Guitarist 2016

The new box contains no fewer than three different Williams recordings of that most popular of all guitar works, Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez – from 1964 with the Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, from 1974 with Barenboim and the English Chamber Orchestra, and from 1983 with Frémaux and the Philharmonia Orchestra – plus a performance of its much-loved Adagio in Williams’s celebrated 1993 “Seville Concert”. That entire concert is presented here too, on both CD and DVD – the latter also including a bonus documentary portrait of the artist.

Trilogy is the seventh solo studio album by the United States-based blues guitarist and singer from Serbia, Ana Popović. It was released on May 20, 2016. Popović wrote or co-wrote the majority of the songs on the triple album, fifteen of the twenty-three songs. She enlisted the help of many top industry guest artists, such as guitarist Joe Bonamassa, lap steel guitarist Robert Randolph, rapper Al Kapone, and drummers Bernard Purdie and North Mississippi Allstars's Cody Dickinson. She also got some impressive support behind the scenes, with Tom Hambridge and Delfeayo Marsalis among others producing songs for the album. When interviewed by Guitar World, Popović explained that she has always had a mix of styles on her albums, blues, jazz and funk. Some fans told her how they separated out the styles, making compositions of one style or the other, which intrigued Popović.

Together with their countrymen Kreator and Sodom, Germany's Destruction constituted the dominating triumvirate of Teutonic thrash metal during the 1980s. And even though they ultimately failed to match these peers in terms of commercial success and longevity, at least two of their albums still qualify among the crème de la crème of the decade's speed metal. Heavy metal underwent a worldwide revolution in the early '80s, when the lingering lessons from '70s giants like Black Sabbath and Judas Priest crashed head-on with the D.I.Y. ethos of punk rock and the sheer velocity of Motörhead to spawn the much ballyhooed New Wave of British Heavy Metal, which, in turn sparked a far more powerful and lasting bastard offspring: thrash metal. Of all the nations contaminated by this musical virus as it proliferated unchecked, Germany was second only to the U.S. in terms of widespread infection…

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of their widely celebrated album ‘Agents of Fortune’, Blue Öyster Cult performed the seminal album in its glorious entirety at an exclusive concert for the Audience Music Network on Monday April 18, 2016 at Red Studios in Hollywood, CA in front a lucky little audience of invited guests…

Metallica formed in 1981 by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich. The duo first met through an ad in a Los Angeles-based music newspaper. At the time, Ulrich had little musical experience and no band but managed to secure a slot on an upcoming compilation record called “Metal Massacre”. Metallica’s contribution, “Hit The Lights”, featured Hetfield, Ulrich and lead guitarist Lloyd Grant. Afterwards, Ron McGovney became the band's bassist and Dave Mustaine joined the band as lead guitarist…