My gosh, Fil! I've probably said it before in previous comments, but, your in-depth analysis and tender comments regarding each artist is truly unique in this realm of medium. Thank you for your consistent and certainly informative description for each act here. As an aging guitarist (almost 60) where arthritis has limited my ability to play, but, mentally also my will to play anymore. Your enthusiasm and vibrant energy (whether you realize your kind words & actions or not) have an immense impact on us as viewers and players. Thank you for your insight, experience and comments !! Keep on rockin! -Ed
Skrid Tractor, that was a wonderfully articulate and moving comment. Fil has certainly cured my unwillingness to listen to music I never cared for and music I never knew about. I hope the inspiration leads you to a less finger stressing instrument or kind of playing. Good luck!
Skid, love your comment, I completely concur. I relate to your words, because I too, had to stop playing various instruments due to broken arms, but that was years ago. I'm really needing music back in my life (at age 60!) and am still hoping to learn the banjo! Gotta get one first, tho. Thanks for your comment. I love your listeners, Fil!
Greg Howe's Introspection was a complete new aproach. I never heard someone playing guitar like that. Guthrie Govan once said that Greg Howe was one of his biggest influences
Many have been following, or have not forgotten Greg since the Shrapnel days. I'm glad he's still getting recognition today he deserves it. Great player and person.
Oh THIS is what I'm talking about. Greg Howe is one of the best guitarists of all-time. His albums Introspection and Parallax are some of my all-time favorite shred records. And of course the stuff he's done with Ritchie Kotzen. And my favorite hidden nugget he's done is High Definition with Vitalij Kurprij. Would love to see a collab with Guthrie in the future.
I have a lot of opinions about this... not all good but Greg on his Introspection album was an absolute beast and horror for other players. If you have NOT heard that album, you must. You simply must. That is all. He's got so many techniques and such knowledge of music and the fretboard shapes..... all you can eat, fo sho! hahaha he gets massive speed with that tapping technique. He used to do this song more as a metal tune but not he's using that weird punchy midrange tone. It's ok but his tone on Instrospection was amazing. Clear, sustain, and all the tinkly highs of a single coil but with tons of sustain. I imagine he was compressing the hell out of it. Not distortion or gain but compression. that way you don't lose that clear sound. yeah, that slide thing he does. haha glad you got to Greg cuz he is one of the best, imo. He's so good that I wish I could learn at least ONE of his tunes then I hear those insane taps and go uh..... why? He KNEW people would try it so he put a booby trap in there. heheheheh
The way he moves that capo around! I didn't notice until at least 5 views, astounding detail all round, great player, lovely tone too, thick, full sound
How cool was that....tell ya....thought it'd be sooner.....but now I don't think I'll thaw out till May/June......flyin all over and morphin in and out of genre's like that yet all fitting together.......totally killer.Damn Fil....your killin me....got so much "homework"from your channel as it is.......and now another amazing artist's work I gotta investigate
Fil, Great groove and the guy is amazing! Another great find! I watched it 3 timed and I Never do that! This guy is extraordinary! No one could play any better and I Never heard of him! Rock On! Spectacular!!!
Good choice Fil.....Greg has awesome skills & is showing them all ! Keep the videos coming and I'll be here every night for the show & breakdown .... well done mate. 😎🎸
He definitely has every style of playing in this song and Your right I recognize Greg now, he's an excellent guitarist for sure. Love Your buffet analogy (the whole analysis was great) Thanks
Holy Crap, Fil! his hands are literally a blur! Unreal. Great song, too. Your analysis is spot on, so fleshed out--you are able to identify and spell out things I hear, but would never have thought to try to put into words ... just Bril! Thank you!!
Great stuff! One of the brilliant guitarist from the Shrapnel label in the early 80s! Mesmerising skills...just an incredible talent! I remember when the Hot Licks videos first came out and Greg among all the great guitarist had an educational vid dedicated to his style of playing! After watching it and having the recorder permanently set on rewind to watch the licks over and over again...I think it took me about a week to get over being depressed! Lol! Brilliant analysis Fil!😎🤘🤘
His style is nothing like Vai and especially not like Satch. Technically he blows Satch out of the water and Satch only uses legato to play fast. Greg is so much more versatile.
