Slash biography

Born: July 23, 1965
As the lead guitarist for Guns N' Roses, Slash established himself as one of hard rock's finest and most soulful soloists during the late '80s, technically adept yet always firmly grounded in the gritty Aerosmith and Stones licks he loved. Slash was born Saul Hudson on July 23, 1965, in Stoke-on-Trent, England, to artistic parents both involved in the entertainment industry; his mother was a clothing designer who worked on David Bowie's film The Man Who Fell to Earth, and his father designed album art for such artists as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. The family eventually moved to Hollywood, where Hudson attended junior high, received his first guitar, and met future GNR drummer Steven Adler. With Hudson adopting the nickname Slash, given to him by a family friend, the two formed a band called Road Crew; although it proved unsuccessful, it was the vehicle through which they met and eventually joined up with the other members of Guns N' Roses.


The Gunners debuted in June 1985, and even before Appetite for Destruction was released in 1987, the band acquired a reputation as notorious alcohol and drug abusers. As their popularity soared, the reserved Slash established himself as an important part of the band's visual image, with a top hat and a mound of shaggy black hair covering his face as he typically staggered around the stage with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. Hedonistic excess consumed most of the band, with such incidents as Slash and Duff McKagan's drunken, profane acceptance of the band's American Music Award on live television. In 1990, opening for the Rolling Stones, Axl Rose's infamous on-stage pronouncement that he would leave the band if certain members did not stop "dancing with Mr. Brownstone" (using heroin) was primarily directed at Slash and Adler; Slash kicked his habit within a year, but Adler did not and was fired. In 1992, Slash courted controversy again with a product endorsement for Black Death vodka. Later that year, he was married to actress and model Renee Sorum, a union that lasted five years.


Meanwhile, in spite of controversy and personnel turnovers, Guns N' Roses had actually continued to record music. After the Use Your Illusion sets of 1991 and the 1993 punk covers album The Spaghetti Incident?, the band went on hiatus. Slash formed a side project called Slash's Snakepit, which consisted of fellow Gunners Matt Sorum (drums) and Gilby Clarke (guitar), plus bassist Mike Inez and vocalist Eric Dover. The group released an album in 1995 titled It's Five O'Clock Somewhere; Slash hit the road with a slightly different touring lineup, with Brian Tichy and James LoMenzo signing on as the rhythm section. In 1996, Slash put together a different band to play at a blues festival in Budapest, an endeavor that evolved into Slash's Blues Ball. Featuring vocalist/harmonica player Teddy Andreadis, rhythm guitarist Bobby Schneck, saxophonist Dave McClarem, bassist Johnny Griparic, and drummer Alvino Bennet, Slash's Blues Ball devoted themselves primarily to a repertoire of classic blues covers, plus occasional GNR and Snakepit material.


Rumors about the status of Guns N' Roses had been swirling for some time, and in October 1996 it was confirmed that, owing to his unwillingness to follow Axl Rose's interest in industrial and electronic music, Slash was no longer a member of the band (although he left the door open for a reunion if Rose decided to return to guitar-based rock & roll). He gigged off and on with the Blues Ball into 1998, although a rumored live album never materialized. Instead, Slash decided to re-form the Snakepit in 1999 with an entirely different lineup (the original members were by this time involved in other projects, and the Blues Ball was more suited to touring than developing original material). Raspy-voiced singer Rod Jackson and ex-Venice drummer Matt Laug came on board, along with Blues Ball bassist Griparic (now Johnny Blackout) and Teddy Andreadis, who contributed keyboard and harmonica work. After trying out ex-Alice Cooper guitarist Ryan Roxie, Slash settled on rhythm guitarist Kerry Kelly, who had previously worked with Warrant and Ratt.


The new Snakepit played some gigs together and in the spring of 2000 completed a new album, which was originally slated to be released on Interscope/Geffen. However, feeling that a more traditional guitar rock album would get lost in the promotional shuffle, Slash moved over to Koch, which finally released Ain't Life Grand in October 2000. A few years later, Slash teamed up again with McKagan and other notable rockers to form the supergroup Velvet Revolver, who released their first album in 2004. Steve Huey, Rovi

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Herman li biography

 A little about Herman…
Born in Hong Kong, currently resides in London, England. Herman Li (Chinese: 李康敏) is a guitarist, songwriter and producer of the Grammy nominated metal act DragonForce.

‘Inhuman Rampage‘, the band’s international breakthrough album, featured the U.S. & Canadian Gold Single ‘Through the Fire and Flames’, also a hit in the multi-million selling video game ‘Guitar Hero III – Legends of Rock’. However, ‘Ultra Beatdown’ is the album that has taken DragonForce to new heights, crashing into the Top 20 national album charts in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Taiwan, Singapore and the Top 10 in Japan.

In the last few years, Herman has established himself as one of the most recognised and influential guitarists of the new generation. Accolades starting pouring in, starting with the 2005 ‘Best Shredder’ award at the annual Metal Hammer Golden Gods. Herman also won four categories in Guitar World’s 2007 Readers Poll for ‘Best New Talent’ (winning by 70%), ‘Best Metal’, ‘Best Riff’ and ‘Best Shredders’. He also won ‘Best Guitar Solo’ for ‘Through the Fire and Flames’ in Total Guitar’s Readers Poll in 2007, as well as numerous other polls in media around the world. Outside of DragonForce, Herman has been invited to perform with guitar legends such as Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Paul Gilbert, just to name a few. Recently, Herman won for the second time the ‘Best Shredder’ award at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods 2009.

Between intensive world tours with DragonForce, Herman found time to write a monthly guitar column in UK’s Total Guitar magazine as well as becoming involved in guitar clinics around the world. Always continuing to evolve as a guitar player, Herman likes to understand his instrument as much as possible. He has a fascination in electric guitar development, working on new ideas to improve the instrument as much as possible. After 3 years of hard work and dedication, the result was the Ibanez E-Gen guitar, Herman’s signature model.

Outside of music, Herman other interests includes computer technology and martial arts. He enjoys training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts. He also speaks three languages fluently; Cantonese, French and English.

In 2010, Herman will be appearing at a number of guitar workshops and events to showcase his own approach to the instrument and continue to help inspire guitarists worldwide.

