Latest articles by Richard Bienstock
“People started saying I looked like Voldemort!” Joe Satriani and Steve Vai on their classic Guitar World covers
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”
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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”
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!’”
The Extreme virtuoso tells Guitar World about his first-ever meeting with EVH
Kim Thayil picks Soundgarden’s landmark guitar moments
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
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
With Dimebag Darrell's no-holds-barred playing at the fore, these are the best tracks from the metal institution's catalog
![[L-R] Tim Commerford and Jonny Polonsky](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Qp6KwQp7utSnfC5jHaNaAA-840-80.jpg.webp)
Tim Commerford and Jonny Polonsky on the unlikely origins and promising future of their eclectic new trio project, 7D7D
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
The 20 heaviest songs before Black Sabbath
Behold, gentle reader, a sizzlin’ slew of down and dirty tracks that helped forge heavy metal
Gibson and Sweetwater partner with Amped Guitar for free three-month membership to Augmented Reality learning platform
Amped offers two-way online learning experience via AR app
Kiko Loureiro shares Megadeth audition tape for Holy Wars and Trust - one day after learning to play the songs
“I don’t think I would able to do this again five years later,” he says
Misha Mansoor records major-key version of Stairway to Heaven, dubs it Escalator to Hell
The Periphery guitarist offers his own take on the Led Zeppelin classic during self-quarantine
