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.
Latest articles by Richard Bienstock
Best beginner electric guitars 2024: kickstart your musical journey with these epic electric guitars for beginners
By Chris Corfield last updated
So you're a budding guitarist? Get started with our pick of the best beginner electric guitars from Squier, Yamaha, and Epiphone
Slash on Yngwie, Eddie Van Halen – and what makes for good guitar playing
By Richard Bienstock published
According to Slash, it doesn’t matter what genre you play or your level of skill; just be sure to put your own stamp on every note you play
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram talks touring with Slash – and his hunger to learn guitar
By Richard Bienstock published
Kingfish discovered Slash via Guitar Hero and now will be sharing the stage with him at S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival. He talks about what it means to play an all-star blues fest and take the art form further
Samantha Fish on blues guitar heroes, Slash, and the need to “push boundaries” to keep the art alive
By Richard Bienstock published
Signed up for Slash's all-star S.E.R.P.E.N.T Festival, Fish is one of the players who has found her voice in taking blues out of its comfort zone. Here, she salutes her blues heroes – especially the rule-breakers
Slash explains why his new blues album has really been the journey of a lifetime
By Richard Bienstock published
Orgy of the Damned finds the Guns N' Roses guitarist and A-list guests tackling blues standards that shaped his sound. Here he talks blues gear, the ethos, and how blues can be a force for good
Slash explains why Eddie Van Halen was really a blues player at heart
By Matt Owen published
Van Halen's boundary-pushing rock guitar style was defined by unprecedented fretboard acrobatics – but underneath all that was a humble bluesman, according to the GNR guitarist
“People started saying I looked like Voldemort!” Joe Satriani and Steve Vai on their classic Guitar World covers
By Richard Bienstock published
The axelords discuss the guitars they’re holding in six key GW magazine covers from the past. Along the way, we learn about guitar thefts, loud photoshoots, hair, pants and flexi-discs...
Steve Vai and Joe Satriani on friendship, collaboration and using guitar to “explore the infinite”
By Richard Bienstock published
After decades of pushing the envelope for instrumental guitar, the two giants of the instrument are touring together, writing together, and new music is coming. Satch and Vai take their story back to the beginning, and tell us where it’s headed
“It was really, really difficult”: Alex Lifeson looks back on Rush's classic album, Grace Under Pressure
By Richard Bienstock published
Recorded during a brutal winter, Grace Under Pressure did not come easy, but all things considered, Lifeson can look back on it as a triumph. Rush had moved on, and that was the goal...
MJ Lenderman shares tone secrets and explains why there’s life in the live album yet
By Richard Bienstock published
With a blazing (not to mention “fluid like the wind”) band behind him, indie rock’s leading overdrive purveyor takes his best one-man-band material to wild new places
Alex Lifeson takes us behind the scenes at Lerxst to talk gear, tone and new music
By Richard Bienstock published
Time will tell whether Lifeson and Geddy Lee will work together again, but in the mean time the Rush icon has lots of new gear to show us, developed in partnership with Mojotone and Godin
“Every band wants to have a Sgt. Pepper’s type of moment. And American Idiot was that moment for us”: Billie Joe Armstrong on the making of the magnum opus that saved Green Day
By Richard Bienstock published
The world's biggest punk band faced a crossroads in 2004 and it was a case of go big or go home. Armstrong explains how they supersized their sound – and saved the band
“I know my limitations, but at the same time I’m really pushing myself to be a better guitar player”: Billie Joe Armstrong on ripping solos like Angus Young – and what Green Day have in common with Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran
By Richard Bienstock published
Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong reveals the origin story behind Saviors, the punk superheroes’ first new album in four years, and looks back on the making of 1994’s Dookie
“This guitar gives you a piece of me. In fact, I just used one of the Epiphones to do some recording, and I’ve played them onstage, too”: Adam Jones discusses the evolution – and future – of his signature 1979 Les Paul Custom
By Richard Bienstock published
Adam Jones’ collaboration with Gibson and Epiphone brought together the Tool guitarist’s two loves, music and art, with a line of stunning Aged Silverburst LPs. Will we see more in the future? Jones sure hopes so
“I loved Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads. Then something happened where it was like you had to be in the guitar Olympics”: Billie Joe Armstrong explains why he rekindled his relationship with the guitar solo on Green Day’s newest album
By Matt Owen published
Saviors might be the band’s most solo-heavy record to date – a result of Armstrong re-embracing lead playing and, as he tells Guitar World, putting “a spotlight on a little bit more of what I’m capable of”
“When 18 and Life played back and I heard Scotti play the first three notes in the solo, I got chills. I called Jon Bon Jovi and said, 'Do you ever get chills listening to your own music?'”: Snake Sabo and Scotti Hill on Skid Row's massive debut album
By Richard Bienstock published
Skid Row's two-guitar tandem discuss building their own pedals, in-the-works Kramers, and what they learned from each other while recording their star-making, self-titled 1989 debut
Neil Young showcases his savage overdriven tones and channels Hendrix in the most menacing solo rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner you’ve ever heard
By Jackson Maxwell published
Wielding his legendary 1953 Gibson Les Paul, Old Black, Young put his own spin on the US national anthem, nodding to a certain Woodstock performance along the way
“It felt like I had been training my whole life for that gig”: How Nuno Bettencourt ended up playing with Rihanna
By Richard Bienstock published
Rihanna x Nuno is one of the great pop/rock collaborations of our time, and it pushed the Extreme guitarist to his limits. Here’s how it all went down – and why the duo never did perform More Than Words…
“He’s the funkiest dude in the shredder family tree”: The world’s greatest guitarists explain why Nuno Bettencourt isn’t your typical guitar hero
By Richard Bienstock published
Brian May, Zakk Wylde, Steve Vai and Tom Morello join an all-star cast to explain what makes the Extreme virtuoso one of the guitar world’s most valuable players
Tom Morello says his favorite Nuno Bettencourt solo is one you haven’t heard – and it’s “his version of Eruption”
By Matt Parker published
The Rage Against the Machine guitarist says he followed Extreme religiously on the Boston circuit before they were signed: “I was blown away by this 16-, 17-year-old guitar phenomenon”
Nuno Bettencourt recalls two-hand tapping in front of Eddie Van Halen: “He stops me and goes, ‘Hey, none of that silly stuff!’”
By Richard Bienstock last updated
The Extreme virtuoso tells Guitar World about his first-ever meeting with EVH
Kim Thayil picks Soundgarden’s landmark guitar moments
By Richard Bienstock published
In honor of the grunge icons’ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nomination, their lead guitarist picks the standout songs on which he and Chris Cornell made their case for Seattle’s most daring guitar exports
The greatest rock concerts in music history
By Richard Bienstock last updated
From Metallica's Damaged Justice to Ozzy Osbourne's Diary of a Madman tour, Guitar World presents the most incredible concerts and roadshows in rock and metal history
The 25 greatest Pantera songs of all time
By Richard Bienstock published
With Dimebag Darrell's no-holds-barred playing at the fore, these are the best tracks from the metal institution's catalog
Tim Commerford and Jonny Polonsky on the unlikely origins and promising future of their eclectic new trio project, 7D7D
By Richard Bienstock published
The Rage Against the Machine bassist on why playing with Polonsky is like “jamming with Hendrix”, and his failed experiments with short-scale basses in RATM
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