Metallica have posted another official video that recaps one of their overseas shows from this past spring.

Check out the official video from the band's April 24 show in Cape Town, South Africa, below. The clip features performances of "Leper Messiah" and "Motorbreath."

If you're pining for new music from the band, you might be in luck. They recently revealed they have 600 song ideas for their next album.

The band, who are working on the follow-up to 2008's Death Magnetic, recently told Rolling Stone that they have almost "600 ideas" for new songs, many of which stemmed from jam sessions that took place while they were on the road.

"I understand there are people waiting for a new record, and so are we," said Lars Ulrich. "But I can't stress about it. It's not like, 'Fuck, hurry up and get this record out.' Hurry up for what? So we can go play gigs? We already play gigs. We'll get there."

The band's next live show is July 6 when at the Rosklide Festival in Denmark. After that, there's an Asian tour that kicks off August 10 in Tokyo.

This is an excerpt from the August 2013 issue of Guitar World magazine. For the rest of this story, plus a tribute to Slayer's Jeff Hanneman and features on Buzz Osbourne of the Melvins, Joe Bonamassa, Steve Morse of Deep Purple, Eric Clapton's 2013 Crossroads Guitar Festival, the 25 Best Guitar & Music Apps and more, check out the August 2013 issue at the Guitar World Online Store.

Rage and despair are the ruling passions on Ready to Die, the new album by Iggy and the Stooges. Well, that and big boobs. Only James Newell Osterberg Jr., a.k.a. Iggy Pop, could follow up the disc’s death-haunted title track with an homage to humongous hooters, the aptly named “DD’s.”

“I guess I’ll accept that distinction,” Iggy says with a laugh. “It’s funny that that song gets a lot of attention. If it was as bad as some people say it is, it wouldn’t be getting noticed. But it’s getting noticed as much as its subject gets noticed.”

So the question becomes, does the 66-year-old godfather of punk spend more time these days thinking about death or boobs?

“Boobs,” he answers without hesitation. “It’s a more fun subject. Sometimes when I find myself thinking about death I’ll say to myself, ‘Jim, think about sex. You’ll feel better.’ ”

But apart from this track, Ready to Die’s tune stack skews more toward the dark side. With song titles like “Gun,” “Job,” “Burn,” “Sex and Money,” “Dirty Deal” and “Unfriendly World,” the disc is a rabid, guitar-charged howl ripped from today’s headlines—a soundtrack for the meltdown of Western civilization, spiked with the foreboding shadow of mortality and the napalm stench of a world that’s more brutal, ugly and money- and power-hungry than ever before.

“Well…all that stuff does pop up,” Iggy defers. “To be honest with you, it’s not like I walk around the street or my garden or the beach in rage and despair. But when I listen to James Williamson’s guitar and his music, those are the kind of lyrics that seem to suit it perfectly. What he does is intense.”

Williamson and Pop’s first studio collaboration was 1973’s seminal Raw Power album. It was a defining moment in rock history, an album that would go on to launch a thousand punk and alternative-rock bands and influence the development of heavy metal in the early Seventies. Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones and consummate alternative guitar stylist Johnny Marr are among Williamson’s greatest acolytes.

The Stooges split up amid scenes of drug-induced dysfunction a year after Raw Power’s release, their not so elegantly wasted final show documented on the 1974 live album Metallic K.O. Williamson went on to produce a few of Iggy’s solo recordings in the late Seventies but dropped out of music entirely in 1980. He attended California Polytechnic University and ended up working for Sony as vice president of technology standards. But now he’s back in black, and Ready to Die is the first studio album since Raw Power to bear the Iggy and the Stooges’ band name. Williamson produced Ready to Die and laid down the disc’s snarling viper’s nest of toxic rock guitar tracks.

“It’s impossible for this new album not to be compared to Raw Power,” Williamson says. “That’s the benchmark that everybody’s looking for. And we didn’t necessarily want to make another Raw Power. We already did that. But the goal I had was to make us sound like us. That’s what I think you’re hearing. It’s just hard-charging guitars, big drums and vocals.”

“Raw Power was my first album, and I didn’t really know what I was doing,” Williamson admits. “We recorded the basic tracks live, and there was a lot of bass bleeding into the drums. When all was said and done, we made the engineer do a lot of things he didn’t want to do. We were a bunch of bull-headed young guys.”

In contrast, Ready to Die is the work of mature rock and rollers on top of their game. Their craft, individually and collectively, is finely honed and supremely dialed in. But they seem to have lost very little of their youthful sound and fury. It never takes much to bring out Iggy’s inner beast. And after three decades cooped up in the corporate world, Williamson comes on like a wild panther sprung from his cage. He is one of those rare rock guitarists who combine the soul of a rock and roll animal with a scientist’s obsessive command of the physics of guitar tonality. Or in Iggy’s words, “He’s an ace vice president of nerd-ology now.”

Bringing Williamson back to rock was one of Iggy’s many great contributions to the music. The chain of events was set in motion in 2003 when Iggy reunited original Stooges Ron and Scott Asheton (guitar and drums, respectively) with ex-Minutemen/Firehose bassist Mike Watt, who took over from original Stooge Dave Alexander. But when Ron died in 2009, Iggy started talking to James Williamson again. It was their first real conversations since parting acrimoniously during the making of Iggy’s 1980 solo album, Soldier.

“I hated Williamson and Williamson hated me,” Iggy says bluntly of the situation in back in Eighties. “Everybody just hated being there in the studio. So I finished off the record by myself, with just a rhythm section.”

Photo: Jason Goodrich

For the rest of this story, plus our tribute to Slayer's Jeff Hanneman and features on Buzz Osbourne of the Melvins, Joe Bonamassa, Steve Morse of Deep Purple, Eric Clapton's 2013 Crossroads Guitar Festival, the 25 Best Guitar & Music Apps and more, check out the August 2013 issue at the Guitar World Online Store.

Finnish progressive metal band Amorphis released their 11th studio album, Circle, April 30 via Nuclear Blast Records in the US.

It's refreshingly more guitar-oriented than any of the band's previous efforts, and it has producer Peter Tägtgren's signature touch all over it.

