Greg Howe is the first studio album by guitarist Greg Howe, released in 1988 by Shrapnel Records. Prior to its recording, Howe had sent a demo tape to Shrapnel founder Mike Varney in 1987, after which he was signed to the label.
Camper Van Beethoven is an American rock band formed in Redlands, California in 1983, later based in Santa Cruz and San Francisco. Their style mixes elements of pop, ska, punk, folk, alternative, country, and world music, amongst other genres. The band initially polarized audiences within the hardcore punk scene of California's Inland Empire and then found wider acceptance and, eventually, an international audience. Their strong iconoclasm and emphasis on do-it-yourself values proved influential to the burgeoning indie rock movement.
Key Lime Pie is a 1989 album by Camper Van Beethoven (CVB). It was the band's final album before breaking up in 1990, although the band has reunited and released new material in recent years. It was produced by Dennis Herring, who had also produced the band's previous album, Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart.
Sharon Isbin is a classical guitarist and the founding director of the guitar department at the Juilliard School.
Rising Force is the first studio album by guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen, released in late 1984 through Polydor Records. This was originally planned as an instrumental side-project of his then-current band Alcatrazz, but due to singer Jeff Scott Soto's appearance on the album, Malmsteen opted to release it as a solo album. It reached No. 14 on the Swedish albums chart and No. 60 on the US Billboard 200, and received a nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the 1986 Grammy Awards. The album is regarded as a landmark release in the shred and neoclassical metal genres.
"Flight of the Bumblebee" is an orchestral interlude written by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908) for his opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan, composed in 1899–1900. Its composition is intended to musically evoke the seemingly chaotic and rapidly changing flying pattern of a bumblebee. Despite the piece's being a rather incidental part of the opera, it is today one of the more familiar classical works because of its frequent use in popular culture.
John Peter Petrucci is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. He produced or co-produced all of Dream Theater's albums from Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (1999) to A View from the Top of the World (2021), and has been the sole producer of the band's albums released since A Dramatic Turn of Events (2011). Petrucci has also released two solo albums: Suspended Animation (2005) and Terminal Velocity (2020).
Herman Li is a Hong Kong-born British musician who is one of two lead guitarists for the power metal band DragonForce. Li has played with the band based in England since it was formed in 1999 by Li along with Sam Totman, both of whom are also the remaining original members of the band. Before DragonForce he was in the black metal band Demoniac.
Michael Angelo Batio, also known as Michael Angelo, Mike Batio or MAB, is an American heavy metal guitarist and columnist. He was the lead guitarist for the glam metal band Nitro in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He is currently serving as the touring guitarist for the band Manowar.
Michael James Romeo is an American musician, best known as the guitarist and founding member of the progressive metal group Symphony X. He is one of two members to appear on every Symphony X release.
Shred guitar or shredding is a virtuoso style of playing the electric guitar, based on various advanced and complex playing techniques, particularly rapid passages and advanced performance effects. Shred guitar includes fast alternate picking, sweep-picked arpeggios, diminished and harmonic scales, finger-tapping and whammy bar use. It is commonly used in heavy metal, where guitarists use the electric guitar with a guitar amplifier and a range of electronic effects such as distortion, which create a more sustained guitar tone and facilitate guitar feedback effects.
Viper is a Brazilian heavy metal band formed in 1985 initially influenced by Iron Maiden and the new wave of British heavy metal, later developing a very particular sound.
Chris Impellitteri is an American guitarist and songwriter, who is the lead guitarist and founder of the heavy metal band Impellitteri.
Mind's Eye is the first studio album by guitarist Vinnie Moore, released in 1986 through Shrapnel Records. Recorded in eleven days when Moore was 21 years old, the album was ranked third on the all-time top ten list of shred albums in a 2009 article by Guitar World magazine.
Rachel Barton Pine is an American violinist. She debuted with the Chicago Symphony at age 10, and was the first American and youngest ever gold medal winner of the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition. The Washington Post wrote that she "displays a power and confidence that puts her in the top echelon."
Stephanie Ann Chase is an American classical violinist.
Moonlight Sonata is the 2nd EP and the final release from American progressive metal band The Human Abstract. The EP was released on February 14, 2012, and is a cover of all three parts of Ludwig van Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata".
Jacky Casey Vincent is a British guitarist. He was the lead guitarist of the post-hardcore/metalcore band Falling in Reverse from its formation in 2008 until his departure in 2015. After his departure, he founded power metal band Cry Venom. Since then, Vincent has concentrated on his solo career and teaching. He has two solo albums: Star X Speed Story, came third in the Guitar World 2013 readers poll for Best Shred album, and Life Imitating Art released in 2018. Vincent won the Alternative Press Guitarist of the Year award in 2012 and came third in the Guitar World "Best Shredder" readers pool awards in 2013.
The Commander-In-Chief is a Norwegian guitarist and singer. She plays metal-pop / classical-crossover.
Steven Schriver, also known as Shredder 1984 is a French American electronic/synthwave artist and video producer.