Greg Howe's a great player. This tune sounds like a re-do of something the did for his first album with Shrapnel. I have that, Howe II and Driver on cassette. Good guy, too. Both his parents passed and he stepped up for i bellive 3 siblings. Great to give him time here. a little btw, he's still at it! just over a year ago (Feb '18) Vintage Guitar Magazine did a feature with him.
This is from the first solo Shrapnel album. I have the 2 Howe II albums (and wish there were more), great Van Halen style hard rock with vocals from his brother. Driver wasn't him though, that was Tony MacAlpine (another of my favorites of that period, especially his first 2 albums).
@@kitoyobeni1 Thanks. I wondered where Howe fit in there with Driver. You're right !!! Maximum Security was great. Fil had something with George Lynch and i rec'd this.
Thanks for this Fil, I have always loved Gregs playing,I have an 80s video[instructional] and HE HAS DEVELOPED his style /playing so much,such a cool guy I would say underrated,and good to see you giving him some appreciation
Nice sound ! One thing I have learned after 40 plus years as a club regular is that plenty of hidden world class musicians are out there earning a living the old fashion way thru hard work and playing those smaller venues. Little Eddie out of Detroit comes to mind as does a couple local players Jimmy Bell & Tony MacAlpine. Greg Howe is definitely world class and obviously well worth the cost of admission.
Love the composition and performance--can't beat the jazz/fusion of the era in my book. I really enjoy the look on your face while watching him, Fil. Greg has speed AND feeling, which I think you've remarked on before as being rare.
Another great guitarist that came up at the same time as Greg Howe was Vinne Moore. He has been playing with UFO but still records solo albums. You might consider checking him out if you haven't already.
I really appreciate you sharing all of these guitarists with us. This guy plays effortlessly, He is super fast, but sticks to a melody. I have never seen or heard him play, might have heard him on someone else's track. Thanks, Jim
Love Greg,had an early VHS of his ,his style has changed so much,hes so fluid and with such an elastic tone ,the CD I have has great grooves ,phrasing, [Victor Wooten on Bass!]
I enjoyed this a lot. I love sliding as I first noticed it in Muscle Shoals and Memphis soul, often too the bass guitar of the 70s. Trying to describe the funk this reminds me of. I like learning to listen for mixed genres this way! Great analysis, Fil, as always!
I recently heard Marshall Harrison slagging off Greg Howe for playing watered down crappy music. I couldn't believe my ears when hearing this from a Guy who has a great knowledge of music himself. Greg Howe was of the very best back in the shredding days and today has matured in all the ways I would want. He plays with absolute finesse and technical ability and always come up with infectious melodies to hold his musical ideas together. For me he has always been in the top 5 players worldwide as one of those who never disappoints and always leaves me wanting more from to fill my ears with when many other I can't listen to anymore because they became stuck in the Alt picking scales with no melody going on or even any reason to play fast in the first place. Even I the first video Greg did with Hot Lick or REH his intro leaves you with your jaw on the deck in disbelief at how he does it!! I hope he continues well into old age playing so beautifully.
Fil, you ROCK! You are so insightful, intelligent, and knowledgeable about music in general and rock in particular. It's clear you "do your homework" before you show up for class. I know you've probably never heard of some of the artists you react to, but you make sure you know what you are talking about before you open your mouth. I mean....OMG...Gordon Lightfoot? That was freakin' Awesome! I'm an old rock and roll guy, but I was born in 1960 and grew up listening to Everything. Both my parents played guitar and sang and had a couple different versions of a "family band." My older brother played bass in the first....I played bass in the second. Anyway...I heard everything...soul, country, pop and rock....and it all informed my musical tastes. That was a good thing! And you clearly appreciate All music. Good for you for the way you handle the haters and trolls. I'm not so good at it, as you saw in the live stream tonight. I can't ignore idiocy. I'd be better off if I could. More to say...but too long already...sooooo.....ROCK!!!!
If my count is accurate? this make your (329) analysis video! your first analysis was uploaded on April 18 2018 and feature (Nick Jonas) You're approaching the one year mark of doing analysis thanks Fil.