I recently interviewed guitarist and main songwriter Esa Holopainen, and we discussed the making of the album and more. You can check out that portion of the interview right here. Below, you can hear a different portion of the interview, during which we discuss his gear and the band's live shows. Listen to the 14-minute conversation below, and visit Amorphis online at amorphis.net.

Andrew Bansal is a writer who has been running his own website, Metal Assault, since early 2010, and has been prolific in covering the hard rock and heavy metal scene by posting interviews, news, reviews and pictures on his website — with the help of a small group of people. He briefly moved away from the Los Angeles scene and explored metal in India, but he is now back in LA continuing from where he left off.

About 10 years ago, BBC disc jockey Spencer Leigh reviewed a show by my old band, the Badge, and wondered how we were able to write songs that matched the work of Rubber Soul-era Lennon & McCartney when McCartney couldn’t seem to muster the same magic.

It was a humbling comment, to say the least. We never thought of ourselves in that league, and to see it in print from a DJ we liked and respected made it all the more surreal.

So when I say that Willie Nile’s new American Ride reclaims that “new Dylan” mantel he was saddled with back around the time of his infamous self-titled debut (which is conveniently being reissued by Sony Legacy this month), I’m sure somewhere down in Greenwich Village Nile will bristle.

But American Ride is just that good. It’s full of confident songwriting and performances that come from talent and experience. In fact, there isn’t a track you’ll likely skip among the 12 gems on American Ride.

Of course, sobriquets aside, Nile has never really sounded like Dylan, and, while the influence is felt, he doesn’t here. Though Nile is often compared to Bruce Springsteen, and it’s perhaps a more apt comparison than Dylan, the songs that make up American Ride are better than anything Springsteen has released since the 1970s. Like Paul Weller or Alejandro Escovedo, Nile is another of the punk-era artists who is offering his best work right now. And like Weller and Escovedo, Nile’s recent albums (Streets of New York, House of A Thousand Guitars, The Innocent Ones and now American Ride) are mostly as good as, if not better than, anything he’s ever done.

Much of it, of course, is down to the songwriting. But Nile also has surrounded himself with a fantastic band, and the energy fairly drips from the speakers.

Alex Alexander (drums, percussion), Johnny Pisano (bass, vocals) and Matt Hogan (guitar) comprise Nile’s current live band, and they are the core to American Ride that makes things really tick throughout. Aided by Steuart Smith on guitars, banjo and harmonium, the band gives life to Nile’s poetry and mixes things up stylistically just enough to keep things interesting without straying too far afield from what is a fantastic formula.

“The camaraderie amongst musicians when it’s really good is really special,” Nile recently told me. American Ride is proof of that.

“I know we have something special to give,” Nile went on. “I’ve played all over Europe recently with Alex and Johnny and Matt, and those audiences are tough, but once you win them over they’re really with you, and that’s been my experience lately playing shows over there with these guys. If you come to our shows and you’re not a fan yet, man you will be when you leave.”

Nile has been everywhere in the States lately, too, playing in-stores and libraries and tearing up the Highline here in New York City last night at the launch for American Ride. By all means catch him. It’s a live show that’s not to be missed. But be sure to pick up American Ride first. You’ll feel left out if you’re not part of the club that makes up Nile’s rabid audience and you’ll be missing one of the true classics of 2013.

Jeff Slate is a NYC-based solo singer-songwriter and music journalist. He founded and fronted the band the Badge for 15 years beginning in 1997 and has worked with Pete Townshend, Earl Slick, Carlos Alomar, Steve Holley, Laurence Juber and countless others. He has interviewed and written about everyone from the Beatles and Kiss to Monty Python and rock musicals on Broadway. He is an avid collector of rock and roll books and bootlegs and has an encyclopedic knowledge of all things Dylan and the Beatles. For more information, visit jeffslate.net.

Heavy metal has lost all form of legitimacy as musical genre.

I believe it has evolved, or devolved, to the point where it has become something so different from what it once was, that it now is a different genre all together.

People could argue that music trends change constantly with new generations that influence what is popular. However, jazz is still jazz, blues is still blues, but metal is no longer metal. Traditional forms of music such as the ones I mentioned have changed over time, but not as quickly or as drastically as metal. In fact, the only other genre that seems to change so often and with such extremes is pop music.

There are many factors that have caused the change, and the biggest is the over-monopolization of record labels. But that's not what I want to talk about. Recently I decided I no longer want to be known as a metal guitar player. My reasons will hopefully be explained through this blog post. Here are my three biggest issues with heavy metal bands today.

The first is the loss of the blues influence in metal. If my memory serves me correctly, I believe the first time the phrase "heavy metal" was used was to describe Jimi Hendrix in a review in the '60s. Following this, it was used as a marketing phrase by record labels to describe bands in the late '70s. Finally, by the '80s heavy metal had become its own genre and formed numerous sub genres (far too many to list).

I don't want to get into the debate of what is or isn't metal, but the three bands that seem to come up consistently when talking about the origins of metal are Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. All three were blues-influenced hard rock bands, and that is where is metal came from. On a side note: All three bands don't like to refer to themselves as heavy metal.

If you analyze metal music released today, you'll notice the lack of blues influence. The loss of the blues in metal is something that happened gradually over the last 20 years. This is evident when listening to guitar solos from current metal guitarists, which leads to my next problem.

Why do all new metal guitarists sound the same and have a lack of individuality?

Have you noticed all virtuoso metal guitarists try to sound musically intellectual by stating that in addition to metal they are influenced by classical and jazz fusion? It's become such a cliche, but virtually all "'shredders" list these two genres as influences. I would bet that 99 percent of them are only interested in the technical nature of those genres and have absolutely no interest in the musical properties or the actual compositions.

The new generation of metal guitarists is so busy trying to show what they can do technically that they've forgotten that the point of a guitar solo is to make something that is interesting musically and that the listeners will enjoy. My advice to young guitar players is to focus on melody. You will actually stand out and be unique if your solos express emotion rather than just demonstrate your technical prowess.

Finally, the thing that annoys me the most about metal is how ridiculous the majority of the so-called "metal musicians" look and act.