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Matthew James Bellamy biography

Born Matthew James Bellamy, June 9 1978, in Cambridge, England. He is the frontman and lead singer, guitarist and pianist for the British rock band Muse.

Bellamy’s father, George, was the rhythm guitarist in the 1960s English rock group The Tornados, who were the first English band to have a U.S. number one, with “Telstar”.
Bellamy’s mother, Marilyn, was born in Belfast, and migrated to England in the 1970s. On her first day in England she met George Bellamy, who was at that time working as a taxi driver in London. They moved to Cambridge, where Bellamy’s older brother Paul was born, followed a couple of years later by Matthew himself.

In the mid-1980s they moved to Teignmouth, Devon, where Matthew was educated at Teignmouth Community College.

Bellamy’s piano style has been inspired by the works of Romantic pianists such as Sergei Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky and Franz Liszt, and has resulted in a fusion of Romantic style with rock in many of Muse’s songs. In particular, many of his compositions contain elements of the first movement of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, such as “Space Dementia”, “Megalomania” and “Ruled by Secrecy”, and of the third movement in the cadenza in “Butterflies and Hurricanes”. In live performances Bellamy often breaks into lengthy Romantic piano solos, such as the performance of Prelude in C-sharp minor in the opening of “Screenager” on the live half of the Hullabaloo album. On Black Holes and Revelations, a reference can be heard to the Russian Romantic composer Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, during the song “Hoodoo”, where, towards the end, a quote of the beginning chords of the concerto, played in the minor key, can be heard before the rest of the band comes in.

Bellamy cites some of his guitar playing influences as Jimi Hendrix, The Edge of U2, Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd, and Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, the latter being particularly evident in the more riff-based songs on Muse’s second album, Origin of Symmetry, and in Bellamy’s extensive use of pitch-shifting effects in his solos, such as the solo on “Invincible” from Black Holes and Revelations. Bellamy also shares a love of unusual and extreme guitar customization with Morello

Bellamy’s fascination with conspiracy theories has been evident since the release of Absolution, in which one song, “Ruled By Secrecy,” is named after Jim Marrs’ “Rule By Secrecy.” The B-Side “Futurism” too deals with a possible dystopian future. Riddles relating to the Illuminati have appeared during the treasure hunt they set for fans on the 2005 mtvU Campus Invasion Tour and in a cryptic announcement about Muse’s forthcoming album. Bellamy’s interest in metaphysics is also evident (one may argue that the pair go hand in hand). Muse are among musicians such as Tool (compare concepts suggested in the aforementioned track ‘Futurism’, with Tool’s Faaip De Oiad) as being advocates of political and philosophical leanings in modern music.

With the latest Muse album Black Holes and Revelations we see Bellamy taking a much more optimistic approach to earlier and perhaps more dystopian themes, while still retaining the same concepts. The track Exo-Politics refers to the Zeta Reticulans, and suggests that “it’s just our leaders in disguise” a conspiracy theory where the government fakes an alien invasion, a theme that Steven Greer has been promoting as a real possibility (coming from sources such as whistleblowers like the late German NASA rocket scientist Wernher von Braun) to politicians, the media and audiences worldwide through his Disclosure Project.

Some Bellamy´s quotes;

“If you look at those protests in France, the size and level of protest doesn’t really relate to what they’re protesting about. I think there’s something underneath that people are feeling, particularly the younger generation. We feel like we’ve been born into some pre-created situation where we don’t actually have any control over anything. We’ve got an aging population as well and that control factor grates a little bit. I feel, through this album, that I’m feeling pessimistic and frustrated about it all but at the same time I’m not against revolutionary moves and I wouldn’t be ashamed to have incited a small riot, if it’s for a good cause.”

“I think musicians as Rage against the Machine and System of a Down who address political issues directly in their lyrics are very important in these times. But I think it is painful when other artists whose music is just simplistic entertainment with no real political content believes their fame empowers them to influence people’s votes or use it to attract a particular demographic.”

“I think there is a feeling of mistrust for the government in general. The problem with

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Eddie Van Halen biography

Born: January 26, 1955
Second to only Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen was undoubtedly one of the most influential, original, and talented rock guitarists of the 20th century. Born Edward Lodewijk Van Halen on January 26, 1955, in the Netherlands, Van Halen moved with his family to the U.S. in the '60s. He and his older brother, Alex, began taking piano lessons at an early age, which planted the seeds for both of the siblings' future musical career. Mesmerized by the British Invasion rock movement (especially the Dave Clark Five), Eddie began playing the drums, while Alex took up guitar. The brothers switched their respective instruments shortly thereafter (while Eddie was out working a paper route trying to make his drum kit's payments, Alex was bashing away at his drums, until he was actually better than Eddie) -- as such, hard rock guitarists as Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page soon influenced the youngest Van Halen's playing.


The Van Halen brothers began playing backyard parties and clubs in the Los Angeles area (mixing covers with originals), and eventually hooked up with singer David Lee Roth and bassist Michael Anthony in the early '70s, as the group Mammoth. It was around this time that Eddie began employing a new skill to his guitar playing, the 'two-handed tap' technique, which would soon become his trademark (and infinitely copied by other players). With his awesome speed and tasty phrasing, Eddie quickly became the top guitarist on the local music scene, as the group changed their name by the mid-'70s to simply Van Halen. Eddie also began custom building his own guitars, while using the shape of a Fender Stratocaster, he would cover the body of his guitar in strips of tape to create a wild design that would become another trademark of his. Van Halen signed to Warner Bros. in 1977, which issued the band's classic self-titled debut a year later, starting off a string of multi-platinum albums and sold out tours. Ed immediately began being recognized as the best rock guitarist, he won numerous poll awards from all the world's guitar magazines (Guitar Player, Guitar World, etc.), something that would become a yearly occurrence. Besides guitar, Ed broadened his horizons by adding keyboards to the band's sound (resulting in their 1984 number one hit "Jump"), as well as singing lead on select tracks (1998's "How Many Say I"). And despite going through several singers throughout their career (Roth, Sammy Hagar, and Gary Cherone), Van Halen's popularity persevered. In addition to playing on Van Halen albums, Ed has also appeared on other artist's recordings -- his most famous being an uncredited solo on Michael Jackson's 1983 monster hit, "Beat It," as well as collaborations with Queen's Brian May (1983's Star Fleet Project) and Roger Waters (the track "Lost Boys Calling" from 1999's The Legend of 1900 soundtrack). Film scoring also was added to his list of credentials, with his compositions appearing on the soundtracks for the movies The Wild Life (1985) and Twister (1996).