Thumb up peeps..it's impossibly to not like, so good new habit to start. I'm coming to life again Fil! I have a waiting time not to taint music I can't live w/out 💖 🤙🏼
@@loripond1839 Hi Sweetie! I'm on the mend. I had so long to prepare, but w/I 1 week of breathing issues, he passed so fast and it was cancer. Nothing from the PPMS. I miss him. I 🤗 appreciate you m xo
@@robertsmyth4998 Thank you! I am reading all I can. We started as friends, married, divorced, and in my heart I always knew this would be how it goes. I'm honored to have been his caretaker. 👍🏼💔
what a great player. his lines are so fluid it's like a waterfall. always been a fan of greg. The first player I ever saw use a hair tie to dampen the strings. i remember when i first heard him, i was so influenced to try and get that same smooth legato quality. its so smooth and melodic as well. he is one of those guys that you know who it is right away. amazing guitarist. I want to know what kind of guitar that is.
and fil i would love to see you analyze the head cutting duel from crossroads, and the song Valley of Fire from the latest Jason Becker album, Steve vai, Michael Lee firkens, Joe bonamassa, Paul gilbert, Ritchie kotzen, Steve hunter, marty freidman and like 6 other amazing guitar players I just can't remember right now. 13 in total. some amazing playing on that track. have you checked it out?
Some of Howe II reminded me of a Van Halen type band. Then in the mid 90's he got together with fellow Varney label mate Richie Kotzen for a couple of albums where it looks like they e-mailed each other their parts because they also each played bass on their own songs, and Howe played keyboards on his. Then Kotzen got more into also singing and played with Mr.Big for a while and now fronts the Winery Dogs. Meanwhile Howe got more into fusion, and for a while was playing with Dennis Chambers on drums and Victor Wooten on bass. A few years ago he was in a band called Maragold with a female singer which made 1 album I could never find. He released an album I missed last year with Kotzen on 1 track. Since you mentioned Holdsworth, I want to point out that his Instructional video is still on RU-vid, with several in studio songs with his band of the time. The second song, Proto Cosmos (which Greg Howe covered) is probably the rockiest, and the intro to the last song has all of these other worldly chords. But the revelatory material in the video are the lessons. He wasn't just coming from a jazz perspective, but by using math and his ear developed his own system of chords and scales. George Benson who saw him playing in a club, and got him a record deal, said Holdsworth didn't just try new things, but he mastered them. Zappa said that Holdsworth "singlehandedly reinvented the electric guitar", and when pressed about the greatest guitarist Vai said "people don't get how good Holdsworth was because he was so far ahead of his time". For people who just think he played a lot of notes with no feeling, Santana - a feel player if there ever was one, said that he would "give him more credit than anyone for just pure expression in soloing". John McLaughlin told him that most of his stuff was too hard for him to figure out. One thing about his soloing (besides the fact that he was never satisfied with what he had played), was that he never practiced handy pre-learned phrases to insert into solos, but actually improvised all the time. Van Halen, Satriani, and many others are fans of his, but the trouble with his music was that it was too jazzy for the rock audience and too rocky for the jazz purists, so when he died they had to organize a fundraiser for his funeral. After he died they put together this 3 part series (2 Hrs. each) of phone interviews with people reminiscing about him called "Remembering Allan Holdsworth". On it Satriani says there are 3 things he thinks of when playing legato : 1. thank you Allan Holdsworth, 2. try not to copy him verbatum, and 3. " I've been trying for 40 yrs.now- I'm never going to be that good". Sorry for writing an essay, but I know you've already covered him, and I wanted to plug these things while they were still available on line. P.S. One good Greg Howe Y.T. video is "Greg Howe - Jammin' On Sunny"
Howe is one of those guitarists that can pretty much play any song, any style. He does heavy metal/shred guitar. He does fusion. He does funk. He does jazz. He's one of the few people who can play a Stevie Wonder song (he loves him some Stevie), play the keyboard parts on a guitar, and carry all the funk flavor of the original to his own instrument.
You help me to hear more clearly because of detail you giving thx 💯 for sure.....I have been listening this like crazy I don’t play guitar ....but I always like solo
You're spoiling us with yet another impressive analysis! Might I tentatively suggest anything by the insanely talented Miguel Montalban? Studio or street performance, own composition or cover arrangement. I don't care. He deserves much greater recognition and a wider audience But perhaps you'd already pencilled him in on your to-do list?