Do you remember the film This Is Spinal Tap? Metal has gone so far beyond that film that I don't believe the majority of musicians can be taken seriously based on how they look and act.

I regularly research new bands online, and after seeing so many band photos and music videos where the musicians are trying to portray a "metal image," I can't help but feel as if it's being forced. If you look at the classic metal bands from the '70s, such as Zeppelin, Purple and Sabbath, they didn't feel the need to dress up or try to act tough. Look at any video of those bands performing live, and all you will see on stage is the musicians and their instruments. Those bands had no gimmicks; it was 100 percent about the music. Only inferior musicians need to make a spectacle out of themselves to sell their music.

My advice to metal bands today would be to focus on being good musicians and making amazing music.

As I mentioned in the beginning, due to the over-monopolization of record labels, it's impossible to get a deal with a big label unless you have a marketing gimmick and are fashionable. The whole industry has become so corporate that you need to fit a certain mold in order get interest. It's a real shame because that's not how metal used to be. Today metal has such strict boundaries on how you must look, act and sound that there's little room for creativity or musicianship.

I didn't even begin to talk about the production used on metal today where bands have sacrificed the feel and soul of their instruments in exchange for a punchy mix.

My goal with this blog post is to provoke discussion. I'm not an authority on the subject. I'm just a fan who loves classic metal bands like Rainbow, early Van Halen, Thin Lizzy, etc.

Cheers!

Will Wallner is a guitarist from England now living in Los Angeles. He is the lead guitarist for White Wizzard (Earache Records) and in 2012 toured Japan, America and Canada. He recently signed a solo deal with Polish record label Metal Mind Productions for the release of his debut album, which features some of the most influential musicians from hard rock/heavy metal. Follow Will on Facebook and Twitter.

Guitarist Kiko Loureiro, who, as a member of Brazilian power metal juggernaut Angra, has earned his claim to fame and has nothing more to prove. His technical prowess and exciting playing have garnered him fans and admirers from across the globe.

We recently tracked down Loureiro to discuss his fourth solo album, Sounds of Innocence, which came out June 18 via Norcal Studios.

For more about Loureiro, visit his official website and follow him on Facebook.

GUITAR WORLD: This is your fourth album. What differentiates it from your previous releases, and do you consider it your best work yet?

I believe so. Not because the songs are better, but because this is a great moment in my life. I love all my work, and they really represent me in each moment or stage of my life. The composition period for this album, looking back on it now, was a great period because I was a few months into being a new father during the demo and album recordings.

This was a great inspiration, especially after 20 years. It is such a long time, and it can be dangerous to start playing only past ideas and having problems coming up with something new that pleases me and everyone else.

The moment, and consequently, the album, brought out the experience and yet, the innocence. It is the result of the dilemma of experience versus innocence. Experience meaning the good and bad. The good side of when you know what you have to do and the bad side when you have that feeling that you’ve done it already, or you know someone else has. The experience takes you out of the “Let’s conquer the world with my music," when you lose the faith in the industry and all that.

Now the innocence takes you back to the playful moments of creating art, without worrying whether or not someone will like it. I’m very happy with this album because I believe I found a good balance between my experience and my innocence. That's also the reason behind the name of the album.

What songs from Sounds of Innocence are you particularly proud of and why?

"Reflective" represents the innocence. It is a very simple song. The melody, the structure, etc. It has very few challenging things to play, but the simplicity of it is the key. It was a song that came naturally, and it just feels so good to play and listen. I also love "Mãe D'Água" (It means "mother of water," a native Brazilian’s river mermaid) where it's all about Brazilian groove (Ijexá) mixed with a beautiful melody. I believe I found a good balance again with "Mãe D’Água." It's a very relaxing song. "The Hymn" was kind of a tribute to Jeff Beck. I'm quite proud of the composition and grooves I got for that tune.

You have a lot of fans out there who say things like, "Kiko's skills are unreal." What advice do you have for players who want to reach your skill level?

I believe there are many important factors, but here are the most important things to do:

• Be constantly motivated by references and be self-motivated: Your guitar heroes, your teacher, books, movies, DVDs, shows, master classes, friends who play better than you, etc. Surround yourself with that and never give up.

• Discipline: Being motivated is the first step. Naturally the next step is to be excited and play every day. This is when you should get yourself organized to get the best of your practice time.

• Power of habits: As Aristotle said, “We are what we constantly do. Excellence it is not an act but a habit." So when you're motivated, disciplined and focused, all of this becomes a part of your life and turns into a habit you can carry on for your life. Naturally then, your skill set will get constantly sharpened.

Did you experience any epiphanies in your younger days — practice- or learning-wise — that helped your playing in a huge way? Also, were there any instructors or DVDs that helped you a great deal?

I admit I'm not as disciplined as I was during my teenage years, and I believe knowing what I was going to practice beforehand every day was really important to me. Figuring out what you’re already good at and what you need to develop, and building a strategy for practicing for the week or the month. Aligned with that, I had a great teacher in Sao Paulo called Mozart Mello, and all my VHS tapes and DVDs helped me with all of my rock-based techniques. The first instructional videos from Frank Gambale, Paul Gilbert, Robben Ford, etc.

I was also fortunate to grow up in Brazil, where I listening to a lot of our rich music. I incorporated that to my rock skills in order to find a flavor for my own playing, find my own style, in a way.

What can you tell us about your "Conflicted" music video?

It is always hard to choose just one song for a music video, especially from an album with so many different styles. I believe “Conflicted” is a song with great energy for a video, and I believe because of that, guitarists and non-guitarists would enjoy it. It has many prog moments, and it's a colorful tune with many different moments and atmospheres.

In a recent interview, Andre Matos said Angra should call it quits following their split with Edu Falaschi. What do you think of that?

This reminds me of when Prince said he would quit music because of the lack of regulation, piracy, downloads, etc. Prince said it was a mess, like the gold rush. Sometimes we get frustrated with what we do, and we have the tendency to over-react when we go through hard times like this. The point is, we all love what we do and we try our best to make things happen in any scenario. Angra has its legacy in the Brazilian metal scene. We have a tour coming up in August, and lots of fans want to listen to the songs, so we think, why not? Being on stage is the best moment for an artist.

