea! I had my time with records like this
You both smashed this discussion/ranking. This is a label I have been into for decades. I have the MARS, Cacophony, Greg Howe, Tony Macalpine, Marty Friedman, Jason Becker, Michael Lee Firkins and Vinnie Moore albums you mention. Unsure how I overlooked Darren Housholder. Will have to check him out. Thanks.
"Hexx" -"No Escape" is my favorite.
Stephen is immensely popular listen to Uncle Simon!
Great show guys great topic
Good show boys 👏👏
Thanks, kid!
Great show you two! I knew of a few, but lots of homework for me. Sorry for not being around for the priemere, never got a YT notification.
No sweat! Thanks for catching up
I gotta check out that Apocrypha album. Many of these artists passed me by back in the day. Its great to revisit music from my youth.
This was interesting thanks guys.
Nice video.😄👍
Would love to see a guitar instrumental Top 10
Me too!
Great stuff! I was thinking that Guy Mann-Dude was on Shrapnel, but he was actually on MCA!
Dragon's Kiss - Jewel is one song that inspired me to play guitar, but Perpetual Burn is an album from another universe. As a duo, I thought Go Off was a much more mature album than their first album. Richie Kotzen probably deserves an honourable mention here.
I'm with you on Go Off! being the better Cacophony
No Ritchie kotzen? Though his debut was pretty good third one to 😊
I have Electric Joy and Inner Galactic Fusion Experience, and like em both pretty well
10. Vitalij Kuprij - Extreme Measures
9. Crimeny - Peat
8. Greg Howe - Introspection
7. Tony Macalpine - Edge of Insanity
6. Hajis Kitchen - s/t
5. Jason Becker - Perpetual Burn
4. Eniac Requiem - Space Eternal Void
3. Artension - Phoenix Rising
2. Marty Friedman - Dragons Kiss
1. Apocrypha - The Eyes of Time
I snoozed and forgot Joey Tafolla. He should have been 8th
I have to look at my artension stuff love that band
Surprised neither of you had any Racer X on the list. I was glad to see George pull out the more obscure band stuff the label put out, like Crimeny and Haji’s Kitchen. Derek Taylor’s Double Ought Spool was another strange, interesting album from the label.
As far as my favorites that you didn’t mention, I would have to include the first two Ron Thal albums, and John West’s second solo album, Permanent Mark. Jeff Kollman and Scott Stine just rip throughout and West sounds superb…very Glenn Hughes-like.
I love Permanant Mark! That, and the Thal debut were near misses for me
My top 10 would be very similar to Steven's. The Guitar Masters-album was my entry point into the world of Shrapnel as well.
"Scenes" would be my Friedman-pick instead of Dragon's Kiss. As great as the debut is, "Scenes" the one I listen to most. Beautiful album!
I'd replace two albums on Steven's list; Darren Housholder and MARS, but I can't decide who gets the empty slots. Chastain, Kotzen, Becker, Gilbert, Racer X..?
Thanks to George for picking some stuff I haven't heard. I'm already listening to Crimeny. Sounds good so far, despite obviously copying Alice in Chains.
I'm not well-versed in shredder albums. I don't own any albums by any virtuoso guitarist, barring a few Malmsteen albums. That said, my emphasis is on song-based albums and there are a handful of Shrapnel releases that I really dig.
01) Dr Mastermind - Dr Mastermind (Corny concept by some ex-Wild Dogs personnel but INSANE musicianship and great metal songwriting. Sadly overlooked.)
02) Exciter - Heavy Metal Maniac (A stone cold classic. The only drawback is the production, which is paper thin)
03) Wild Dogs - Wild Dogs (Great songwriting. This band had potential but were short-lived)
04) Wild Dogs - Man's Best Friend
05) Keel - Lay Down The Law (A little tougher sounding than their major label debut, The Right To Rock.)
I really enjoy Chastain, maybe not A-tier stuff but definitely a solid B-tier with a lot of charm. Their pieces are always written as songs and they feel like a proprer "band". And Leather Leone is an awesome singer, love her she's a real badass.
I agree that Macalpine is one of the best songwriters among those shredders (yet he can shred like nobody's business)
Vicious Rumours is a band that floored me when I started digging into US Power Metal and a friemd recomended them. Such tight heavy riffing, it almost falls into technical Thrash! Total riff storm. With drum power to match. And excellent tunes. I've listened to that album many many times.
I really like Chastain too, but I think his best stuff was after he left Shrapnel and made his own label, Leviathan
I've never heard of that record company.
God, I love Shrapnel Records and the catalog! Have everything on this episode except Vicious Rumors.
My only disappointment here is that neither George not Stephen chose a Racer X album. Kudos to George for listing the Derek Taylor and Haji stuff, but Racer X needed to make the list. IMO, of course.
Ridiculously good guitar playing, but neither the songs nor the vocals ever reached me.
MacAlpines 2nd album Maximum Security is even better.
The guitar solo at the end of hero without honor from Vinnie Moore's album is superb
Tony mcalpine's first album and Vinny Moore's first album are my two favorite.... Mind's eye is the better of the two!