Although he was associated with Kramer Guitars throughout the '80s, Ed created his own line of guitars for first the Ernie Ball Company in the early '90s, before switching to Peavey in the mid-'90s. Eddie's personal life has also found it's way into the tabloids over the years, first with his marriage to TV actress Valerie Bertinelli, and also with a publicized alcohol dependency (a battle he successfully conquered in the late '90s). Eddie Van Halen remains one of rock's great instrumentalists. Greg Prato, Rovi

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Nuno Bettencourt biography

Nuno Duarte Gil Mendes Bettencourt (born September 20, 1966) is a Portuguese-American guitarist and singer-songwriter well known as the lead guitarist of the Boston hard rock band Extreme. He has since recorded a solo project called Schizophonic. He has also been involved with bands Mourning Widows, Population 1, DramaGods, The Satellite Party (headed by Jane's Addiction's frontman Perry Farrell), and then reunited with Extreme to record new music and tour.

Bettencourt draws from an eclectic variety of styles and influences. However, his most prominent work has been in the realm of rock and heavy metal guitar despite his most popular commercial hits being acoustic songs. Bettencourt's technical guitar playing is influenced by many different guitar players that have rubbed off on guitarist such as Eddie Van Halen, Al Di Meola and Jimmy Page; while his solos and sense of melody are influenced by Brian May of Queen. He is particularly adept at arpeggios articulated via string-skipping tapping. One of the strongest elements in Nuno's playing is his sense of rhythm, whom often uses a very loose wrist technique to execute fast triplet picking licks to create a funky sound to his rhythm playing and also his use of poly-rhythms to blur bar lines and create a unique sound.

Nuno Bettencourt was born on September 20, 1966 in Praia da Vitória, Terceira, Azores, Portugal, to Ezequiel Mendes Bettencourt and wife Aureolina da Cunha Gil de Ávila. Bettencourt's family, parents and two brothers Luís and Roberto Carlos, moved to Hudson, Massachusetts when he was four. Initially, Bettencourt had little interest in music, he preferred  to spend his time playing hockey and soccer. However, his first instrument was the drums; he played them exclusively until his brother, Luis, began to teach him how to play guitar. While Bettencourt slowly adopt the instrument under his brother's tutelage, his skills quickly developed when he began teaching himself, and he has mentioned in many interviews that he would skip many school days to practice upwards of 7 hours a day. In his sophomore and junior years of high school, Bettencourt dropped out of sports so he could focus on playing guitar. He would eventually drop out of high school for the same reason.

Unable to make a dent in the music world with his Boston-based hair-metal act Sinful, Bettencourt rose to international prominence as a guitar player after he joined the Boston-area group Extreme in 1985. Signing to A&M Records shortly after Bettencourt joined the group, the band released its debut record, Extreme, in 1989. Extreme released 5 albums since then.

After Extreme, Bettencourt worked with numerous projects, including his solo albums. He has been featured in the movie Smart People, which he is credited in the cover of the movie album. He was also featured in the song “Best Night Ever”, by Marshall, on the TV show “How I Met Your Mother”.

Bettencourt formed the recording entity Population 1 (later renamed to DramaGods)  and released the self-titled and self-produced 2002 release, Population 1, on Universal/Japan and YBM/Korea. In support of the Population 1 (which featured him playing all instruments on most tracks), release in Japan and Korea, Bettencourt assembled a band with Joe Pessia on bass, Steve Ferlazzo on keyboards and back-up vocals, and Kevin Figueiredo on drums and back-up vocals. Steve Ferlazzo was also featured in Cherone’s next band carnation effort after Van Halen’s breakup,(Along with Pat Badger and Mike Mangini from Extreme)Tribe of Judah. DramaGod’s is currently seeking a record label.

In December 1990, Washburn Guitars unveiled the Washburn N4 Nuno Bettencourt Signature Series - a series of Bettencourt-designed guitars which endures today.

The Nuno Bettencourt models were flag-shipped by the American hand-made Washburn N4. The Washburn N4 guitar is a small reverse headstock super-strat which features the unique Stephen's Extended Cutaway neck joint for easy access to the higher frets. It also contains Bill Lawrence and Seymour Duncan pickups, and a Floyd Rose licensed tremolo. The production budget model of this guitar which is built in China is known as the N2 and features a standard bolt-on neck. The N3 was a short run Korean reproduction of the Washburn N4 using Washburn stock pickups. The original N2 and N3 guitars were prototype guitars built for Nuno. The N2 lacking the Stephen's Extended Cutaway and the N3 using a Bill Lawrence L500-R in the neck rather than the Seymour Duncan 59. Other models include The N5 and N6. Nuno has also endorsed several Washburn acoustic models. As well as a line of 'set-neck' electric guitars Including the P- Series which was released in various models with a more retro, deep cutaway style.

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yngwie malmsteen biography

Yngwie Johann Malmsteen (born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck, June 30, 1963) is a virtuoso guitarist / neo-classical metal artist from Sweden who achieved widespread acclaim in the 1980s for his technical proficiency and fusion of classical music elements with heavy rock guitar.

Born into a musical family in Stockholm, Yngwie was the youngest child in the family. At an early age, he showed little interest in music. It wasn’t until September 18, 1970 when at age seven he saw a TV special on the death of Jimi Hendrix that Malmsteen became obsessed with the guitar. To quote his official website, “The day Jimi Hendrix died, the guitar-playing Yngwie was born”.

Malmsteen was in his teens when he first encountered the music of the 19th-century violin virtuoso Niccolo Paganini, whom he cites as his biggest classical influence. It has been rumoured that Yngwie believes himself to be the reincarnation of the temperamental, often criticized, and widely misunderstood violinist from Genoa. Through his emulation of Paganini concerto pieces on guitar, Malmsteen developed a prodigious technical fluency. Malmsteen also cites Jimi Hendrix, Genesis, Uli Jon Roth, and Deep Purple as influences.