A true monster!! His phrasing is killer! Never repeats himself and his taping is lightning fast. I see he uses a hair band to keep those open strings extra quiet 🤫. It works🤘🏻. Checkout the cd “Extraction” him, Vic Wooten and Dennis Chambers 🤯
Hey Fil when are you gonna do what Greg is doing with your Steve Vai Ibanez for us, whilst wearing the rock paper metal T-shirt which they will just so happen to coordinate nicely on screen!...pretty please🙏... from your resident "serial suggester"😁✌❤🤘
Wow, Greg Howe, not sure, i knew who he was,but i know who he is now, with that right on, break down, he has been in the background for some of the greats he should step forward, more! He is really good.. I also heard that all over the place sounds, especially the Jazz Fusion, Jazz was big throughout the 70's! You Rock Fil, making a better understanding of the different genres and techniques, i feel like one of your students /M\......
He ends the phrasing lines by coming home. A ridiculous talent that has taken tapping to a different level. Then he switches to Holdsworth runs that are sick. Its simply ridiculous, but unbelievable.
First time I heard this kind of style is when I pulled a piece of plastic out of Guitar World magazine. Put it on my turntable...that song was The Attitude Song" Steve Vai. Anyone here remember those plastics? Not many others have grasped my attention like Greg for this except maybe Blues Saracenos Plaid cd
Correction my friend ,his first solo album was with shrapnel ,out of that came howe 2 also on shrapnel ,2 records ,introspection was the beginning of his fusion style his majority of his career was on shrapnelmcheers;)
Love Greg. Way ahead of his time. Always thought he left the other guys in the Varney/Shrapnel stable in the dust as good as they were. Even Yngwie got his start w Alcatraz as a result of sending Mr. Varney (as he liked to be called) a tape. Buckethead I believe as well. Macalpine, Impelliterri, maybe Racer X, Cacophony w Jason and Marty.. I may be misremembering some of this but there were a lot of guys back then. Anyway, love Greg. I was just watching some of his work w Stu Hamm and Dennis Chambers last night
@@matthewpaluch777 oh, that's right. Steeler was the Shrapnel band and then Yngwie left to join Graham Bonnet w Alcatraz. Thank you for correcting me, I do remember now
Like Scott Adkins line from the movie... Undisputed 2..."I am the most complete fighter in the world'... Greg Howe is the most complete guitarist in the world... in my opinion.
Wow that was Vicious! I've heard of Greg Howe but never really heard him play. Technique upon technique and what finger strength! How do his fingers not get fatigued? How does he remember the routine and all those notes without getting lost? The composition really has some pretty parts too. I like the quick two note call & response he keeps returning to at 1:56 & 1:57 and through out the piece. ** Hey Fil, I had the pleasure of seeing Alan Holdsworth play 3 or 4 times in Boston clubs. His compositions and chord structures were just other worldly and ethereal. Do you like any of his music? *Great job Man, really enjoy your analysis videos.
Greg is one of the very few 'shredders' who convincingly transitioned to fusion. That is becasue not all these guys, great players as they are, had the harmonic sophistication to move in that direction. Tony MacAlpine also got more into fusion and you can hear him in that vein with CAB and Planet X, but it never quite worked for me (not that I have a millionth of the talent of Tony btw, just a personal opinion). Gregg's tour and album with Tetsuo Sakurai is killer, not least because Dennis Chambers is on drums. This video probaly isn't the best example of Greg's fusion playing, but anything he does is killer. As an interesting comparison - if you consider Allan Holdsworth to be the gold standard (which I do) - is to check out Greg's take on Proto Cosmos on his album Extraction. And what I love about Greg is his versatitlity - you mentioned Michael Jackson etc - and the album he did with his group Maragold is a kick ass female led rock album. And finally, I consider the UK guitarist Alex Hutchins, currently playing with Steven Wilson, to be one of the very best. There is a great clip from some years ago where Greg is giving a clinic and jams with Alex, Greg's reaction is priceless. It would be great if you did a video on Alex.
Van Halen was Greg main inspiration when he was young learning the guitar he said Van Halen made him get serious that's what he said in different interviews along with other Guitarist check out some of Greg's RU-vid interview videos
hey Fil, amazing pick. Greg is an underrated master of guitar and music! His style and soul is unmatched in this world. Can you possibly check out Sergio and Odair Assad on classical guitar? I'm sure you're familiar with them, They're legends. Pick any video by them. If you haven't heard of them, I guarantee you will be blown away and appreciate them🤘😎