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Shredders!: The Oral History Of Speed Guitar
"How fast can you play?"
"What guitar do you have?"
"Who is better, Eddie Van Halen or Steve Vai?"
For metal fans in the 80s, these were common and important questions. Tune in to MTV, pick up a magazine, or walk into an instrument store, and more often than not you'd be exposed to what is now known as shredding - the fast, virtuoso soloing popularized by musicians like Vai and Van Halen, Joe Satriani and Yngwie Malmsteen, Randy Rhoads and Dimebag Darrell. Inspired by these pioneering guitarists, thousands of young musicians would spend hours at home in their bedrooms, perfecting both their playing and their poses.
Though shredding fell out of favor during the grunge/alternative rock era, it has become increasingly popular again in recent years, spurred by the rise in popularity of bands like Children Of Bodom, DragonForce, and Trivium. Drawing on more than 70 exclusive interviews with key shredders past and present, author and guitarist Greg Prato has assembled the definitive guide to the fastest players of them all.
"What guitar do you have?"
"Who is better, Eddie Van Halen or Steve Vai?"
For metal fans in the 80s, these were common and important questions. Tune in to MTV, pick up a magazine, or walk into an instrument store, and more often than not you'd be exposed to what is now known as shredding - the fast, virtuoso soloing popularized by musicians like Vai and Van Halen, Joe Satriani and Yngwie Malmsteen, Randy Rhoads and Dimebag Darrell. Inspired by these pioneering guitarists, thousands of young musicians would spend hours at home in their bedrooms, perfecting both their playing and their poses.
Though shredding fell out of favor during the grunge/alternative rock era, it has become increasingly popular again in recent years, spurred by the rise in popularity of bands like Children Of Bodom, DragonForce, and Trivium. Drawing on more than 70 exclusive interviews with key shredders past and present, author and guitarist Greg Prato has assembled the definitive guide to the fastest players of them all.
- GenresMusic
400 pages, Paperback
Published March 14, 2017
7 people are currently reading
276 people want to read
About the author
Greg Prato
67 books79 followersGreg Prato is a Long Island, New York-based journalist, whose writing has appeared in such renowned publications as Rolling Stone. He is the author of several popular books, 'A Devil on One Shoulder and an Angel on the Other: The Story of Shannon Hoon and Blind Melon,' 'Touched by Magic: The Tommy Bolin Story,' 'Grunge Is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music, 'No Schlock . . . Just Rock!,' 'The Eric Carr Story,' 'MTV Ruled the World: The Early Years of Music Video,' 'Sack Exchange: The Definitive Oral History of the 1980s New York Jets,' 'Too High to Die: Meet the Meat Puppets,' 'Dynasty: The Oral History of the New York Islanders, 1972-1984,' and 'The Faith No More & Mr. Bungle Companion.'
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 22, 2019
This is absolutely one of those instances where I wish the ratings system would allow for half stars, as I would definitely mark this as a 4.5 star read. I have a few minor complaints that won't allow me to rate it a straight 5, but there it is.
First off, I am sucker for great presentation in a book, and I was surprised by how cool this book looks and feels. It has French flaps and very heavy paper, making it a much higher quality book than I expected when I ordered it. Kudos to Jawbone Press for taking the time and effort to make this a lovely edition.
Second off, I an a HUGE music fan. My tastes span the gamut from classic rock to hardcore punk. I swing with jazz, I adore Americana, I can metal it up with anybody. I even have a fair amount of hip-hop in my massive music collection. As a big music fan I am always on the lookout for good bios and histories of music and musicians. This book fit the bill to slake my thirst for more knowledge of a decade that seems to have lost a bit of luster in hindsight. The 80s were certainly a decade of excess and overindulgence, and you can get a feel for that by reading this book.
So if you were a music and MTV fan in the 1980s then you are probably familiar with the term "shred." The term was ubiquitous and was typically used to denote a guitarist with amazingly fast chops. It was often used as a compliment, though over time it became somewhat derogatory, often used to categorize players who had great technical skills but no "groove" or "soul" in their repertoire. The transition from 70s-era guitar heroes like Jimmy Page and Tony Iommi was sharp indeed, and can be traced to the first Van Halen album, released in 1978. Eddie Van Halen revolutionized rock guitar in a way that no other player had since Jimi Hendrix. This book starts there, with Eddie as the Godfather of Shred, his reinterpretation of what a guitar could do in the context of rock spawning a multitude of imitators.
From Eddie, we move to Randy Rhoads, the Ozzy Osbourne sideman who introduced classical elements to heavy metal guitar in an age where most players were still trading off of standard blues progressions. Then you get Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen, two guys who practically defined the term "shred" with their faster than light fingering and scaling. You get a TON of great information here from the players who were integral to the metal scene in the 80s. You get a chapter on bass shredders, you get a GREAT section on Shrapnel Records, the premier label for aspiring shredders run by Mike Varney, who comes across as some kind of "shredder savant," pulling guys in to make records of off the strength of a lightning fast demo tape.
