Ronni Le Tekrø, with great guitar face

The late 1980′s and early 90′s was a great time for metal guitar. Players like Satch, Malmsteen, and Vai were pushing the envelope and bringing guitar to the forefront of everyone’s mind. MTV was dominated by great axe slingers and every bar in town had original music played every weekend.

While the guitar gods were getting most of the attention, a quiet but large group of phenomenal players were making names (and careers) for themselves somewhat off the beaten path. They got some airplay and a fair amount of video and TV time, but for the most part I believe they didn’t nearly get the recognition they deserved.

For your weekend entertainment I came up with a list of five CDs featuring great guitar players from back in the day that any serious rock/metal guitar player should check out. Each one of these CDs inspired me during the most crucial time of my musical development. Each brings both a sense of nostalgia and longing for days past when it was cool to write songs that had interesting guitar work and not a bunch of low-mixed power chords and no solos.

TNT – Intuition

Norway’s premier metal band of the 80′s. This is a great blend of cheesy pop metal combined with some of the sickest guitar work you’ll ever hear, including Ronni Le Tekrø’s amazing quarterstep guitar, which he was playing brilliantly way before anyone else even thought to try and play one.

This band – and their CD “Intuition” was truly ahead of their time.

Fates Warning – Parallels

One of the first true transcontinental bands (singer in Arizona, rest of the band in New England), Fates Warning created a string of CDs during the early 90′s that completely knocked me on my ass and made me stop everything I was doing on guitar and go a different direction. Their CD “No Exit” was the inspiration for my prog metal band Amsterdam. But, it was their 1991 masterpiece “Parallels” that, to me, was their crowning achievement. Guitarists Jim Matheos and Frank Aresti provided great foils for each other, Matheos the brilliant technician who wrote complex but rocking riffs, and Aresti, the melodic genius that glued it all together. A true hidden gem of the old century.

King’s X – Gretchen Goes to Nebraska

The sad truth that the Texas-based power trio King’s X never made it huge has always been a great mystery to me. Grooving riffs, killer vocal harmonies, and the guitar work of one of the most underrated guitarists ever – Ty Tabor – have all of the makings for arena superstardom. All one has to do is listen to songs like “Over My Head,” “Summerland,” and “I’ll Never Be the Same” to understand why these guys are such huge influences to many of today’s (unfortunately) more famous rock stars.

Testament – The New Order

As early as 1988 when Testament‘s CD “The New Order” dropped, guitar Alex Skolnick was already experimenting with his love for jazz by merging it with the band’s West Coast thrash metal style. While Eric Petersen was holding down rhythm guitar and songwriting duties, Skolnick was free to roam and throw harmonic twists and turns to keep listeners on their toes.

At a time when anything not metal was absolutely verboten, Skolnick and company broke the mold, spread their wings, and defiantly told everyone that if they didn’t like it they could suck it! The New Order is a true headbanging masterpiece.

Dokken – Under Lock and Key

One more “glam” band to round things out. It’s evident with their CD “Under Lock and Key” that Dokken was walking a fine line between being a full-on cheese metal hair band or throwing caution to the wind and becoming the truly inspired band we all knew they had the potential to be. What we get as a result is an interesting mix of George Lynch’s excellent guitar work – heavy riffs and fantastic soloing – over typical for the time party, girls, and love lyrics. “In My Dreams” has always been the perennial favorite for me on this CD, with perhaps Lynch’s best performances all summed up in one song.