Would you like to see Angra reunite with Matos?

Fans would love to see us together, for sure, but I feel it's more important to share the good stage moments with those who are a part of it now. I respect the ones who want to leave the past in the past. I believe legacy is very important and that celebrating it is sometimes necessary.

Dave Reffett is a Berklee College of Music graduate and has worked with some of the best players in rock and metal. He is an instructor at (and the head of) the Hard Rock and Heavy Metal department at The Real School of Music in the metro Boston area. He also is a master clinician and a highly-in-demand private guitar teacher. He teaches lessons in person and worldwide via Skype. As an artist and performer, he is working on some soon-to-be revealed high-profile projects with A-list players in rock and metal. In 2009, he formed the musical project Shredding The Envelope and released the critically acclaimed album The Call Of The Flames. Dave also is an official artist endorsee for companies like Seymour Duncan, Gibson, Eminence and Esoterik Guitars, which in 2011 released a Dave Reffett signature model guitar, the DR-1. Dave has worked in the past at Sanctuary Records and Virgin Records, where he promoting acts like The Rolling Stones, Janet Jackson, Korn and Meat Loaf.

An expanded band lineup has been announced for the second annual Monster Energy’s Aftershock Festival.

Additions to Northern California's biggest summer rock festival — September 14 and 15 at Discovery Park near downtown Sacramento, California — include Sunday co-headliner Five Finger Death Punch, along with Testament, Filter, Miss May I, Thousand Foot Krutch, Love And Death, We As Human, Eye Empire, Gemini Syndrome, Girl On Fire and Butcher Babies.

"We're excited to take the new albums out on the road so fans can hear some of the new music live,” says Five Finger Death Punch vocalist Ivan Moody. “And what better way to kick off our fall tour than with a massive festival like Aftershock?"

The updated daily band performance lineup for Monster Energy’s Aftershock Festival is as follows:

Saturday, September 14:

Korn, Megadeth, Shinedown, Papa Roach, Skillet, Buckcherry, Testament, In This Moment, Steel Panther, P.O.D., Pop Evil, Thousand Foot Krutch, Otherwise, Love And Death, We As Human, Heaven’s Basement, Girl On Fire, Nothing More

Sunday, September 15:

Avenged Sevenfold, Five Finger Death Punch, Volbeat, A Day To Remember, Asking Alexandria, Halestorm, HIM, Falling In Reverse, All That Remains, Filter, Device, Miss May I, SOiL, Airbourne, Eye Empire, Gemini Syndrome, Butcher Babies, Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands Winner TBA

Bands will perform on one of the festival’s three stages: Monster Energy Main Stage East, Monster Energy Main Stage West and the Ernie Ball Stage.

Steel Panther and special guests (TBA) will kick off the weekend at the Monster Energy’s Aftershock Festival pre-party Friday, September 13 at Ace Of Spades in Sacramento. The pre-party is FREE for Monster Energy’s Aftershock Festival ticketholders.

As part of a special ticket promotion in connection with Five Finger Death Punch’s addition to the Monster Energy’s Aftershock Festival lineup, a "Five Finger Discount” ticket package promotion hosted by Revolver will take place 10 a.m. PT Monday, July 1, through 11:59 p.m. PT Sunday, July 7.

The "Five Finger Discount” ticket package includes:

• Two-day general admission ticket to Aftershock Festival
• A one-year subscription to Revolver Magazine
• A copy of the new Five Finger Death Punch album The Wrong Side Of Heaven And The Righteous Side Of Hell Volume 1 (out July 30) for FREE.

Details are as follows:

"Five Finger Discount” 2-day General Admission Ticket Package

• Cost: $89.50
• *** TICKET LINK: http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/1C004ABDB3814B5E ***
• *** PASSWORD: 5FDP4LIFE ***

The first of two new 5FDP albums this year, The Wrong Side Of Heaven And The Righteous Side Of Hell, Volume 1 comes out July 30 and can be pre-ordered at fivefingerdeathpunch.com now.

"Due to all the new bands being announced, and out of respect to all their fans, we want to offer each and every band’s fan base the opportunity to purchase these ‘Five Finger Discount’ tickets at a pre-sale price," says festival creator/producer Danny Wimmer of Danny Wimmer Presents.

Beginning July 1, Monster Energy’s Aftershock Festival 2-day tickets can be purchased for $99 — with no service fees — at the following select area Hooters locations:

1785 Challenge Way, Sacramento, CA 95815; https://www.facebook.com/HootersSac

10750 Olson Dr, Cordova, CA 95670; https://www.facebook.com/HootersRancho

3541 Truxel Rd, Sacramento, CA 95834; https://www.facebook.com/HootersofNatomas

Regularly priced Monster Energy’s Aftershock Festival weekend and single-day tickets, as well as VIP and hotel packages, are on sale now at AftershockConcert.com, Ticketmaster.com and at all Ticketmaster outlets. Ticket prices will increase Monday, July 8, as follows:

2-Day General Admission: $109.50
Single Day General Admission: $59.50
2-Day VIP: $219
Single Day VIP: $120
Revolver GA Ticket 4-Pack: $357 (includes a single one-year subscription to Revolver Magazine per 4-pack purchase)

Gates for Monster Energy’s Aftershock Festival open 11 a.m. each day.

Monster Energy’s Aftershock Festival is produced by Danny Wimmer Presents, producer of Welcome to Rockville in Jacksonville, Florida, and a partner in the biggest rock festivals in America, including Rock On The Range in Columbus, Ohio, Carolina Rebellion in Charlotte, North Carolina,Epicenter—Southern California’s Rock Festival, as well as the Rock Allegiance Tour.

The festival is fueled by Monster Energy. Additional sponsors for the 2013 event include Coors Light, Zing Vodka, Ernie Ball Guitar Strings, Schecter Guitars, Hooters, Army and The Crazy Dave's Music Experience

Website: AftershockConcert.com
Facebook: facebook.com/AftershockFestival
Twitter: http://twitter.com/AFTERSHOCKSAC

The all-new August 2013 issue of Guitar World magazine is available now!