Malmsteen’s contributions to the evolution of modern rock guitar, particularly his embracing of modal progressions and classically-influenced techniques not widely used in rock music, broke new ground and Malmsteen is often credited with the creation of the neoclassical metal genre, inspiring a new generation of virtuoso electric guitarists including Paul Gilbert and Tony MacAlpine.

1980s

In late 1982 Malmsteen was brought to the USA by Mike Varney of Shrapnel Records, who had heard a demo tape of Malmsteen’s playing. Shrapnel is synonymous with the shred style of music. He had brief engagements with Steeler, for their self-titled album of 1983, then Alcatrazz, for their 1983 debut No Parole From Rock N’ Roll, and the 1984 live album Live Sentence. He left Alcatrazz in 1984, replaced by Steve Vai, and began his solo career.

Malmsteen released his first solo album “Rising Force” (winner of Guitar Player Magazine’s Best Rock Album and nominated for a 1984 Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental) which achieved #60 on the Billboard album chart. He was nominated for a Grammy and later Rising Force topped the charts at number 1. This was followed by “Marching Out” (1985). Jeff Scott Soto was the singer on the first two albums.

His third album, Trilogy, was released in 1986. In 1987, former Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner joined his band. That year, Malmsteen was in a serious car accident, smashing his Jaguar XKE into a tree and putting him in a coma for a week. Nerve damage to his right hand was reported. It was during his time in the hospital that Malmsteen’s mother died from cancer.

In the summer of 1988 he released his fourth album, Odyssey. Odyssey would be his biggest hit album, mainly because of its first single “Heaven Tonight”. Shows in Russia during the Odyssey tour were recorded, and released in 1989 as his fifth album Trial By Fire: Live in Leningrad. The concert in Leningrad was the largest ever by a western artist in the Soviet Union, and Malmsteen’s record sales in Russia totalled 27 million.

In late 1988, his signature series Fender Stratocaster was released, making him the second artist so honored, after Eric Clapton.

Malmsteen’s style “Neo-classical” became somewhat popular during the mid 1980s, with notable contemporaries such as Paul Gilbert, Marty Friedman, Tony MacAlpine and Vinnie Moore all reaching prominence after Yngwie. However, only Paul Gilbert claimed Yngwie as an influence, with MacAlpine coming to the neoclassical/shred field by applying his classical piano training to his guitar playing and Moore arriving at a similar style because he shared Yngwie’s major influences, Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple and Al Di Meola, American jazz fusion great of Return to Forever fame.

1990s

In the early 1990s he released the albums Eclipse (1990), The Yngwie Malmsteen Collection (1991), Fire and Ice (1992) and The Seventh Sign (1994).

Despite his early success, and continuous success in Europe and Asia, by the early 1990s the gratuitous over-the-top stylings of 1980s heavy metal had become unfashionable in the USA. This was displaced by the Seattle grunge movement, where technical ability was replaced by simpler, more emotionally-driven songs. The grunge rock movement may have arisen in part as a backlash to the overly technical metal inspired by Malmsteen and his contemporaries, which despite its often impressive technique was regarded by many as ponderous, bland and self-indulgent.

In the 1990s, Malmsteen continued to record and release albums under the Japanese record label Pony Canyon, and maintained a devoted following in Europe and Japan, and to a lesser extent in the USA. In 2000, he once again acquired a contract with a US record label, Spitfire, and released his 1990s catalog into the US market for the first time, including what he regards as his masterpiece Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra, recorded with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in Prague.

2000s

After the release of War to End All Wars in 2000, singer Mark Boals left the band. Yngwie went on tour with former Ark vocalist Jorn Lande. Due to various tensions on tour, Jorn left before the recording of Yngwie’s next album, Attack!!. He was replaced by former Rainbow vocalist Doogie White. White’s vocals were well received by fans, and it seems that he has become a permanent member of the band.

In 2003, Malmsteen joined Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, with whom he toured as part of the G3 supergroup.

Yngwie released Unleash the Fury in 2005. ‘As stated in an issue of “Guitar World” magazine, he titled this album after the infamous ‘airline incident’, which occurred on a flight to Japan for the ‘Odyssey’ tour. He was drunk and was behaving obnoxiously, until he fell asleep and was roused by a woman dumping water on him. Enraged, he shouted, “You stupid bitch! You’ve unleashed the fockin fury!” The audio from this moment was caught on tape by a fellow band member.

He is married to April and has a son named Antonio after Antonio Vivaldi. A noted Ferrari enthusiast, he owns a black 1985 308 GTS[1] and a red 1962 250 GTO.[2] In recent years, Yngwie has given up both smoking and drinking. The Malmsteen family lives in Miami.

Specialized guitar

Aside from technical prowess, distinctions of Malmsteen’s guitar style include a wide, violin-like vibrato inspired by classical violinists, and use of such minor scales as the Harmonic minor, and minor modes such as Phrygian, and Aeolian. Malmsteen cites the Fender Stratocaster and the single coil pickups (of which he uses his custom design by DiMarzio, which are actually a vertically-stacked humbucker mounted in a single coil housing Malmsteen sought to combine the tone of a single coil with the reduced noise of a humbucker) as being instrumental to his unique tone. The Malmsteen signature model Stratocaster made by Fender is based accurately upon this combination.

The guitars he uses are recognizable by the addition of a custom scalloped fretboard. This is similar to a regular fretboard, but with wood ‘scalloped’ or scooped away to form a concave shape in between the frets. Malmsteen allegedly conceived this design as a teenager while working in a music store in Stockholm, Sweden when he came across a 17th century lute with a scalloped neck using the raised wood as frets. However, this can also be viewed as an influence from Ritchie Blackmore, one of his most readily admitted idols, who also favors scalloped neck Fender Stratocasters. Malmsteen himself has said he learned most from Ritchie Blackmore’s guitar riffs and solos as a beginning guitarist. Also, jazz-fusion guitarist John McLaughlin used scalloped fingerboards long before Malmsteen came on the scene.

Even for the experienced guitar player, the scalloped fingerboard proves very difficult to perform on, as there is no surface contact between finger and wood to aid in the feel of the vibrato motion. The strings of the guitar, when fretted, are easily pushed sharp and out of tune. The highly accurate, delicate yet controlled touch required to play properly with Malmsteen’s modified Stratocaster is elusive for most, and an integral part of Malmsteen’s technique.

