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So what other Monsters flew under the Radar in the 80's?


STEEL KAGE

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Amir Derakh from Rough Cutt. Harry Cody for sure...I still listen to their 2nd album.

Speaking of Billy White, he was discussed on another thread so I went back and listened to him on the Dokken album and damn...what a player. Of course I had to fast forward through the songs to get to the solos but he could rip. That guy is MIA bigtime. Where are you Billy White.

Kee Marcello as well...yeah he was a little more known because of Europe but his solos were tasty.

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Originally posted by JLeurck


Here's an odd duck kind of thing from the 80s that I really dug, but mostly for the songwriting....anyone remember The Jon Butcher Axis?

 

 

I have an album of his that I love to death.

 

I aways thought Uli Jon Rith slid under the radar for a lot of people, especially the later stuff.

 

...and +1 for Ian Critchon. Great player. I was always a huge fan of Chris Rainbow from Alan Parson's Project. Not a technique moster, but such taste!

 

Akira Takasaki from Loudness was a freaking moster as well. Some of his stuff was very 80's EVH/YJM derivative, but he added some jazz and prog flourishes that I really dug. I loved that band - still do.

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Originally posted by Electric I




Check out Saga's Catwalk (Unabridged).


Ian stretches out for like 10mins +.


And yeah, he definitely shoulda put out a solo thing...

 

 

Are you talking about the version on the live album? That dude's strat tone is flippin' LARGE for using single coils. Great picking technique, too. Some of their songs I'm not totally crazy about, but those arrangements are tricky as hell, and those unison guitar/synth lead lines are crazy and do NOT fall easily under the fingers:mad: Ian Crighton is a badass, for sure!

 

The Jon Butcher Axis stuff I discovered when I was stationed in Germany from 83 to 86. I'm not sure if he got a lot of airplay here in the States, but the dude is a very good (maybe not 'great') guitar player, great writer and terriffic singer from the Boston area. The albums I'm thinking about are the self-titled one and another called "Stare At The Sun". Damn, I wore those out.

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Noone outside of probably Dave Owens will know this name, but {censored}ing Mark Sutton baby from The Rings. A fellow Berklee guy, he could seriously RIP with nothing but a les paul straight into a JMP 100wt marshall half stack!

The Rings were supposed to be the next biggest thing out of Boston since The Cars. A damn shame it never happened. :(

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Andy Timmons - Danger Danger in the '80s, now does solo work and also musical director for Olivia Newton John! Rippin' player.

Greg Howe - Shrapnel guy in the 80's, has played as sideman for Micheal Jackson, Enrique Iglesias, and Backstreet Boys. Lately did a killer fusion album called Extraction with Victor Wooten and Dennis Chambers. Great player, one of the most "fusiony" shrapnel guys.

Dann Huff - A million LA sessions, everything from Whitesnake to Boz Scaggs to Paula Abdul, and then the band Giant in the late '80s. Later moved to Nashville and scaled to the top of that scene as a session guitarist. He is now a producer in Nashville with albums by She-Daisy, Billy Ray Cyrus, Megadeth, and Keith Urban in his production resume. The first 2 Giant albums probably contain my all-time-favorite "melodic hard rock" guitar works.

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Good calls so far! (esp TT Quick) --- I have a bud whos doing me a huuuuge favor and burning me alot of 80's/90's metal that i missed! I got some CD's from "Ruff Cutt, XYZ, GotHard, Dirty Looks", alot of really good {censored}!

How about Mick Sweda from the Bulletboys? Seriously! I just got the CD about 4 months ago and was blown away from the Freakshow CD! --- dont walk, run grab that CD & plug that bitch in and let her rippp! :thu:

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Originally posted by BerkleeBill

Noone outside of probably Dave Owens will know this name, but {censored}ing Mark Sutton baby from The Rings. A fellow Berklee guy, he could seriously RIP with nothing but a les paul straight into a JMP 100wt marshall half stack!


The Rings were supposed to be the next biggest thing out of Boston since The Cars. A damn shame it never happened.
:(




HA>!!!.. I forgot about them...jesus-h-..lol..yep.they played at my High School.( Frammingham South )..they were the {censored} at one time...
I dont remember the guys name..but I knew the band...I think they even played Timothy's Too..( that was about 3-5 miles from my house )..
I dont know if they played the Red Barn in Ashland..But I do rememeber when Aerosmith played Westboro Speedway..that was inbetween there 1-2 album...

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I saw alot of guys in LA in the 80's that coulda, woulda, shoulda.

Up until that fairly recent Dio album, Doug Aldrich flew under the radar for way too long. I saw him with Lion, Hurricane and Bad Moon Rising numerous times, and his tone and playing were just as good 19 years ago as they are now.

As Kage mentioned, Steve McKnight from Cry Wolf was very bad ass.

Kurt James, who replaced Yngwie in Steeler was pretty damn scary.

There was a guy named David Scott who played in a Florida band called Tuff Luck that was a very cool player.

I was always partial to Derek Frigo and Josh Ramos from LeMans. They were local Chicago heroes when I was growing up there before moving to LA. That first LeMans album, "On the Streets" had some sick playing on it. I loved it!

When I saw Icon live at the Country Club in LA, I was freaked to see that John Aquilino played almost all of the really cool lead sections that I liked. I suspected Dan Wexler played them, but no, Aquilino was the man! And for crying out loud, Icons tone was just ridiculously cool for it's time. Aquilino looked so cool on stage too. Like a little witch with a star bodied Charvel.

Amir from Rough Cutt was one of those players that when you saw him play, what he was playing was harder than it sounded.

There was also a guy named Mike Szuter who played in a band from Ohio called Outta the Blue. They sounded like the Beatles meets Van Halen, meets Kings X meets Enuff Z'Nuff meets Jellyfish. That guy was sick and wrote the best pop metal tunes ever. We used to see them when they travelled out to LA. They always played a different Racer X tune live too. They'd do these total power pop/metal tunes with killer leads and incredible harmonies, and then..... they would play "Motor Man" by Racer X and Mike and his brother who sang lead would play the Racer X harmony guitar solos to a tee.

One time I saw them at the club that became known as the Viper Room and Paul Gilbert and Russ Parrish were sitting at the table with my drummer and I. They hadn't ever seen Outta the Blue, but had heard of them. Outta the Blue kicked so much ass that night and Mike ran over during a solo and jumped on our table and ripped a solo right in front of Gilbert and Russ. Talk about having cajones, huh?

If you think those guys weren't impressed by Mike, look at this. Russ Parrish quit Rob Halford's band Fight to join Outta the Blue. Paul Gilbert went off on a solo career writing power pop/metal tunes and guess who he still works with, 15 years later? Mike Szuter, and Mike plays guitar or bass for him in his touring band. Paul produced an album for Outta the Blue when they were called the Szuters etc. etc

Sorry...... that's all I got for now:rolleyes: :D

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