Greetings once again, everyone...sorry it's taken me so long to make another Fine Print post. We've been a little extra busy these last few weeks between our company retreat in Monterey, California, an internet outage in the NYC office that lasted two full days, and just general magazine/CD-ROM/DVD/web site madness.

We've had some interesting visitors the past few weeks, all of which should amount for some cool content we think you'll enjoy. Earlier this week, Jeff Loomis, Ron Thal and Michael Angelo Batio were all up here for one reason or another. Loomis, the great shredder from Nevermore, was here to do an interview and lesson for an upcoming issue of the mag and an instructional DVD that you'll be able to purchase at the Guitar World Store in the near future. Thal, the Guns N' Roses guitarist otherwise known as Bumblefoot, was here for an interview and photo shoot that will appear in our February issue, which will be on sale a few weeks after Chinese Democracy hits stores. In the interview, Thal talks about his guitar work on Chinese Democracy, his life leading up to joining Guns N' Roses, and something about Axl Rose being a big-time hamburger connoisseur, but you'll have to wait until the issue comes out to read that. Batio was here filming a new round of super-shredderific "Time to Burn" columns for the mag and CD-ROM, so you Batio fans can look forward to that.

On an unrelated note, I was very pleased that we finally got an extended interview with the great Ritchie Blackmore! We've made numerous attempts over the years to pin Ritchie down for an in-depth interview, but always ran into some sort of roadblock along the way -- but that ended when our own Andy Aledort was able to spend an entire evening with Ritchie and his wife Candice at a restaurant on Long Island, NY, to discuss his life, career, and the most recent Blackmore's Night album, Secret Voyage. We hope to do even more with Ritchie in 2009, so stay tuned for some major coverage with the Deep Purple/Rainbow legend!

During the interview, Andy asked Ritchie to sign the Guitar World office guitar, and he happily obliged. You can see his signature on the black pickguard, joining the ranks of Slash, Paul Gilbert, Glenn Tipton/K.K. Downing/Rob Halford, Rudolf Schenker/Matthias Jabs, Yngwie Malmsteen, and all the other signatures we've collected the past few months. Click the photo to see a larger version. In any case, thanks to Ritchie and Candice for spending so much time with Andy for our story. Watch for the piece to appear most likely in the March issue of Guitar World, on sale in early January.

Alexi (left) and Roope warming up in the GW studio.

It's been more than four years since we started filming lessons and interviews with musicians for our CD-ROM, and one of the very first subjects we had here at GW HQ for an on-camera lesson was Alexi Laiho from Children of Bodom. Alexi's been up here a few times since then, but Oct. 9, 2008, was the first time COB co-guitarist Roope Latvala was on hand as well.

The two guitarists came by for a lesson on how to play "Blooddrunk" with our very own Matt Scharfglass, as well as a new photo shoot with ace photographer Angela Boatright. The band was in town for one of the final dates on their current tour with Between the Buried and Me, Black Dahlia Murder and special guests for this one show, Testament.

Alexi had a bit of a rough start to the day...the 1:00 call time was a little on the early side for such a hard-partying night owl, and he needed a little nappy between the lesson and photo shoot. But with a little rest, some pizza and beer, Alexi was right as rain by mid afternoon.

For more photos of the day's festivities, including close-ups of Alexi and Roope's ESP guitars, click here.

A collection of images from Children of Bodom's visit to Guitar World HQ.

Tribbett warming up before his GW lesson

On Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008, Mudvayne guitarist Greg Tribbett came up to the Guitar World office studio for an interview & video lesson with Andy Aledort. Greg was in town promoting the upcoming (Nov. 14) Mudvayne CD, The New Game, and while he was here he demonstrated how he plays a variety of Mudvayne riffs, including "Not Falling," "Happy?" and the band's new single, "Do What You Do."

Greg had his trusty Washburn guitar with him, a cool looking red and black two-toned number.

Thanks go out to Greg for taking time out of his schedule to come by...and look for Andy's interview and lesson with Greg in an upcoming issue!

Click on the photo to see an enlarged version.

JK

We're privy to a lot of information here at Guitar World HQ, among them the sales figures for just about every album on the market. Since the general public rarely gets to see how one albums stacks up against another in terms of actual sales, I decided to share some of that info with you here.

Of course, the big news right now is that Metallica's Death Magnetic, in only three days of release, has already sold just shy of half a million copies, which is definitely more than many of us here in the office expected (aside from Editor in Chief Brad Tolinski, who won our inter-office Death Magnetic first-week-sales competition). By comparison, St. Anger sold just a little over 418,000 in its first few days of release back in May 2003.

What's interesting when you look at the top hard music albums sales figures for the week is how a new album will fuel sales of catalog albums. For example, with Death Magnetic now out, sales of pretty much all Metallica albums are up. The Black Album sold another 9100 copies last week (bringing the total to an unreal 15.2 million), ...And Justice for All and Master of Puppets each moved roughly 6500 pieces, Ride the Lightning 4900 copies and Kill 'Em All 2900 copies. Those are amazing numbers for records that are decades old. AC/DC is another good example of a new release driving back catalog sales. With Black Ice coming out on Oct. 16, interest in the Aussie rockers is huge again. Last week, Back in Black sold a staggering 11000 copies, High Voltage 4900, Highway to Hell 4200, Razor's Edge 3500 and For Those About to Rock 2800.

Some other figures of note include Slipknot's All Hope Is Gone continuing to sell well, with another 75000 copies moved for a grand total of 367,000 since its Aug. 26 release...not bad for a band with little-to-no mainstream appeal. DragonForce's Ultra Beatdown, on the other hand, has only sold 40,000 copies since its release the same day as All Hope Is Gone...quite a difference. On another sad note, Judas Priest's Nostradamus has sold only 92000 records since coming out in June....though pretty much everyone knew that a conceptual double-album like that wasn't going to fly off shelves.

The debut album from former Korn guitarist Brian "Head" Welch, Save Me from Myself, sold 7800 copies its first week out. Motörhead's Motorizer sold 2600 last week for a total of 12000 so far. Bullet for My Valentine's Scream Aim Fire moved another 2000 copies for a total of 223,000. Atreyu's Lead Sails Paper Anchor sold another 1500 for 278,000 total. Trapt's Only Through the Pain sold 3500 for a total of 57000 so far.

Anyway, I could go on spouting numbers for days, but I'll stop there. Figured you'd find it as interesting as I do.

JK

Yngwie Malmsteen has released the CD artwork for his forthcoming disc, Perpetual Flame, due out Oct. 14 — and all we can say is, "Holy cow." No doubt the disc will have some mesmerizing guitar work as only Yngwie can deliver...but that cover is something else. Your thoughts?

Click the image if you dare see it larger.

JK

As a longtime, diehard Metallica fan, I get very excited when they release new music (despite not truly enjoying a Metallica record, save for a few songs here and there, since the Black Album).

With that in mind, I've spent the last few days listening to Death Magnetic more intently than I do with just about any new release, so I figured I would convey some of my impressions to you here.

• All things considered, the record is a tremendous improvement over St. Anger, Load and Re-load. The Rick Rubin production is loud and fairly monstrous-sounding, gone is that ridiculous snare sound from St. Anger. Throughout the 10 songs, Hetfield and Hammett get back to what made them such a great team in the early Eighties: chugging, galloping, fast riffs and blazing solos. It's really nice to see those guys shine again from a guitar perspective.

• Most of the songs clock in at just above or under the seven-minute mark, with the instrumental "Suicide & Redemption" coming in at close to 10 minutes and "My Apocalypse" almost reaching five minutes. But other than those two, it's seven minutes per song.

• The highlights are the opening track, "That Was Just Your Life" (which features some fantastic galloping riffs and a wicked Hammett solo, and does what many of the songs here do, which is kick into high gear at around the five-minute mark and end on a strong, ferocious note), "My Apocalypse" (the album closer), and what is definitely the best song on the record, "All Nightmare Long." When you get the album, pay close attention to that particular song...even if you don't like anything else on the record, an old-school Metallica fan will surely eat that one up.

• All complements aside, the album definitely has some less-than-stellar moments (but again, not nearly as many as the last three records). "Cyanide" is a plodding, go-nowhere throwaway, and some songs like "Broken, Beat and Scarred" and "The End of the Line" are decent, but just can't compete with some of the album's finer moments. And "The Unforgiven III" is certainly a "nice" song, but feels a little out of place on an otherwise mostly head-crushing album.

• I have a slight problem with James' vocals this time around. I've always been a huge fan of his singing, but these vocals are a little too clean, a little too pure. There doesn't seem to be much of the gruff, raw, angry Hetfield from years past. It's still James, just not quite guttural enough for my tastes.

• In conclusion, I'm very happy with the record overall...and pleasantly surprised on some level. I wasn't sure if they still had it in them! Some weak moments for sure, but that's to be expected on any record...and this one has more far more killer parts than bad parts. The chugging speed-metal riffs showcase Hetfield at his best, and Hammett is ripping up a storm again.

If you consider yourself a fan, definitely pick up the album...regardless of what you thought of the last three records, I think you'll be impressed by what you hear.

JK

For this entry of The Fine Print I thought some of you would get a kick out of seeing a collection of backstage and photo passes that I've amassed over the years. The Clash of the Titans tour with Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax; the first Black Sabbath reunion tour; a photo pass from Metallica's 1988 - 1989 Damaged Justice tour; a bunch of Kiss passes; some Priest, AC/DC, Maiden, Rush and many more are represented, so you headbangers out there will certainly enjoy it.

To see page one of the backstage passes gallery, click here.

For page two of the gallery, click here.

Enjoy!

JK

Happy Friday everyone...figured I'd snap a few iPhone pix of the new B.C. Rich Chuck Schuldiner Tribute Stealth guitar that we recently got here at GW HQ.

The guitar is an exact replica of the Stealth guitar that Chuck used to play during his heyday with Death. Despite its odd shape, the ax has quickly become a favorite among the Guitar World staff--particularly senior editor/MetalKult.com bossman Brad Angle, whose cold, dead hands will have to be pried from it should B.C. Rich ever demand its return.

We dig the guitar's super-reflective, blacker-than-black finish, and it feels great when grinding out riffs to "Torn to Pieces," "Left to Die," "Crystal Mountain" or any other Death classic.

Here are the specs for the Tribute Stealth:

Construction: neck through Body wood: alder Top style: bevel top Tuners: Grover Mini Rotomatics Fretboard: ebony Frets: 24 jumbo Scale: 24 5/8” Bridge: Wrap around Pickups: Dimarzio X2N Controls: 1 volume Color: onyx MSRP: $1390

Click here to see the gallery of iPhone pix.

Click here to see a shot of the Handcrafted Stealth model being produced at the B.C. Rich factory, as well as a shot of Chuck’s original Stealth guitar, photographed by Jimmy Hubbard at Chuck’s mother’s home in Florida in 2007.

And for a laugh, enjoy this shot of me taking photos of Death onstage during the 1989 Milwaukee Metalfest III. Hint...I'm the only one in the venue wearing a red shirt.

JK

Paul Gilbert warming up

We've done numerous lessons with Paul Gilbert over the years, but none as extensive as the one we did here at Guitar World headquarters today! We flew Paul in just for this lesson with Andy Aledort, which will be used for a series of columns in the near future.

Paul was a true gent and came in fully prepared for a day of guitar teaching...he brought his full pedalboard, a dry-erase marker board for some visual aid, and of course his signature Ibanez PGM301 electric guitar.

A Paul Gilbert pick

Paul even hung around a bit after the lesson was done to talk technique with some of the multimedia crew, showing them various exercises that might improve their playing and imparting some of the fretboard wisdom he's acquired over the years.

The Guitar World office guitar as of July 2008

And of course, we couldn't let Paul leave without letting him sign the Guitar World office guitar. As you can see from the photo, the guitar is filling up fast...actually, it might be time to retire this baby and find a new axe for people to sign. This Les Paul Studio has been signed by such ace players as Rudolf Schenker & Matthias Jabs from the Scorpions, Yngwie Malmsteen, Glenn Tipton & K.K. Downing from Judas Priest, Dave Mustaine, John Petrucci, Michael Angelo Batio, Steve Howe, Slash and others.

Special thanks to Paul Gilbert for spending the day with us--watch for his new Guitar World column soon! Click on any of the thumbnails to see the photos full size.