Guitar legend Paul Gilbert (Mr. Big, Racer X) spoke with Guitar World and revealed the 12 guitarists who shaped his sound. Following is an excerpt from the rundown.
Jimmy Page - Led Zeppelin
Gilbert: "When I was a teenager, Jimmy Page was not only my hero in terms of guitar sound but in terms of what a guitar player should look like. I used to wear my Les Paul super-low, almost hanging down to my knees, and I think that really influenced my wrist position and grip. All of that came from me trying to copy Jimmy. Probably the best day of my whole guitar-associated life was when I figured out that little bending lick in 'Heartbreaker'. To be able to get that bend in that pull-off and then hop to the next string in just the right way… that was the first time where I thought to myself, 'Oh, man – that sounds just like the record.' To me, the bending and the vibrato were like the fingerprint or like the business card of being a cool guitar player. If you had that vibrato together, you had it all, which was something that Jimmy planted in my ears."
Tony Iommi - Black Sabbath
Gilbert: "I have to include Tony here as I've just done this Dio record. Doing this record made me realize that the guitar players Dio played with – like Tony Iommi, Vivian Campbell, and Ritchie Blackmore – I love all of them. But Tony was the one that I could figure out when I was 12. His parts were simple enough, as a 12-year-old guitar player, [that] I could learn some things by ear. I realized that [with] songs like Sweet Leaf, with the lick toward the end – I played it over and over for like a year.
It got to the point where I played it so much, and it got easy for me, so I started to do variations on my own. From there, my doing that led me to evolve and start doing more complicated stuff that I can do now. It was some early versions of crazy lead tricks, but at the core of it, it was Tony playing Sweet Leaf. So, I really think that Tony's living in my hands, where he's in the engine room, so to speak. He's what's creating the power that everything else is being driven by."
Check out the complete list here.
The Dio Album consists of 10 standout and career-defining tracks, from “Neon Knights” and “Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll” to “Holy Diver” and “Man On The Silver Mountain”. As well as analysing Ronnie James Dio’s electrifying vocal melodies, Paul also enjoyed paying tribute to three incredibly talented guitar legends – Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Ritchie Blackmore of Rainbow and Vivian Campbell from the Dio band, who has been a member of British stadium rockers Def Leppard since 1992.
“Playing all these metal riffs like 'Stand Up And Shout', 'Neon Knights' and 'Kill The King' gave me serious chills,” grins Paul. “The guitar parts of Ritchie, Tony and Vivian brought no small number of goosebumps.”
“These amazing riffs are the steel girders of the songs, upon which everything else rests,” smiles Paul. “It had been a while since I’d been this deep into metal rhythm guitar playing, and it felt like I was digging up gold nuggets of fire with a magic platinum shovel. All while wearing a star-covered wizard hat! The guitar solos in these songs came screaming from distant mountaintops. Ritchie, Tony, and Vivian set the standard breathtakingly high.”
Engineered by Zach Bloomstein with Paul handling all of the instrumentation, save for Bill Ray’s inspired drum work, The Dio Album is undoubtedly the most sonically accurate tribute to the songs that made Ronnie James Dio a bona fide rock and roll legend. In order to truly hone in on the late singer’s essence, Paul Gilbert dissected many of the melodies line by line, throwing every inch of himself into the music. It was the only way to capture every ounce of the energy and emotion.
“Just like he sang: ‘The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams... it’s Heaven and Hell!’ Thank you, Ronnie, and long live rock and roll.”
Tracklisting:
"Neon Knights"
"Kill The King"
"Stand Up And Shout"
"Country Girl"
"Man On The Silver Mountain"
"Holy Diver"
"Heaven And Hell"
"Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll"
"Lady Evil"
"Don’t Talk To Strangers"
"Starstruck"
"The Last In Line"
"Man On The Silver Mountain":
"Heaven And Hell":
"Holy Diver":