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Vinnie Moore biography

Vinnie Moore is one of the most influencial and important guitarists to emerge out of the virtuoso boom in the mid to late eighties. Boasting six studio albums as of 2001, he is one of the most recognizable artists on the Shrapnel record label.

Beginning his career at the tender age of 12, Moore played clubs and bars until Shrapnel big wig Mike Varney discovered him through a magazine article. His connection with Varney led to a Pepsi commercial in 1985, which gave him enough recognition to record his first solo album, Minds Eye. His debut led to several awards from guitar magazines and sold over 100,000 copies, bringing him directly into the spotlight of the guitar world.

The virtuoso craze of the late eighties led to more well received releases on Shrapnel, and soon he began to perform with other bands in the hard rock scene. He joined Alice Cooper's band for a tour and the Hey Stoopid album, and released two very popular instructional videos on playing guitar.

He secured a tour with Rush for his solo material, then turned around and had a guitar clinic tour that spanned several continents. His dedication to teaching his craft has brought him much praise in musician's circles. Although the nineties saw a decline in the popularity of solo guitar music, Moore survived the downward trend due to his popular guitar clinics and quality guitar playing.

Standing tall with fellow guitar heroes Al DiMeola and Joe Satriani, Vinnie Moore has enjoyed a successful working relationship with Shrapnel records that has continued past the nineties into the next century. Despite never cracking the mainstream, Moore still has enjoyed a long and creatively satisfying career in the world of instrumental guitar. ~ Bradley Torreano, All Music Guide

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Tony MacAlpine biography

Initially trained as a pianist, Tony MacAlpine graduated to the electric guitar with an ambition to fuse rock and classical influences into something that would have widespread appeal. Teaming up with ex-Journey drummer Steve Smith and ex-David Lee Roth bassist Billy Sheehan, he recorded Edge Of Insanity, an album which combined rock, classical, jazz and fusion instrumentals. The album was characterised by MacAlpine's ability to improvise and imbue emotion into his songs, even when played at breakneck speed.


He next formed a straightforward rock band, signing up Tommy Aldridge (drums), Rudi Sarzo (bass) and Rob Rock (vocals) to record Project Driver under the M.A.R.S. alias. The band split soon after the release and MacAlpine returned to solo status, forming his own Squawk label.


In 1987, he released one of his most popular instrumental albums, Maximum Security. The album had all of the speed and feeling of Edge of Insanity except with even stronger melodies and a higher standard of musicianship. It is quite possibly his best album ever and features Deen Castronovo and Atma Anur on drums, with MacAlpine handling the guitars, keyboards and bass.


1990 saw the release of Eyes Of The World (on Vertigo Records). The album featured Alan Schorn on lead vocals, Mark Robertson on keyboards, Billy Carmassi on drums and Mike Jacques on drums. The band was called MacAlpine and the music they played was highly polished melodic rock, punctuated by fluid but economical guitar breaks.


In 1992 MacAlpine returned to instrumental music with Freedom to Fly which featured the guitarist's compositional talent and penchant for dramatic melodies. 1993 saw the release of yet another instrumental CD (once again on Shrapnel) called Madness. This time the music took a more jazzy approach though the tunes retained their melodic roots. In 1994 Tony returned with a more hard-rocking, neo-classical instrumental album called Premonition.


In 1995 he released Evolution which took Premonition's neo-classical approach but added more variety, including a beautiful instrumental ballad called "Time Table". 1996 marked the release of Violent Machine; and in 1997 he released his first live CD, Live Insanity, an exciting collection of his best loved tracks.


Tony MacAlpine is an amazing musician. He is equally talented as a guitarist and a keyboard player (he has played the former on albums by the likes of Joey Tafolla and Vinnie Moore). His intrinsic sense of melody and phrasing make him one of the best modern guitar players of the last 2 decades.

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Steve vai biography

Born: June 06, 1960
Six-string wizard Steve Vai, along with his one-time teacher Joe Satriani, set the standard for rock guitar virtuosity in the '80s. Born on June 6, 1960, and raised in Carle Place, New York, Vai became interested in the guitar via such legendary artists as Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and Alice Cooper as a teenager and, upon starting high school, took lessons with an older player from the school, Joe Satriani. Playing in several local bands, Vai quickly picked up on the instrument, and by the age of 18 was attending the renowned Berklee School of Music in Boston. As a student there, Vai transcribed several of Frank Zappa's most technically demanding compositions for guitar, and even sent a copy of one such transcription, "Black Page," to Zappa himself. Zappa was so impressed with the young guitarist that upon meeting him, he invited Vai to join his band.

Subsequently, Vai toured the world with Zappa (giving Vai the nicknames "Stunt Guitarist" and "Little Italian Virtuoso") and played on such albums as 1981's Tinsel Town Rebellion and You Are What You Is, 1982's Ship Arriving Too Late, 1983's Man from Utopia, plus 1984's Them or Us and Thing-Fish, before leaving to set out on his own. First off was a pair of self-financed, recorded, and released solo albums in 1984, Flex-Able and Flex-Able Leftovers, both of which showcased Vai's guitar playing and songwriting talents, yet were still heavily influenced by Zappa.

With Van Halen all the rage by the mid-'80s due to their massive hard rock/pop crossover success, Vai replaced Yngwie Malmsteen in a similarly styled outfit called Alcatrazz (which featured former Rainbow vocalist Graham Bonnett), playing on their overlooked 1985 release Disturbing the Peace. The same year, Vai made a cameo appearance in the movie Crossroads (playing the Devil's guitarist and shredding away in a guitar duel with Ralph Macchio) and got an invitation from his friend/bass master Billy Sheehan to try out for the guitar spot in singer David Lee Roth's solo band (Roth had just split from Van Halen), and eventually landed the gig. The debut release from Roth and his stellar solo band, Eat 'Em and Smile, arrived in 1986 and went on to become one of the year's top hard rock releases. Both Vai and Sheehan were catapulted to superstardom due to their instrumental talents, as they took top honors in numerous guitar magazines for years afterward.