This month's issue features a tribute to Slayer's Jeff Hanneman, who influenced a generation of guitarists and changed the course of metal forever. Guitar World presents the complete, untold story of the late Slayer guitarist, who was behind such legendary thrash anthems as "Angels of Death,""South of Heaven" and "War Ensemble."

The August issue also includes Joe Bonamassa, who, on the heels of his London retrospective, shows talks about his busy career, his new album with singer Beth Hart and his ongoing love affair with the ultimate blues electric guitar, the Gibson Les Paul "Burst."

Also, on Ready to Die, Iggy Pop and James Williamson fire up a scathing indictment of a world gone horribly wrong. The godfather of punk talks to Guitar World about making Iggy and the Stooges' first new studio album in 40 years.

Plus, guitar virtuoso Steve Morse keeps Deep Purple alive and pumping on stages around the world. He discusses their new studio album, Now What?!

The issue also features:

Eric Clapton teams up with Jeff Beck, B.B. King, Gary Clark Jr. and other greats for the 2013 Crossroads Festival; 25 guitar and music apps you need to turn your smartphone or tablet into an extension of your guitar ... and much more!

Gear reviews include new products from Kemper, Blue Microphones, ESP, Budda, B.C. Rich, BBE, Danelectro and more. Check out the August 2013 VIDEOS PAGE right here

Five Songs with Tabs for Guitar and Bass!

• Slayer - "Raining Blood"
• Styx - "Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)"
• Goo Goo Dolls - "Iris"
• Queen - "We Are the Champions"
• Deep Purple - "Burn"

The August 2013 issue of Guitar World is available now at newsstands and at the Guitar World Online Store.

A few years ago, the editors of Guitar World magazine compiled what we feel is the ultimate guide to the 100 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time.

The list, which has been quoted by countless artists, websites and publications around the world, starts with Richie Sambora's work on Bon Jovi's “Wanted Dead or Alive” (Number 100) and builds to a truly epic finish with Jimmy Page's solo on "Stairway to Heaven" (Number 1).

To quote our "Stairway to Heaven" story that ran with the list, "If Jimmy Page is the Steven Spielberg of guitarists, then 'Stairway' is his Close Encounters."

We've kicked off a summer blockbuster of our own — a no-holds-barred six-string shootout. We're pitting Guitar World's top 64 guitar solos against each other in an NCAA-style, 64-team single-elimination tournament. Every day, we will ask you to cast your vote in a different guitar-solo matchup as dictated by the 64-team-style bracket.

You can vote only once per matchup. The voting for each matchup ends as soon as the next matchup is posted (Basically, that's one poll per day during the first round of elimination, including weekends and holidays).

In some cases, genre will clash against genre; a thrash solo might compete against a Southern rock solo, for instance. But let's get real: They're all guitar solos, played on guitars, by guitarists, most of them in some subset of the umbrella genre of rock. When choosing, it might have to come down to, "Which solo is more original and creative? Which is more iconic? or Which one kicks a larger, more impressive assemblage of asses?"

Yesterday's Results

Winner:"Bohemian Rhapsody" (77.77 percent)
Loser:"Light My Fire" (22.23 percent)


Today's Round 1 Matchup (Day 23):
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" Vs. "Cortez the Killer"

Today, Kurt Cobain's guitar solo on Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (26) squares off against Neil Young's epic solo on "Cortez the Killer" (39). Get busy! You'll find the poll at the very bottom of the story.

26. “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
Soloist: Kurt Cobain
Album: Nirvana—Nevermind (Geffen, 1991)

“I was trying to write the ultimate pop song,” explained the late Kurt Cobain. “It’s such a clichéd riff—it’s so close to Boston’s ‘More Than a Feeling’ riff or Richard Berry’s ‘Louie Louie.’ When I came up with the guitar part, Krist [Novoselic, bass] looked at me and said, ‘That’s so ridiculous.’ So I made the band play it for an hour and a half.”

39. "Cortez the Killer"
Soloist: Neil Young
Album: Zuma (Reprise, 1975)

“Cortez the Killer” hails from Zuma, one of Neil Young’s most overlooked albums, often lost in the shuffle of its predecessor, the much-praised Tonight’s the Night, which came out just five months prior. But there’s really a very simple explanation for the song’s high rating. Just take it from Young himself, who once proclaimed that, “ ‘Cortez’ is some of my best guitar playing ever!”

Remarkably, the song’s structure was largely shaped by an accident—a power failure which occurred in the midst of recording a perfect, transcendent take of the song. Rather than recut the tune, Young just plowed forward and later he and producer David Briggs went back and did some creative editing, which required the lopping off of several verses. “They missed a whole verse, a whole section!” Young says. “You can hear the splice on the recording where we stop and start again. It’s a messy edit…incredible! It was a total accident. But that’s how I see my best art, as one magical accident after another. That’s what is so incredible.”

“Cortez the Killer,” about the Spanish explorer who conquered Mexico with bloody success, is also a prime example of Young’s physical style of lead playing.

“I am a naturally very destructive person,” he says. “And that really comes out in my guitar playing. Man, if you think of guitar playing in terms of boxing…well, let’s just say I’m not the kind of guitarist you’d want to play against. I’m just scarred by life. Nothing in particular. No more scarred than anyone else. Only other people often don’t let themselves know how damaged they are, like I do, and deal with it.”

Cast Your Vote!

Head HERE to see today's matchup and all the matchups that have taken place so far!

Today, GuitarWorld.com presents the exclusive premiere of "Party Dress," a new song by New York City rockers the Young Things.

The song is a non-album B-side from the sessions from their just-released debut album, Hello Love//Goodbye Sexual, which came out June 4 via Battle Worldwide (Frenchkiss Label Group).

With soaring guitars and vintage melodies (skillfully infused with just a hint of whiskey), "Party Dress," is a potent mix of party-ready rock that screams with the spit and grit of their hometown.

For more about the Young Things, visit their official website and Facebook page.

During the next few weeks, while Lamb of God are gearing up for overseas dates overseas in August, vocalist Randy Blythe is busy gearing up for the release of his upcoming memoir.

The book, which puts emphasis on the past year of his life, is a harrowing, redemptive story told in Blythe’s well-recognized writing style.

