The Evolution of Neoclassical Shred

1: Burn: Deep Purples classical chord progressions are a huge part of the evolution of the genre. And who can think of a better place to stop than the arpeggio section of the seminal title track from the Burn album. 2: Into the Arena: Michael Schenker is another example of adding Central Europe harmony and melody to more common pentatonic blues based guitar licks. 3: Cast Away Your Chains: Uli Roth is the middle ground between Ritchie and YJM. His playing was light years ahead of any other player in the 70s until EVH arrived on the scene. If he had stayed in Scorpions a little while longer he may have become more famous and appreciated. He’s not Marty Friedmans (and mine) favourite player for nothing. 4: Fire: YJM is undoubtedly the undisputed king of the genre. And here’s imo his best solo. 5: Altitudes: The biggest tragedy for us is that Jason Becker really was the man to take the genre to new levels. His masterpiece Perpetual Burn is the most ridiculous album both technically and musically. He was the man who really was adding new vocabulary to the genre beyond Bach and Roll. Unfortunately at just 21 years old he was struck down with ALS forever stuck in his body and unable to play. 6: Out of the Ashes Symphony X took all the harmony of YJM and more modern classical music, as well as inspiration from prog bands like Yes and Kansas to become the greatest writers in the whole genre. What a band. 0:00 Burn 1:12 Into the Arena 2:50 Cast Away Your Chains 3:52 Fire 5:04 Altitudes 6:19 Out of the Ashes