I just have one thing to say about this performance, a warning: the lick at 1:37 may cause face-melting.
For a Monday afternoon insanity break, here's a video I just discovered at YouTube, featuring Stevie Ray Vaughan at his legend-making best in a July 1988 concert in Denmark. You know the song, I'm sure; this ranks among the best recorded versions.
Music, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Blues, Jimi Hendrix, Denmark, Electric Guitar
Performing on the German TV show Rockpalast, the great Joe Bonamassa tears the roof off the sucker with a classic B.B. King blues tune, "You Upset Me Baby." This is also on the album Blues Deluxe.
This long-forgotten video of Britain's Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band performing their classic love song "Canyons of Your Mind" features what may be the most technically astounding guitar solo ever recorded. Savor it like a 43-year old Cabernet.
After a week like this, it's time to shred. Joe Satriani obliges with "Flying in a Blue Dream," live at The Grove in Anaheim.
Here's one of the late Chris Whitley's greatest songs, a chaotic masterpiece of driving rhythms and strange, twisted guitar playing titled "O God My Heart Is Ready." It's from Din of Ecstasy, a vastly underrated album that seems to be out of print. [Video]
Tonight's musical interlude features the kind of performance that traumatizes guitar players: Paul Gilbert doing "Will My Screen Door Stop Neptune" from his new album Fuzz Universe. The guitar solo in this one is a jaw-dropping example of Shreddus Maximus. Listening to it may cause permanent alterations to your genome. [Video]
Here’s a track from Steve Vai’s live concert DVD Where the Wild Things Are, titled “Now We Run,” featuring Steve trading licks with two excellent violinists. [Video]
Here’s a really talented guitar player you probably never heard of, Steffen Schackinger, with a tune called “ElectriGuitartistry.” [Vid eo]
Here’s some totally sick shredding on a power trio version of an Irish reel, by John Petrucci of Dream Theater. This tune is on John’s solo album Suspended Animation. (And it’s actually musically interesting too.) [Video]
He revolutionized music with his invention of multitrack recording, gave the world a classic electric guitar that still bears his name, and was a hell of a guitar player himself. Today Les Paul has died at the age of 94, of complications from pneumonia. [Video]
Brazilian guitarist Kiko Loureiro can shred with the best of ‘em, as he proves in this video of the tune “Enfermo,” from the album No Gravity. [Video]
Live at The Grove in Anaheim, a classic Joe Satriani barn-burner in a clip from the DVD Satriani Live! [Video]
Hey, it’s Friday afternoon — time for some Buckethead! [Video]
Music, Buckethead, Primus, Les Claypool, Weird, Electric Guitar, Video
Steve Vai shreds the living heck out of the tune “Juice,” from the album Alien Love Secrets. [Video]
While we wait for more developments in Iran, here’s some music from Joe Satriani: “Summer Song,” originally from the album The Extremist. [Video]
Totally sick shreddage from Paul Gilbert and band, live in the studio with their astronaut suits. [Video]
Mind-melting technique from Paul Gilbert in his astronaut suit and headphones, recorded live in Paris in 2007. The tune is “The Curse of Castle Dragon,” from his album Get Out of My Yard. (Hit the HQ button for much better audio and video.) [Video]
Looks like Andy’s playing live in a studio with a backing track; the tune is “Carpe Diem,” from That Was Then, This Is Now. This guy is a monster. [Video]