Plankton

If you take Satriani, Vai, Dimebag, that guy who plays in Dream Theatre, and loads of other “Well Known” guitar players out of the picture, you’d be left with some really obscure, and extremely talented axe slingers standing as the dust clears. This is a slightly comprehensive review of seven of my favorites that I’ve listened to and at some point said “Who IS that?”.


Born Steven Schneider, May 5, 1959, in Brooklyn, New York, you may have heard of him from his work with Billy Idol, Michael Jackson, Vince Neil, or Juno Reactor., but he’s also been an in-demand hired gun for Ric Ocasek (The Cars), Thompson Twins, and Robert Palmer. After a failed attempt, and one album with Atomic Playboys (which had a couple decent tunes), he sought out a more expressive outlet. His work with Terri Bozzio, and Toni Levin on Blacklight Syndrome showcased his love of Prog Rock, but he really shines with his solo efforts, with the likes of Memory Crash (2008), and Flamenco-A-Go Go (1999), and has appeared on guitarists collaborative efforts such as GFPM’s Vol 2, and Merry Axemas. He and his wife Josie were also one of the four couples under the microscope for the 2010 reality show “Married To Rock”. There’s so much that Stevens has done, I’ve probably left some things out… like his collaboration with Harold Faltermeyer for the Top Gun theme which he won a Grammy for, and one of his tunes from Flamenco-A-Go Go being on the soundtrack for the movie “Step Into Liquid”.




Up next:
Robert Fripp
Bill Frisell
Reb Beach
Ry Cooder
Kazumi Watanabe
Cristopher Parkening

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Janszoon

I've never heard any of his other stuff, but as a massive Billy Idol fan I approve of this selection.

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A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man

Time & Place

25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die

last.fm

Trollheart

Oh yeah! Anyone in doubt should just listen to the blistering solo on Jackson's hit, "Dirty Diana"!

BTW congrats on your second journal, Plankton, though if it's only seven guitarists are you gonna expand into maybe seven keyboard players, bass players etc., to keep it going? How about "The unslung heroes" as a title? See what I did there?


Can we add our own? I'm sure I could think of easily a dozen...

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Plankton

Why only 7? Cuz I'm lazy, and I figured why add more to my already full plate. Being a guitar player for over 3 decades, when I hear a song I instinctively listen for the guitar first so naturally I have built up a bit of insight into that realm, so thats why I'm showcasing guitar talent here. If you'd like to add something else, be it keys, bass, or what not, I have absolutely no problem with that.

Unslung Hero's... why dint I think of that. Nice.

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Plankton

...one more from the Steve:



I've been hoping to get back into this journal lately, but have been working way too much. It's been a while since I've listened to anything from Robert Fripps' catalog, but now that the holiday season is upon us I'll have some time to sink myself into it.

Here's a small taste:

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Trollheart

Woo-hoo! Welcome back man! Looking forward to seeing this take flight again...

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

CoolBec

Great idea Plank. Can't wait till you get to Parkening, I've always thought him to the the top performer in the classical field.

I had something kinda similar in mind for keyboard players, but it seems I don't rate a journal here.

Might I humbly suggest Tommy Emmanuel as a possible addition to your list.

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Trollheart

Why don't you rate a journal? Mods seldom if ever turn an idea down (look at the Batlord, and then HHBH's short-lived neo-Nazi/racism rant he called a journal!) --- I doubt they ever discourage writers. Try again; maybe it just got missed out.

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

CoolBec

Couldn't say Troll. I did submit one but it wasn't approved. I had the obligatory 100 posts just as stipulated in the guidelines, but nada.

I guess I could offer references (I had the most viewed journal in Muzic Forums history), but I'm not in the habit of begging people in situations like that.

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Plankton

Thanks broham.

At the time I started this, I just picked a few random ones that I'm at least familiar with. At that time, I hadn't been exposed to much of Emmanuels' work but since then, I've become quite a fan. The man was/is a guitar wielding beast. Case in point:



...and a resounding yes on the Parkening being a top classical performer.

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