But although the quartet showed great promise, Sheehan jumped ship just after their sophomore album, Skyscraper, was issued in 1988. Although the album was more pop-based than its predecessor, it became another sizable hit -- with Vai earning a co-producing credit on the album along with Roth. The same year, Vai issued his own line of snazzy guitars, the Jem 777 series, via the Ibanez company. After the ensuing tour with Roth wrapped up in late 1988, it was Vai's turn to jump ship. In addition to working on another solo album, he was invited to join up with chart-topping pop-metallists Whitesnake, an offer he accepted. His one and only album with Whitesnake, Slip of the Tongue, was issued in 1989, as was his third solo album overall, Passion and Warfare, a year later. The largely instrumental album was based on dreams that Vai experienced as a teenager, and it became a sizable hit, earning gold certification and solidifying Vai's standing as one of the top guitarists of the day. It was also around this time that Vai created a seven-string guitar through Ibanez. Although the instrument didn't catch on initially, it would by the mid- to late '90s, when the guitarists in such metal acts as Korn and Limp Bizkit would utilize the instrument to achieve super-low tunings.

After an extended hiatus, Vai formed his first conventional rock band (called...VAI) along with newcomer Devin Townsend on vocals, T.M. Stevens on bass, and Terry Bozzio on drums -- offering their one and only album in 1993, Sex & Religion. When the album proved to be a disappointment both critically and commercially, Vai returned to all-instrumental work with the 1995 EP Alien Love Secrets. For the remainder of the decade, Vai continued to issue solo releases, including 1996's Fire Garden, 1998's Flex-Able Leftovers (a re-release of his long out of print second solo album, with added tracks), and 1999's The Ultra Zone. It was also during the late '90s that Vai and Satriani reunited for an annual co-headlining tour (with a different third artist added each year), called G3, unleashing a live album, G3: Live in Concert, in 1997.


The early 21st century saw a flurry of releases from Vai, including a compilation of instrumentals, The 7th Song: Enchanting Guitar Melodies Archive, in 2000, and his first full-length live release, Alive in an Ultra World, in 2001, as well as his mammoth career-encompassing ten-disc box set The Secret Jewel Box. In 2002 he collected several pieces that he had contributed to films through the years, including the guitar duel from Crossroads and the theme to Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey and put them together in a 40-track collection called The Elusive Light and Sound, Vol. 1. A series of compilations came next, and after a five-year hiatus from the studio, Vai returned in 2005 with Real Illusions: Reflections. A tour with the Metropole Orchestra followed and he released a ambitious double live set documenting his performances, titled Sound Theories, Vols. 1-2, in 2007. In 2010, he performed with the North Netherlands Orchestra, debuting several new compositions that fused rock music with orchestral arrangements, dubbed the "Evo Era." Vai also made several television appearances in 2010, performing on The Tonight Show and on American Idol with Mary J. Blige, Orianthi, Travis Barker, Ron Fair, Orianthi, and Randy Jackson.

Over the years, Vai has guested on countless albums by other artists, including Gregg Bissonette's self-titled debut and Submarine, Alice Cooper's Hey Stoopid, Randy Coven's Funk Me Tender, Al di Meola's Infinite Desire, Public Image Ltd.'s Album, Joe Jackson's Symphony 1, and Billy Sheehan's Compression, and also releases from Mike Stern, Ozzy, and Meat Loaf. He can also be found on such additional Zappa releases as Jazz from Hell, Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar, Guitar, and on several volumes of the ongoing You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore series and the live tribute disc Zappa's Universe. As if his busy schedule weren't full enough, Vai pursued a lifelong interest when he began harvesting honey among five bee colonies in the backyard of his home. Greg Prato, Rovi

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Kirk Hammett biography

Kirk Hammett was born on November 18, 1962. His mother was from the Philippines and his father was Irish. He spent his childhood in a small Californian town called El Sobrante, which was also home to fellow musicians Les Claypool, Larry LaLonde, and John Kiffmeyer. Hammett attended De Anza High School in Richmond, California. His first exposure to rock music would be listening to his older brother Rick’s record collection. He was inspired by the albums of popular rock acts of the day, such as UFO, Hendrix, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Kiss, and Black Sabbath.

At the age of 15, driven by the interest in music created by those albums, Kirk began playing guitar. He first learned to play using a guitar from the catalog of now defunct retailer Montgomery Ward. A few years later he switched to a Fender Stratocaster, which he altered with various pickups in an attempt to find a signature sound. Eventually he acquired a Gibson Flying V, like the one played by one of his influences, Michael Schenker of UFO.

Armed with his Flying V, and a growing competency on the instrument, Kirk began playing with other musicians. The cheap amp he had been using up to this point no longer lived up to the demands that he required of it and Hammett took a job at the local Burger King. He stayed there only long enough to save up the money to by a Marshall amp. Around this time Kirk co-founded a band named Exodus with Paul Baloff. Exodus was a supporting act for a band named Metallica on two different occasions.

Soon, though, Kirk Hammett would go from being a supporting act for Metallica, to sharing the stage with them. Increasing problems between the band and their original lead guitarist, Dave Mustaine, led the band the part ways with him. Metallica’s road manager at the time had once managed Exodus and quickly suggested Kirk as a replacement. Kirk flew out to the east coast to join them after scraping up enough money to afford the flight. It was his first time out of California. He would take the stage with his new band a mere 15 days later.

Kirk joined the band shortly before the recording of the album “Kill ‘em all” and performed with the band on that recording. Following the supporting tour for the album, Hammett wanted to expand his guitar playing repertoire and began taking lessons with virtuoso player Joe Satriani. From Satriani, Hammett learned the benefits of incorporating jazz, blues and classical music into his playing. The result brought a more melodic sound to Metallica’s music. He composed the signature riff to “Enter Sandman” which has become one of the most recognizable songs in American Pop Culture.

Despite Metallica’s tremendous success throughout the 80s, Kirk didn’t stop trying to learn and improve his guitar playing. In 1993, after the tour in support of their self-titled album from 1991 (also known as the Black album), Kirk enrolled himself in guitar classes at the City College in San Francisco. Kirk’s attitude that one is never finished learning is one of the things that has contributed to the long term success of him as a guitar player, and of Metallica as a band. It was also around this time that Kirk’s first marriage to now ex-wife, Rebecca, would fall apart.