Almost every major media outlet has attempted to righteously cover the story of Blythe’s arrest, incarceration, trial and acquittal for manslaughter in the Czech Republic last year, but now, the man at the center of it all will unveil the truths of the ordeal, detailing every aspect in his own words. No ghost-writers, no co-authors, just Randy Blythe.

“While I've dreamed of being a published author almost since I began to read, I never imagined my first book would center around such a sad topic. Sometimes though, life unexpectedly provides you a story that needs to be told,” Blythe says.

“I believe this one does (for several different reasons, not just for the benefit of myself), so I will tell it with the respect and dignity all involved deserve. This will be a good read, I promise you, and I hope some good comes of it.”

Blythe is pleased to announce that the rights to this still-untitled memoir, slated to hit stores in spring 2014, have been sold to Da Capo Press.

More details are set to be announced soon. For more on Da Capo Press, visit dacapopress.com.

ZZ Ward is a 21st-century twist on blued-eyed soul. An enthralling collection of contradictions. Gutsy. Gorgeous. And just downright skilled.

With hip-hop beats meshed with a Latin feel and Ward’s signature growl, her album’s title track, “Til the Casket Drops,” sets the stage for this well-written, innovative, collection of catchy cuts. Happily divergent from the typical singer/songwriter vibe, Ward moves to a different drummer, literally!

Her writing style and powerful voice are well showcased throughout. With elements of R&B, rap, hip-hop, soul, rock and a few other curves thrown in for good measure, Ward’s Til the Casket Drops is a nonconformist triumph — and one of the most distinctive albums I’ve heard this year.

She calls her music “dirty shine.”

“It’s about embracing your authentic self, doing what makes you happy and committing to it," Ward says. "That’s the message people have been getting from that phrase, so it’s inspiring.”

Produced by Neff-U (Michael Jackson, Ne-Yo, Mary J. Blige), Til the Casket Drops is Ward’s debut full-length. But this artist has spent several years in the spotlight honing her writing and performance skills. Ward has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Conan, Last Call with Carson Daly and Jimmy Kimmel Live. She’s also had her music featured on ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars, MTV's Awkward and in promos for ABC's series Nashville.

Now traveling throughout the summer and into autumn on her “Down and Dirty Shine” tour, Ward took a few moments to give us the scoop.

GUITAR WORLD: You’ve been touring a lot in support of your new album. In fact, you've just announced more dates.

Yeah, totally. That's the name of the game right now. We're just getting out there, going all over the country. We just went to Europe. We went to London and Paris and played some shows there. It's a whole different world over there. It's crazy. To go to a whole different region just to play music is so fascinating to me. I mean everything is different there. There are acts there that are huge that we haven't even heard of, especially in France.

What made you pick up the guitar in the first place?

When I was like a little kid, my brother borrowed an acoustic guitar from his friend. I would play with the strings a little bit, but I never learned a chord or anything. So, the first time I actually got into guitar was through the guitar player in my dad's blues band. Mike was a really great guitarist; he played a lot of blues. He could probably play any style, and he started giving me lessons on guitar.

He gave me kind of nontraditional lessons. If I would've gone to a different teacher, maybe they would have taught me scales and things like that. But he would really teach me whatever I wanted to learn. If I'd be like, "Can you break down a solo for me?" or "Break down a blues song for me." Then he would break it down for me, show me the chords, which is really cool for me as a writer. Because eventually, I would learn chords, and then I would kind of make them into other things, 'cause that's always the way I worked. I was really good at being creative with things instead of doing the norm, I guess.

I got into it later when I was like 17, though. It wasn’t really early. It was a great tool to write songs.

He really kept your interest going.

Yes, and the first guitar I had was a black electric Ibanez, and I'd play it through a little amp. And it sounded horrible. It sounded so bad. And it's so funny, because I would really recommend, when you're first starting out, as they say, to, "Just get some crappy guitar. Learn on it." Maybe that's the right way to go, but it made such a big difference when I had a good guitar.

Was it hard to play? Sometimes I think people will buy those low-end guitars to start, and they're so hard to play that it's discouraging.

Yeah, it was hard to play. I remember the day I went and got a good guitar, he went with me, I brought him because, you know, I’d go up to Guitar Center in Oregon and I wouldn't know what to get. I brought Mike with me, because he knew what was what.

Everyone goes there and sits down and plays, and I wasn’t comfortable with that. So he would sit down and play, and I'd be like, "Yeah, I'm with him." And then we'd pick a guitar. I have a Fender Stratocaster that I actually never play now. And then I have my Martin, which is my acoustic, my electric-acoustic.

Is that what you play live?

No, actually. I play Collings. Collings is amazing. It's the best guitar I've ever had. The feel is incredible.

Do you play electric, too?

I don't play electric live. It's really interesting with that. For some reason, I really like the organic sound. Maybe one day I'll get into it with writing but for me, I just like the organic sound of an acoustic guitar.

Let’s talk about your writing. How do you get started?

I try not to be limited by the guitar. I try to come up with melodies and stuff first, just vocally, before I come up with chords. 'Cause sometimes coming up with chords kind of limits you to what you're writing, I think. But I use guitar as my main instrument for writing.

That's interesting that you write on acoustic guitar, because your songs are not the typical singer/songwriter style.

Yes, I keep things very rhythmic.

And you do some crazy, interesting things with how things are processed, and the instrumentation. What was the recording process like? Who else played with you?

There’s a producer named Neff-U. He's produced over half my record, and we just had a ball. It was so much fun. He's a good guy. And Neff-U's main instrument is keys. So, he plays a lot of keys on the record and the beats. He lays the beats, and we're in there producing together. He was producing, but I was there supporting him.

Right. Giving him input.

Yes, definitely, lots of input. I'm full of input.

And then we would bring some studio musicians in for certain things. We didn't have a certain band that we would have play on the record. Although, Eric Walls, who's my guitarist who plays with me live now, he's one of the best guitarists I've ever heard in my life. He's amazing. I'm very fortunate to play with him. He plays on "Charlie Ain't Home." So, he actually, is on the record.

Do you have any guitar influences?

