Venerable shredder Paul Gilbert released this DVD in 2008 as an instructional compliment to his CD of the same name. As I admittedly haven’t paid much attention to Paul’s work in quite a while I thought it was time to hip myself to what he’s been up to and see if I can steal anything from him. In many ways, the SFBADR DVD was exactly what I was expecting. In other ways, it wasn’t what I was expecting at all.

The DVD features Paul performing excerpts from the 11 songs on the Silence CD, and then some breakdowns of the song ideas where he teaches you how to play them. I like that he shows different parts from each song and explains the techniques he’s using so he’s not just covering the same licks over and over again.

Paul’s overall demeanor was very enthusiastic and catchy; you could tell that he is still quite passionate about the guitar and loves to play and share what he knows with his viewers/fans.

DVD Extras

One great feature of the DVD is that Paul included not only tab for everything he played, but he also included jam tracks so you can practice his stuff on your own. I remember commenting as I watched the DVD that it would be a great addition to have jam tracks included, and lo and behold there are there, indeed! Kudos to Paul for having the forethought to include them.

The end of the DVD included a “Shred Annex” where Paul shows you how to play 12 shred licks – one for each of the 12 keys. He plays them fast, then slows them down so you can see what he’s doing, and then fast again. A cool value-add feature! He has also included a few live performance videos that you can watch, which are a bit on the amateur videography side but are still very nice additions.

Was There a Downside?

Well, yes and no. If I had known beforehand that the DVD was going to be a “how to play my songs” DVD, I probably would not have picked it up. I’m usually not one for learning other people’s songs (unless they are jazz standards) and so, armed with a little more information I may have passed on the purchase. If you are a fan of Paul’s music or you want some new shred guitar ideas to add to your arsenal, however, by all means you should pick this up.

Second, the superimposed photo backgrounds were, at times, a bit distracting. I totally get the fun-loving vibe that Paul likes to portray, but a few of the chosen images seemed to detract from watching what Paul was playing.

The biggest disappointment for me was towards the end of the DVD when he goes on to explain that he’s a bit at a loss for playing in the key of Bb. He’s been a professional musician for over 20 years and has never bothered to cover material in the most prominent blues key signature, especially considering the fact that he’s such a blues-oriented rock player. One would assume – at least I did all these years – that he would have learned and practiced all of his material in all 12 keys. Perhaps it’s my love for jazz guitar that makes this somewhat blasphemous to me. I should also note that playing in Bb is not really any different from playing in any other key, so I’m not sure where the confusion lies.

But, those criticisms notwithstanding I found the DVD to be highly entertaining and enjoyable, and shred guitar fans will not be disappointed or feeling shorted for a lack of things to work on.