Blizzards of Riffs: A History of Ozzy Osbourne’s Amazing Guitarists

Few things in life are certain, but one thing that is certain is this: if you're playing guitar for Ozzy Osbourne, you're a virtuoso. Osbourne's current guitarist, Gus G., recently expressed the thoughts of many with these words: "I like all [Ozzy's guitarists]. I like Zakk Wylde for what he did, and I'm a big fan of the Jake E. Lee albums. The first Ozzy solo album I heard was Diary of a Madman, and I thought Randy [Rhoads] was amazing...

Wish You Were Here, Again: Pink Floyd’s Masterpiece Returns

In January 1975 Pink Floyd entered London’s Abbey Road Studios to do the seemingly impossible: compose and record a follow-up to their epochal The Dark Side of the Moon. Recently the resulting disc, Wish You Were Here, was reissued in a remastered version with new mixes plus bonus live tracks. The deluxe set – part of the Why Pink Floyd? reissue series – provides an opportunity to revisit that era in the band’s history...

Gibson Exclusive: Ace Frehley Talks ‘Budokan’ Les Paul Custom

Gibson Custom has recreated one of the most famous guitars in music history – the Ace Frehley “Budokan” Les Paul Custom. The master craftsmen at the Custom Shop have forged this tribute to the KISS guitarist’s most famous axe. Frehley nicknamed his Les Paul “Budokan” because it was the very guitar he played when KISS broke The Beatles' sell-out record at Japan’s legendary Budokan arena in 1977. It also was Ace’s main...

Drum ’n’ Bass: 10 Great Rock Rhythm Sections

Bass and drums are often the unsung heroes of rock and roll. A killer rhythm section will make a band soar, while a mediocre bass-drums combo can drag down even the strongest ensembles.

Arlen’s Basics Blog: The Importance of the Right, or Picking, Hand

These days, and in many days past, too many guitar players have gotten all caught up in a “speed contest”. That’s all fine a good, and of course, we’d all love to be faster players, but I feel that the true “unsung hero” in your guitar playing will always be the right, or “picking” hand. This hand is always the true “vehicle” that gets you where you want to go, and even though we can learn all the notes we could ever dream of on the fret board...