Guitar World's Top 10 Shred Albums of All Time

[Wyvern]

This will raise some eyebrows here, so here it goes:

1) Rising Force Yngwie Malmsteen I’m laying it on the line right now: Yngwie J. Malmsteen was, is, and always will be the greatest shredder of all time. Hell, he invented the genre with his 1985 debut. The standout track “Far Beyond the Sun” was far beyond what any guitar player had ever imagined possible.

2) Live: Extreme Volume Racer X In the mood for a steaming bowl of notemeal? Check out this 1988 live release from shred poster boys Paul Gilbert and Bruce Bouillet. The best part? There was no pretense of cultural significance with these guys; Racer X was simply speed for the sake of speed.

3) Mind’s Eye Vinnie Moore Only one year after Yngwie unleashed his fury on U.S. shores, Vinnie Moore responded with the “Oh yeah? Check this out” release Mind’s Eye. On “Daydream,” Moore demonstrates his grasp of classical themes and motifs; then, on “The Journey,” he shows he can do it with “feel.”

4) Edge of Insanity Tony MacAlpine The album that launched Mike Varney’s Shrapnel Records, Edge of Insanity shows off Tony MacAlpine’s fearsome shred chops not only on the six-string (“Quarter to Midnight”) but also on the ivories (“Chopin, Prelude 16, Opus 28”).

5) Passion and Warfare Steve Vai Remember the cute MTV video for Vai’s “The Audience Is Listening”? What school-age guitar player didn’t want to live out that fantasy? Melodic, flashy, humorous, and filled with hooks, Passion and Warfare is the bar by which all other instrumental guitar albums are measured.

6) Surfing With the Alien Joe Satriani Just how badass is Joe Satriani? Well, his list of students includes Steve Vai. And “Satch Boogie” was (and still is) the only shred tune that FM radio would touch. But the real highlight of this release is Side 2, which contains the gemini-like clean and distorted tones of “Circles” and “Lords of Karma,” as well as the clean-toned two-handed tapfest “Midnight” and the hypnotic “Echo.”

7) Powers of Ten Shawn Lane From his debut, the now out-of-print Powers of Ten, to his fusion work on Tri-Tone Fascination, the late Shawn Lane exhibited a tremendous sense of melody, even while melting picks with his incendiary technique. If Eric Johnson were a pure shredder, this is what he might sound like.

8) Michael Lee Firkins Michael Lee Firkins A unique shredder, Firkins employed hybrid picking, subtle whammy wobbling, and country-flavored intervallic leaps to craft some surprisingly listenable tunes.

9) Speed Metal Symphony Cacophony Speed Metal Symphony, a mighty opus featuring first-chair guitar virtuosos Marty Friedman and Jason Becker, uses “speed metal” rhythm beds and shifting time signatures to help break up the cacophonous onslaught of all-out shred.

10) Greg Howe Greg Howe A funk-savvy speedster, Greg Howe injected the shred scene with some much-needed shake and soul. The funkdafied “Kick It All Over” kicks off the festivities, and the following track, “The Pepper Shake,” offers a spicy display of Howe’s legato and alternate-picking chops.

Well I don't know if I would have put Yngwie as #1, but hell yeah I love 'Far Beyond The Sun'. I'm glad MacAlpine, Vai and Satriani made it to the list too but I would have pick very different albums: "Maximum Security" for Tony, "Fire Garden" for Steve and "Crystal Planet" or "Flying In A Blue Dream" for Satch.

 

[poundingmetal74]

Not bad! Not at all. I would have put Cacophony at #1, but other than that, pretty decent.

 

[Platinum Maze]

I own all of those except for Shawn Lane, but I have a problem with a couple things about this list. First off, Guitar World does not know what year Rising Force was released?!? (Marching Out was released in 1985)

My other main issues are that Cacophony and Racer X both have vocals, and that Racer X is a live album. I've always thought the vocals on Cacophony just destroyed that album. When I think of "shred", I don't want vocals. Just being picky I guess, but Dragon's Kiss and Perpetual Burn are much better shred albums.

I've always liked Mind's Eye, but I think it's a little too high on the list. IMO, it's not nearly as good as the MacAlpine and Vai albums picked here. I also love Maximum Security, but to me it's a toss up between that and Edge of Insanity.

It's a little later on, but I would add Akira Takasaki's solo album Ki from 1994. Overall, like pm74 said, not a bad list at all.

 

[mdmatt4ever]

I own all of those except for Shawn Lane, but I have a problem with a couple things about this list. First off, Guitar World does not know what year Rising Force was released?!? (Marching Out was released in 1985)

My other main issues are that Cacophony and Racer X both have vocals, and that Racer X is a live album. I've always thought the vocals on Cacophony just destroyed that album. When I think of "shred", I don't want vocals. Just being picky I guess, but Dragon's Kiss and Perpetual Burn are much better shred albums.

I've always liked Mind's Eye, but I think it's a little too high on the list. IMO, it's not nearly as good as the MacAlpine and Vai albums picked here. I also love Maximum Security, but to me it's a toss up between that and Edge of Insanity.

It's a little later on, but I would add Akira Takasaki's solo album Ki from 1994. Overall, like pm74 said, not a bad list at all.

agreed on basically this entire post

 

[ElectricWiz]

I do think that Yngwie album belongs at number one. It was a revelation at that time, and he never lived up to the potential of it, I think. He just went for the speed.