You see the apex of the shredder scene in the mid-to late 80s, and the inevitable decline in shredder's fortunes as the grunge scene and the new focus on lyrical content and song craftsmanship pretty much killed off the virtuoso guitar player for the better part of 15 years of rock history. But of course, music is a cyclical thing, and we are now in an era where guitar is back into an extended role in rock music. There is a ton of great information and history to be had here, along with a couple of small photo sections.
So as for my minor gripes.....WAY too many typos in the text. Needed a better proofreader and less reliance on spellcheck. And of course as a music nerd I can't resist the urge to wonder at all the players who were left OUT of the text. I appreciated the focus on some of the lesser known purveyors of the craft, but the omission of so many high-profile shredders weakens the text somewhat. Mick Mars gets only a passing reference? Really? No Vita Bratta? No Chuck Schuldiner? Criminal!!
Still, though, this is a fantastic book if you have any interest in the subject matter. I came of age in the 70s and 80s, the two golden eras for guitar histrionics. I will tell you that this book expanded my knowledge and made me head to YouTube to research some of the players and bands found within these pages. Never too late to learn new things about a decade that I thought I had down pat as far as hard rock and metal went. That alone makes this a worthy addition to my library.
First off, I am sucker for great presentation in a book, and I was surprised by how cool this book looks and feels. It has French flaps and very heavy paper, making it a much higher quality book than I expected when I ordered it. Kudos to Jawbone Press for taking the time and effort to make this a lovely edition.
Second off, I an a HUGE music fan. My tastes span the gamut from classic rock to hardcore punk. I swing with jazz, I adore Americana, I can metal it up with anybody. I even have a fair amount of hip-hop in my massive music collection. As a big music fan I am always on the lookout for good bios and histories of music and musicians. This book fit the bill to slake my thirst for more knowledge of a decade that seems to have lost a bit of luster in hindsight. The 80s were certainly a decade of excess and overindulgence, and you can get a feel for that by reading this book.
So if you were a music and MTV fan in the 1980s then you are probably familiar with the term "shred." The term was ubiquitous and was typically used to denote a guitarist with amazingly fast chops. It was often used as a compliment, though over time it became somewhat derogatory, often used to categorize players who had great technical skills but no "groove" or "soul" in their repertoire. The transition from 70s-era guitar heroes like Jimmy Page and Tony Iommi was sharp indeed, and can be traced to the first Van Halen album, released in 1978. Eddie Van Halen revolutionized rock guitar in a way that no other player had since Jimi Hendrix. This book starts there, with Eddie as the Godfather of Shred, his reinterpretation of what a guitar could do in the context of rock spawning a multitude of imitators.
From Eddie, we move to Randy Rhoads, the Ozzy Osbourne sideman who introduced classical elements to heavy metal guitar in an age where most players were still trading off of standard blues progressions. Then you get Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen, two guys who practically defined the term "shred" with their faster than light fingering and scaling. You get a TON of great information here from the players who were integral to the metal scene in the 80s. You get a chapter on bass shredders, you get a GREAT section on Shrapnel Records, the premier label for aspiring shredders run by Mike Varney, who comes across as some kind of "shredder savant," pulling guys in to make records of off the strength of a lightning fast demo tape.
You see the apex of the shredder scene in the mid-to late 80s, and the inevitable decline in shredder's fortunes as the grunge scene and the new focus on lyrical content and song craftsmanship pretty much killed off the virtuoso guitar player for the better part of 15 years of rock history. But of course, music is a cyclical thing, and we are now in an era where guitar is back into an extended role in rock music. There is a ton of great information and history to be had here, along with a couple of small photo sections.
So as for my minor gripes.....WAY too many typos in the text. Needed a better proofreader and less reliance on spellcheck. And of course as a music nerd I can't resist the urge to wonder at all the players who were left OUT of the text. I appreciated the focus on some of the lesser known purveyors of the craft, but the omission of so many high-profile shredders weakens the text somewhat. Mick Mars gets only a passing reference? Really? No Vita Bratta? No Chuck Schuldiner? Criminal!!
Still, though, this is a fantastic book if you have any interest in the subject matter. I came of age in the 70s and 80s, the two golden eras for guitar histrionics. I will tell you that this book expanded my knowledge and made me head to YouTube to research some of the players and bands found within these pages. Never too late to learn new things about a decade that I thought I had down pat as far as hard rock and metal went. That alone makes this a worthy addition to my library.
April 21, 2024
Entertaining read sprinkled with interviews with some of my favorite musicians. Be aware that this book isn't for a casual music fan. This caters to a niche segment of fans of a rapid machine gun guitar style known as "shredding." If that's not your thing then move on.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 21, 2019
Great content, bad editing.
July 7, 2017
Loved it! It's really thorough, covering all aspects of metal and hard-rock guitar. The number of guitar players interviewed is pretty impressive!