I would say, for me, as a guitarist it's more people who are songwriters that utilize the guitar to write great songs. So, I'd say Tom Petty, I'd say Jack White. I mean Prince is obviously amazing. Those would be some. For me, it wouldn't be people like, you know, Jeff Beck or Slash for me 'cause I'm not a lead player. Although, I think they're incredible. I was actually surprised when I saw Prince play guitar, 'cause I had no idea he was so good.

Did you play the songs live from the album before you went in to record them?

Not really. And I'll tell you why. If you take a song that you wrote that has no production to it and no instrumentation and you play it with a band, then you're relying on the band you're playing with to come up with parts and make stuff up. So I chose not to do it that way. I played one of my songs live and I couldn't get the band to play it the way that I heard it. There's an art to sitting in the studio, and then producing something and taking the time to really create something.

So, after I did it once, then I was like, "No, we gotta find the right producer to work on this record." And then, from there, that was the step I took. We produce it, then we play it live. I'm a solo artist. That's the way I work.

That makes sense. So, is there a particular song or two off the album that you really dig playing live?

I like when we go into the more broken down stuff just because I like to change. So, I like playing "Charlie Ain't Home" and plus, on some of the songs like "Last Love Song.” With "Charlie Ain't Home," I kind of pushed myself to come up with more picking patterns instead of just basic chords to write the song.

Do you have a bit advice that you want to share with other players out there?

I would say figure out what you're into. Figure out if you want to be a songwriter or if you want to be a lead player or if you want to be a guitarist in a band. Try to really think about what you want to do, and then focus on it. Because I think there are different ways to approach a guitar based on what you want to do. That's what I would say.

That's cool. And so, next for you is touring, touring, and touring?

Yes, Touring, touring, touring.

Check out new dates and more at zzward.com.

Laura B. Whitmore is a singer/songwriter based in the San Francisco bay area. A veteran music industry marketer, she has spent over two decades doing marketing, PR and artist relations for several guitar-related brands including Marshall and VOX. Her company, Mad Sun Marketing, represents Dean Markley, Agile Partners, Peavey, Jammit, Notion Music, Guitar World and many more. Laura was instrumental in the launch of the Guitar World Lick of the Day app. She is the founder of the Women's International Music Network at thewimn.com, producer of the Women's Music Summit and the lead singer for the rock band Summer Music Project. More at mad-sun.com.

Avenged Sevenfold guitarist Synyster Gates has teamed up with Guitar Center, Schecter Guitars and Ernie Ball to launch the "Ultimate Master Class Fly Away with Synyster Gates" contest.

Start by downloading seven backing tracks by Avenged Sevenfold — and then make videos of yourself playing along to the tracks.

Gates will listen to the submissions that are ranked highest by the social media audience. Gates will then select the winners and their guests to be flown to Los Angeles to attend an incredible master class by the Avenged Sevenfold shredder himself.

Winners will receive:

• VIP trip to Los Angeles with a guest to attend a master class with Gates in the Guitar Center Hollywood Vintage Room
• Schecter Guitars Synyster Gates special electric guitar
• A behind-the-scenes tour of the Schecter factory and custom shop
• Ernie Ball accessory prize pack.

To download the backing tracks — and to find out how to enter the Master Class contest (and to read the official rules and regulations) — visit Guitarcenter.com/a7x.

The following content is related to the August 2013 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now, or in our online store.

In this and next month’s columns, I’d like pay tribute to one of my biggest musical heroes, the late, great tenor saxphonist Michael Brecker. His huge tone, jaw-dropping chops and ferociously funky and always brilliantly compelling solos inspired me early on to learn the language of jazz and taught me a great deal about the art of phrasing and playing intriguing, “outside”-sounding lines that have a method to their musical madness—meaning a theoretical basis that one can analyze, learn from and apply.

And so, I’ve composed a 32-bar solo, presented in two parts and played over a repeating eight-bar chord progression, that was inspired by Brecker’s improvisation on the track "Quartet No. 2 (Part 2: Dedicated to John Coltrane)" from pianist Chick Corea’s 1981 album Three Quartets. That performance features Brecker, backed by an elite acoustic jazz rhythm section, soloing over essentially the same chord progression, albeit in a different key, C minor. My tribute solo is in the more guitarist-familiar key of E minor and follows the progression Em7-C13-B7alt-Em9-B7alt.

PART ONE

PART TWO

Celebrate the Fourth of July with big savings at the Guitar World Online Store!

Today (July 3) through 11:59 p.m. Sunday, July 7, you can get 40 percent off any Guitar World DVD at the store!

Choose from Rock Guitar 101, Mastering Scales, 20 Essential Classical Licks, Metal for Life, Guitar World Presents the Best Instruction Book Ever, the Learn Shred Guitar Combo Pack, 20 Essential Jazz Licks and more!

Check out samples of Mastering Scales (featuring Jimmy Brown) and Rock Guitar 101 (featuring Andy Aledort) below.

For a look at all the Guitar World DVDs subject to the 40 percent sale, head here!

Enjoy the holiday!

A few years ago, the editors of Guitar World magazine compiled what we feel is the ultimate guide to the 100 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time.

The list, which has been quoted by countless artists, websites and publications around the world, starts with Richie Sambora's work on Bon Jovi's “Wanted Dead or Alive” (Number 100) and builds to a truly epic finish with Jimmy Page's solo on "Stairway to Heaven" (Number 1).

To quote our "Stairway to Heaven" story that ran with the list, "If Jimmy Page is the Steven Spielberg of guitarists, then 'Stairway' is his Close Encounters."

We've kicked off a summer blockbuster of our own — a no-holds-barred six-string shootout. We're pitting Guitar World's top 64 guitar solos against each other in an NCAA-style, 64-team single-elimination tournament. Every day, we will ask you to cast your vote in a different guitar-solo matchup as dictated by the 64-team-style bracket.

You can vote only once per matchup. The voting for each matchup ends as soon as the next matchup is posted (Basically, that's one poll per day during the first round of elimination, including weekends and holidays).