His time at City College would have an apparent effect on Hammett’s playing on the next two Metallica albums. “Load” and “Reload” would feature more of a blues sound than was previously present on Kirk’s tracks. The two albums were actually the result of one writing session. During production of “Load” the band had enough material for a double album. Ultimately they decided to release half of the songs and take some time to further tweak the other half to release on another album at a later date. The records were released in 1996 and 1997. Shortly after the release of “Reload”, Hammett would marry for the second time, to girlfriend Lani. The couple has two sons together, Angel Ray Keala Hammett and Vincenzo Kainalu Hammett.

Kirk has avoided side projects that may distract from his role with Metallica, but has popped up in a few cameo appearances. He played on an Orbital track called “Satan” that was released on the Spawn soundtrack in 1997. He also played guitar with Carlos Santana on the song “Trinity” on Santana’s 2005 album “All That I Am”. A couple of other notable tracks featuring Hammett are “Kichigai” by punk band Septic Death and “If Rap Gets Jealous” by K’Naan. Hammett also dabbled in acting a little, playing himself on the animated shows The Simpsons and Space Ghost: Coast to Coast.

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jason becker biography

jason becker
Such an amazing young prodigy’s career cut so short” – words described by the Shredaholic team on this naturally gifted guitarist, who has suffered a tragedy none of us should ever have to experience…

Jason’s father played classical guitar, and his Uncle Ron played blues guitar, this got Jason interested in guitar music and he would eventually take up the guitar at a young age. His early influences were: Bob Dylan, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Beck, and Eddie Van Halen amongst other greats.

Jason was not a shy performer, he continuously practised (as all of us should) from the age of 5 and performed at school and coffee greenhouses from sixth grade and on, absorbing a lot of different style of music as he went along. Jason was so advanced at an early age that he was even giving his music teacher lessons! Then at 16 already an accomplished virtuoso player, came Jason’s big break, he met his close friend Marty Friedman. Marty had already made a few records already, when Marty saw Jason’s playing he was blown away, so Marty had the idea of the two to do a record together, so Marty set Jason some tasks on guitar. When Marty Returned, Jason had learnt them note-for-note-perfect! So, They got together and released an Album entitled ”Speed Metal Symphony” in 1987.

This album is highly recommended by Shredaholic.com, it contains playing of breakneck speed and intense melodic energy, tracks like ”Concerto” and ”Speed Metal Symphony” are virtuosic masterpieces at the highest level, combining both amazing technique and sense of melody. They never got ”mega-famous” but were known now around the world for there innovative style, the Japanese loved them, as Japanese are massive shred-heads themselves! :D    Jason also made instructional videos for fellow shred-heads who were interested. In 1989 they produced there follow up album entitled ”Go Off” this didn’t do half as well in sales as their debut, but still, shred fans will love it. The main highlight was ”Images”, an immaculate piece of intense melody.

Later that year, Becker went and joined David Lee Roth’s band, which he delightfully accepted. It was at this time that Jason had a lazy limp in his leg and went to check it out, he was tragically diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease), and given 5 years to live. Despite this, Jason, being the amazingly committed musician that he is, carried on, and recorded the album with Roth. It all starts getting quite upsetting at this point, Shredaholic recommends for fans to read ”In Jason’s Own Words” on his official website jasonbecker.com for an in depth description of his illness. In the end, he was unable to play guitar properly and started recording on a keyboard and computer with one hand because the other hand would fall. Eventually this resulted in him confined to a wheel chair, but despite this, even to this day, he manages to compose his own music from his head onto a computer, and has other respectful artists to record for him (such as Eddie Van Halen). The Shredaholic team truly respects this amazing individual for what he has accomplished and strived for in his career, and great influence to us and many more.

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Richie Kotzen biography

At a young age, Richie Kotzen was taken by music and first began playing piano at the age of five. At the age of seven he was inspired by the band KISS to learn the electric guitar. Relentlessly developing chops and his own unique voice on the guitar, he started his career in a band named Arthurs Museum. Kotzen was eventually discovered by Shrapnel Records' Mike Varney, and he recorded his first solo album by the age of 19. He created the video Rock Chops for REH video in 1989, highlighting many of his formative techniques, including using wide-intervals and fluid sweeping.

In 1991, Kotzen made his big break when he joined the rock band Poison at age 21, co-writing and performing on the album Native Tongue. This album produced two top twenty singles which Richie co-wrote, "Stand" and "Until You Suffer Some (Fire & Ice)". In late-1993, Rikki Rockett, the drummer of Poison, discovered that Kotzen was having a relationship with Rockett's former fiancee, Deanna Eve. Kotzen was bought out due to this incident. In 1999 Kotzen replaced Paul Gilbert as guitarist in the mainstream rock band Mr. Big. Kotzen maintained the band's success, performing on the Mr. Big record Get Over It, which sold more than 175,000 copies in its first two weeks in Japan, eventually reaching platinum status.[citation needed] Kotzen also contributed guitars to Mr. Big's subsequent release Actual Size. The record included the Kotzen song Shine, which debuted at number one on Japanese radio charts. Following the disbanding of Mr. Big, Kotzen released the solo album Change, in 2003. The title track, and the song Get A Life were featured in TV commercials throughout Japan.

In 2002 Kotzen bought a commercial building in Los Angeles and established a recording Studio/Production company. He has since been producing acclaimed solo albums and collaborating with various figures in rock (Gene Simmons), jazz, and fusion including jazz legend Stanley Clarke.

In mid-2006 Kotzen was the opening act in Japan for The Rolling Stones on their Bigger Bang tour.

He has also covered various songs from the Gundam franchise including Soldiers of Sorrow, The Beginning, The Winner, Blue Star, and Fly! Gundam.

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Buckethead biography

Brian Carroll (born May 13, 1969), better known by his stage name Buckethead, is a guitarist and multi instrumentalist who has worked within several genres of music. He has released 34 studio albums, four special releases and one EP. He has performed on over 50 more albums by other artists. His music spans such diverse areas as progressive metal, funk, blues, jazz, bluegrass, ambient, and avant-garde music.

Buckethead used to wear a KFC bucket on his head, emblazoned with an orange bumper sticker that read FUNERAL in capital black block letters, and an expressionless plain white costume mask. More recently, he switched to a plain white bucket that no longer bore the KFC logo, but has since switched back to his trademark KFC bucket. He also incorporates nunchucks and robot dancing into his stage performances.

An instrumentalist, Buckethead is best known for his electric guitar playing.] He has been voted number 8 on a list in GuitarOne magazine of the "Top 10 Greatest Guitar Shredders of All Time" as well as being included in Guitar World's lists of the "25 all-time weirdest guitarists" and is also known for being in the "50 fastest guitarists of all time list".

Buckethead performs primarily as a solo artist. He has collaborated extensively with a wide variety of high profile artists such as Bill Laswell, Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell, Iggy Pop, Les Claypool, Serj Tankian, Bill Moseley, Mike Patton, Viggo Mortensen, and was a member of Guns N' Roses from 2000 to 2004. Buckethead has also written and performed music for major motion pictures, including: Saw II, Ghosts of Mars, Beverly Hills Ninja, Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Last Action Hero, and the main soundtrack of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie.

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Synyster Gates biography

Brian Elwin Haner, Jr. (born July 7, 1981), better known by his stage name Synyster Gates or simply Syn, is an American musician, best known for being the lead guitarist of the American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold.

Haner attended Mayfair High School in Lakewood, but he later transferred and graduated from Huntington Beach High School in Huntington Beach, California.

He studied at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood as part of the Guitar Institute of Technology program, studying jazz and classical guitar. After a year or so of being there, he got a phone call from The Rev asking him if he wanted to join his band, as lead guitarist. Haner joined rather than continuing his education and becoming a studio musician. Up until that time he was primarily self-taught by watching music videos and reading books. His father, Brian Haner, Sr., also known as "Guitar Guy," is a songwriter, and guitarist.

Gates joined Avenged Sevenfold when he was 18 in 1999, right after the recording of the band's first album, Sounding the Seventh Trumpet. He was featured on the EP To End The Rapture, on the band's first album.

Gates became the band's lead guitarist. After Sounding the Seventh Trumpet, the band has released 4 studio albums: Waking the Fallen, City of Evil, Avenged Sevenfold, Nightmare and a live DVD/CD Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough.

On the Avenged Sevenfold DVD All Excess, Gates claimed that his name was created on a drunken drive through the park with The Rev.

He has won numerous awards, including the 2006 Metal Hammer "Young Shredder" award and the 2006 Total Guitar Magazine "Guitarist of the Year."

In Revolver magazine, the Avenged Sevenfold special edition that was released the same day as the Nightmare album, Gates stated that he originally started out writing the song "So Far Away" in honor of his grandfather, but now honors his late bandmate The Rev as well.

On April 20, 2011, Gates won the Revolver Golden God award for Best Guitarist along with band mate, Zacky Vengeance. Avenged Sevenfold picked up numerous other awards and delivered the headlining performance of the night.

Haner, along with The Rev, played in an avant-garde metal band named Pinkly Smooth. Formed in the summer of 2001 in Huntington Beach, California, the band featured ex-Ballistico members Buck Silverspur on bass and D-Rock on drums. The band has released one album, Unfortunate Snort on Bucktan Records, which features a crossover sound of mostly punk, ska and avant-garde. Former Avenged Sevenfold bassist Justin Meacham played keyboards and piano on the album. There was speculation that Pinkly Smooth was going to produce another record, but due to the death of The Rev, it is highly unlikely that they will produce any more material. However, Synyster Gates has said that he would consider remastering the tracks from Unfortunate Snort and re-releasing the album.

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John Petrucci biography

 John Petrucci (born July 12, 1967) is the guitarist and a founding member of the progressive metal group Dream Theater. He is a popular musician in the progressive metal genre and utilizes a mixture of styles when playing, such as shredding and flamenco.

John first played guitar at age 8 when he noticed his sister (who was taking organ lessons at the time) was allowed to stay up past her bed time to practice. He soon dropped it when his plan failed. At age 12, he began playing again when he was invited into the band of his friend Kevin Moore, who would later become the keyboardist of Dream Theater. John began to practice in earnest whilst also working out so that his body could absorb the ultimate brunt of true shred. He was a largely self-taught guitarist who developed his skills through attempts to equal the chops of his idols, who included Steve Morse,
Steve Howe, Steve Vai, Al Di Meola, Alex Lifeson, and Allan Holdsworth. He has jokingly referred to his guitar idols as “the Steves and the Als”.

John attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts with childhood friend John Myung (bass), where they met future bandmate Mike Portnoy (drums). These three in addition to another childhood friend of Petrucci and Myung, Kevin Moore (Keyboards), formed the band Majesty, which would later become Dream Theater.

While Dream Theater is what John is most commonly associated with, he was also a part of the band Liquid Tension Experiment and has appeared as a guest on several records by other artists such as the Age of Impact album by the Explorers Club. It is worth mentioning, however, that Liquid Tension Experiment also included Dream Theater co-members Mike Portnoy and Jordan Rudess, Jordan joining Dream Theater after LTE’s success.

John also came out with a guitar instructional video, “Rock Discipline”, which covers alternate picking, warmup exercises, sweep picking, chords, legato, and other techniques for developing one’s guitar playing.

In 2001 he was chosen by Joe Satriani and Steve Vai to tour with them on the popular G3 guitar tour, which exposed him to a massive number of new fans and inspired him to record a solo album. Suspended Animation was released on March 1, 2005, and made available for order from his web site. He also appeared on the 2005, 2006 and 2007 G3 tours.

Petrucci also wrote and recorded two instrumental soundtrack songs for a Sega Saturn game titled Digital Pinball: Necronomicon. Each track is roughly two minutes long and they are simply titled “Prologue” and “Epilogue”. Petrucci is an avid Sega Saturn gamer, and has revealed in interviews that he never tours without one.

In 2007, John Petrucci went on G3 tour again, this time with Joe Satriani and Paul Gilbert.

Dream Theater bandmate Jordan Rudess revealed in an interview that Petrucci is a practicing Catholic. Petrucci is married to Rena Sands, a guitarist in the all-female heavy metal band Meanstreak, and they have 3 children, SamiJo and Reny (who are twins), and Kiara.

John Petrucci won the “Guitarist of the Year 2007” award recently in Total Guitar Magazine.

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