July 11, 2017
Imagine being in a queue three hours before the doors open at either a G3 or a Malmsteen gig. Imagine also that your gig buddies in that queue are the likes of say, Mike Varney (Shrapnel Records founder), Jason Becker, Steve Stevens, Vinnie Moore, Jennifer Batten and Jas Obrecht (Guitar Player magazine editor). What would you be talking about to kill time? Shred of course! This is exactly what "Shredders!: The Oral History of Speed Guitar" feels like: a conversation among like-minded people passionate about an esoteric subject of which you happen to be a silent witness.
"Shredding" in musical circles refers to the ability to play an instrument, in this case, the guitar, at high speed and with surgical precision. This is the general consensus albeit playing fast all the time is not a prerequisite.
In Greg Prato's distinctive "writing" style, he has collated interviews from an impressive and diverse array of guitar players, bass players, guitar magazine editors and columnists on the subject at hand. The interviews have been spliced and organised by chapters to flow into one coherent whole that covers the whole spectrum of the Shred world.
The book delves in depth and in considerable detail on the subject by looking at Rock and Metal in the pre-Shred era; dissecting the works of the trail blazers (Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, Yngwie Malmsteen, etc) and standard bearers (Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, etc) of Shred; analysing various techniques and methods of practice; discussing guitar magazines, tabs, tools of the trade, instructional videos and stores that have been instrumental in the growth of the Shred movement. Notable institutions such as Shrapnel Records, the home of Shred, Guitar Institute of Technology (GIT) and North American Music Merchants (NAMM) are all discussed at length.
Finally, Greg Prato wraps it up by looking at the end of the movement, how it has survived in the modern day and queries stand out guitar players of various eras about their own favourite compositions.
"Shredders!: The Oral History of Speed Guitar" is an engrossing book that will appeal to guitar players, pique the interest of fans of the genre and enlighten music history buffs.
The only shortcoming of this compendium is the lack of a non exhaustive nomenclature of recommended albums to listen to. Whilst this might end up being a subjective exercise, it would at least provide the uninitiated a starting point. To attend to this oversight, I have included, in no particular order, my own list of favourite Shred albums below:
- Van Halen - I
- Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard Of Ozz (and Diary Of A Madman)
- Yngwie Malmsteen - Rising Force
- Vinnie Vincent Invasion - S/T (and All Systems Go)
- Steve Vai - Passion and Warfare
- Joe Satriani - Surfing With The Alien
- Michael Angelo - No Boundaries
- Vinnie Moore - Mind's Eye ( and every other VM album really)
- Mark Wood - Voodoo Violince
- Shaun Baxter - Jazz Metal
- Michael Lee Firkins - S/T
- CPR - Coven Pitrelli Reilly
- Lanny Cordola - Electric Warrior Acoustic Saint
- Guy Mann-Dude - Sleight Of Hand
- Ethan Brosh - Out Of Oblivion
- Bruce Bouillet - The Order Of Control
"Shredding" in musical circles refers to the ability to play an instrument, in this case, the guitar, at high speed and with surgical precision. This is the general consensus albeit playing fast all the time is not a prerequisite.
In Greg Prato's distinctive "writing" style, he has collated interviews from an impressive and diverse array of guitar players, bass players, guitar magazine editors and columnists on the subject at hand. The interviews have been spliced and organised by chapters to flow into one coherent whole that covers the whole spectrum of the Shred world.
The book delves in depth and in considerable detail on the subject by looking at Rock and Metal in the pre-Shred era; dissecting the works of the trail blazers (Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, Yngwie Malmsteen, etc) and standard bearers (Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, etc) of Shred; analysing various techniques and methods of practice; discussing guitar magazines, tabs, tools of the trade, instructional videos and stores that have been instrumental in the growth of the Shred movement. Notable institutions such as Shrapnel Records, the home of Shred, Guitar Institute of Technology (GIT) and North American Music Merchants (NAMM) are all discussed at length.
Finally, Greg Prato wraps it up by looking at the end of the movement, how it has survived in the modern day and queries stand out guitar players of various eras about their own favourite compositions.
"Shredders!: The Oral History of Speed Guitar" is an engrossing book that will appeal to guitar players, pique the interest of fans of the genre and enlighten music history buffs.
The only shortcoming of this compendium is the lack of a non exhaustive nomenclature of recommended albums to listen to. Whilst this might end up being a subjective exercise, it would at least provide the uninitiated a starting point. To attend to this oversight, I have included, in no particular order, my own list of favourite Shred albums below:
- Van Halen - I
- Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard Of Ozz (and Diary Of A Madman)
- Yngwie Malmsteen - Rising Force
- Vinnie Vincent Invasion - S/T (and All Systems Go)
- Steve Vai - Passion and Warfare
- Joe Satriani - Surfing With The Alien
- Michael Angelo - No Boundaries
- Vinnie Moore - Mind's Eye ( and every other VM album really)
- Mark Wood - Voodoo Violince
- Shaun Baxter - Jazz Metal
- Michael Lee Firkins - S/T
- CPR - Coven Pitrelli Reilly
- Lanny Cordola - Electric Warrior Acoustic Saint
- Guy Mann-Dude - Sleight Of Hand
- Ethan Brosh - Out Of Oblivion
- Bruce Bouillet - The Order Of Control
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews