Richard Bienstock

Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.

Articles by: Richard Bienstock

John Frusciante on the stories behind 5 standout Unlimited Love tracks

By Richard Bienstock published 15 June 22

The Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist takes us behind the writing, gear and recording of some of the biggest songs on the Californian rock institution’s new album

We went guitar shopping with Slash – here's what happened

By Richard Bienstock published 1 April 22

That time Slash and GW spent an afternoon browsing – and buying! – at Norman’s Rare Guitars in Tarzana, California

Cobra Kai star Billy Zabka on his love of ’80s rock, jamming with Robert Downey Jr. and the time Eddie Van Halen gave him a guitar lesson

By Richard Bienstock published 24 March 22

Billy Zabka – aka Johnny Lawrence, Cobra Kai’s resident badass sensei – has been playing guitar since he was a hair-metal-lovin’ kid (and he’s still a hair-metal-lovin’ kid)

The Darkness: “We just see how far we can get before the solos go flying off the edge of the cliff”

By Richard Bienstock published 14 March 22

Guitarists Dan and Justin Hawkins talk Motorheart, a riff-rocking new record that’s dedicated to having fun – and, of course, sex robots

How Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson wrote the perfect score for Netflix blockbuster series Cobra Kai

By Richard Bienstock published 10 March 22

It’s badass, it’s very '80s, and – spoilers – it involves lots of guitars…

Alex Lifeson on making his Epiphone Les Paul Axcess: “My biggest concern was, can we get Custom Shop quality in a guitar that costs quite a bit less? I think we did it”

By Richard Bienstock published 24 February 22

The Rush legend discusses his new signature model, fresh music and collaborations, and the likelihood of once again teaming up with Geddy Lee

Metallica’s Kirk Hammett and Gibson’s Cesar Gueikian share the story behind Greeny’s ‘59 Les Paul sibling

By Richard Bienstock published 10 February 22

We all know the story of Greeny, the ‘burst owned by Peter Green, Gary Moore and now Hammett. But there is another, and it resides in the Gibson Brand President's personal collection…

Get 2022 off to a rockin’ start with the fifth installment of Guitar World’s New Year New Gear guide

By Richard Bienstock published 4 February 22

GW’s Paul Riario and Alan Chaput dive into the Vola Vasti KJM J1, Lava Music Lava Me 3 and Mooer GTRS guitars

Get 2022 off to a rockin’ start with the second installment of Guitar World’s New Year New Gear guide

By Richard Bienstock published 28 January 22

GW’s Paul Riario and Alan Chaput dive into Dean’s Exile guitars, IK Multimedia AmpliTube X-Gear pedals and Godlyke’s TWA Triskelion Harmonic Energizer Mk. III stompbox

Zakk Wylde reflects on three decades of Ozzy Osbourne’s No More Tears

By Richard Bienstock published 28 January 22

The Prince of Darkness’s most successful album was a life-changer – 30 years on, Wylde looks back on an "ass-kicking time"

Get 2022 off to a rockin’ start with Guitar World’s New Year New Gear guide

By Richard Bienstock published 26 January 22

GW’s Paul Riario and Alan Chaput dive into PRS’s SE Silver Sky, Maestro Electronics’ Original Collection of pedals and Gator’s Elite Guitar X Stands

Gene Simmons (left) and Paul Stanley perform with Kiss at the Mediolanum Forum on May 18, 2010 in Milan, Italy

Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons rate Kiss's lead guitarists and reflect on the band's history in this classic 2014 GW interview

By Richard Bienstock published 20 January 22

In their five decades as a band, Kiss have had five lead guitarists. Here, the band's core members reflect on each of them – their strengths, their weaknesses, and how they meshed with the rest of the band

Zakk Wylde reflects on 12 musical milestones from a career spanning more than three decades

By Richard Bienstock published 18 January 22

From Ozzy Osbourne’s Miracle Man to Generation Axe’s Highway Star and beyond, Wylde breaks down his finest moments

[L-R] Zakk Wylde and Dario Lorina of Black Label Society

Black Label Society: “When you rehearse too much before recording, you take away all the spontaneity, all the magic, all the fire. You suck the life out of the thing”

By Richard Bienstock published 7 January 22

Doom Crew Inc. is the first-ever complete Black Label Society album to feature a second guitarist. Here, guitar duo Zakk Wylde and Dario Lorina escort you deep into the temple of doom...

(from left) Malcolm Young, Angus Young and Phil Rudd of AC/DC perform live in Munich, Germany

AC/DC's Angus and Malcolm Young: "Most of our early tracks speed up toward the end. After the guitar solo we’d start to take off!"

By Richard Bienstock published 6 January 22

In this classic Guitar World interview from 2003, the brothers Young revisit the albums and songs that made them guitar giants

Watch RJ Ronquillo conjure super-personalized tones with the OPFXS V-Uno Reprogrammable Guitar Pedal

By Richard Bienstock published 13 December 21

"It’s like you get to design a pedal from the ground up yourself,” he says about the innovative multi-effects stompbox

Robben Ford on why making an instrumental record was a good excuse to play a lot more music

By Richard Bienstock published 8 December 21

The blues-rock-jazz ace’s latest album, Pure, is a tour de force of compositional imagination, and reminds us he should leave the guitar dojo more often

Witherfall's Jake Dreyer: "We don't sit down and say, ‘We've got to make this the hardest thing to play ever.’ It just happens to sometimes come out that way"

By Richard Bienstock published 22 November 21

The Witherfall guitarist on the eclectic range of influences that forge the band's new album, Curse of Autumn

Yngwie Malmsteen: “I’ve never practiced in the true meaning of the word. From the first time I picked up a guitar when I was 7, in my head I was a performer”

By Richard Bienstock published 17 November 21

On this year's Parabellum, everyone’s favorite Ferrari-driving guitar legend tackles all the vocals and instruments (except drums). The result? An Yngwie-on-steroids shred extravaganza

Tom Morello: “I’ve tried to create this alloy between two worlds – you don’t know where the guitar ends and the EDM begins. That feels like an exciting future for the electric guitar”

By Richard Bienstock published 11 November 21

The Rage Against the Machine icon explains how recording big, gnarly guitar riffs into his iPhone became his "life raft for sanity" on new album, The Atlas Underground Fire

St. Vincent, Ghost, Royal Blood and Rodrigo y Gabriela discuss covering metal classics for the Metallica Blacklist

By Richard Bienstock published 21 October 21

Exit light! Enter some of the biggest names in popular music, whose interpretations of their favorite Black Album tracks helped celebrate its 30th anniversary

Dave “The Snake” Sabo: “I said to Kramer, ‘How about something like a snake coming out of a grave, with my birth date on there?’”

By Richard Bienstock published 19 October 21

The Skid Row six-stringer unpacks the design choices behind his serpentine signature Kramer Baretta

Tracii Guns: “When it came to doing a signature guitar, there was no point in doing something ordinary, you know what I mean?”

By Richard Bienstock published 12 October 21

The LA Guns guitarist walks through the design of his super-shreddable signature Kramer Gunstar Voyager

Metallica’s James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett look back on 30 years of The Black Album: "It really was the master key to everything"

By Richard Bienstock published 7 October 21

How shorter, simpler songs and a bold vision helped the thrash pioneers make the biggest metal album of all time

Charlie Parra with his signature Kramer Nite-V Plus

Charlie Parra: “I love tapping so much. The main reason I use a V is because there’s basically no wood between my tapping hand and the fretboard”

By Richard Bienstock published 5 October 21

The Peruvian shred whiz discusses the shreddable design of his signature Kramer Nite-V Plus

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