In some cases, genre will clash against genre; a thrash solo might compete against a Southern rock solo, for instance. But let's get real: They're all guitar solos, played on guitars, by guitarists, most of them in some subset of the umbrella genre of rock. When choosing, it might have to come down to, "Which solo is more original and creative? Which is more iconic? or Which one kicks a larger, more impressive assemblage of asses?"

Yesterday's Results

Winner:"Cortez the Killer" (69.33 percent)
Loser:"Smells Like Teen Spirit" (30.67 percent)


Today's Round 1 Matchup (Day 24):
"Heartbreaker" Vs. "Europa"

Today, Jimmy Page's guitar solo on Led Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker" (16) squares off against Carlos Santana's solo on Santana's "Europa" (49). Get busy! You'll find the poll at the very bottom of the story.

16. “Heartbreaker”
Soloist: Jimmy Page
Album: Led Zeppelin—Led Zeppelin II (Atlantic, 1969)

Performing a convincing solo in a group context is difficult for any musician, but it takes a real man to stand unaccompanied and deliver. On “Heartbreaker,” Jimmy Page did just that. For an electrifying 45 seconds, Page let loose sans rhythm section and, needless to say, the guitar world has never been quite the same.

“I just fancied doing it,” laughs Page. “I was always trying to do something different, or something no one else had thought of. But the interesting thing about that solo is that it was recorded after we had already finished “Heartbreaker”—it was an afterthought. That whole section was recorded in a different studio and was sort of slotted in the middle. If you notice, the whole sound of the guitar is different.

“The solo itself was made up on the spot. I think that was one of the first things I ever played through a Marshall. I was always having trouble with amps, and Marshalls were state-of-the-art reliability. By that time I was using a Les Paul, anyway, and that was just a classic setup.”

“We definitely recorded the solo section separately,” confirms engineer Eddie Kramer. “Jimmy walked in and set up and the whole session was over in about 20 minutes. He did two or three takes and we picked the best one, which was edited in later. However, to this day, I have a hard time listening to it, because I think we did a shitty edit—the difference in noise levels is pretty outrageous. But I don’t think Jimmy cared, he was more interested in capturing an idea, and on that level, he succeeded.”

49. "Europa"
Soloist: Carlos Santana
Album: Santana—Amigos (Columbia, 1976)

“I started writing this song in 1966 or ’67, but didn’t finish it until ’75 when we were on tour with Earth, Wind and Fire, in Manchester, England,” says Carlos Santana. “We were backstage while they were onstage playing. And we were just warming up, tuning up. I started playing it and [keyboardist] Tom Coster and I completed it right there on the spot. It immediately became a crowd favorite; it is one of those songs that, whether it’s played in Japan or in Jerusalem or in South America, it just fits right in with everything.”

Cast Your Vote!

Head HERE to see today's matchup and all the matchups that have taken place so far!

Who doesn't love a good Facebook countdown?

Led Zeppelin used it to great effect last year when they counted down to a long-awaited announcement regarding the release of Celebration Day, a live album/DVD recorded five years earlier.

Now Pearl Jam is up to something over at their Facebook page and official website. They've launched a countdown that will end Monday, July 8.

It's logical to assume the countdown pertains to the band's upcoming studio album, but who knows? However, the band revealed in May that the disc is "almost done," and that it "might resemble U2" and have a "Pink Floyd vibe," as guitarist Mike McCready said in April. He added that the album would be "way better than Backspacer," the band's latest studio release.

What do you do think they're counting down to? Tell us in the comments below!

The solidbody guitar is essentially a blank canvas, a quality that often results in some rather bizarre designs, such as the instruments regularly featured here.

Occasionally, however, form and function coalesce to produce an instrument that not only looks cool but also offers enhanced tone benefits. That’s how Minarik describes its new Orchid model, which looks like a delicate flower with its orchid-inspired “petals” and thin “stamen” extensions, which also are designed to function similar to tuning forks.

“When we designed our Inferno model, we discovered that having extended pieces of the wood body hanging in air offered tonal possibilities that other guitars do not have,” Mark Minarik says. “With the Orchid model, we designed different-sized protrusions, combined with trademark tone chambering that allows those wood pieces to act as tuning forks that enhance different frequencies based on their size and location. The design gives the guitar a wider tonal rainbow.”

With its numerous curves, body extensions, neck-through-body design, arched top and what seems like a mile of binding surrounding abalone purfling, the Orchid provides Minarik with more building challenges than the average solidbody.

“The contoured arch top is very difficult to craft toward the stamen and leaves,” he says. “Also, the corner pieces by the upper horns drop below the body line. There are three different levels on this body that blend seamlessly. This example also has an Alice in Wonderland fretboard inlay that is very intricate and spectacular. You really have to look at it up close to appreciate all the detail and work that went into it.”

For more information, visit minarikguitars.com.

To some people, shred guitar is about one thing, and one thing only: the need for speed. The yearn to burn. The desire for fire.

Just the word itself can conjure glorious images of long-haired, pointy-guitar-wielding metalmen, fingers scaling fretboards with dazzling dexterity and furious speed, melody and musicality by damned. And indeed, during the shred zeitgeist of the 1980s, it seemed as if guitarists built up bpms the way Russia and the U.S. stockpiled nukes.

But in fact shred was around well before the Eighties, and it has continued to thrive in the decades since. Because shred guitar is about more than just velocity, or how many notes you can squeeze into a bar of music. And it doesn't necessarily require the use of distortion, electricity or, is some cases, even a pick.

In the following gallery, we present 30 great players from the Golden Era, the Old-School Era and the Modern Era of shred, along with the album and song that best exemplifies their shredding skills.

As these entries attest, shred is about pushing boundaries, exploring the great guitar unknown and, basically, doing really cool stuff that's never been done before. Of course, a bit of sheer, unadulterated fret-burning speed doesn't hurt either.

NOTE: Once again, the photo gallery below is divided into three eras — the Golden Era, the Modern Era and the Old School era — each of which contains 10 albums. The gallery is arranged in that order.

Enjoy!

For his 45th birthday, former Pantera frontman Phil Anselmo joined Slayer onstage during their Heavy By the Sea Festival set in Athens, Greece, to cover the Pantera classic "Fucking Hostile."

Check out the video below. Happy belated Bday, Phil! (His birthday was June 30.)