PAUL GILBERT IS a man who needs little introduction to these pages. As the founding guitar player in Racer X, he was responsible for taking heavy metal to new virtuosic heights on mid-Eighties records Street Lethal and Second Heat, with more finger-twisting escapades explored on the albums that followed more than a decade later. Even on those early releases, when Gilbert was barely out of his teens, it was like he’d arrived fully formed with breathtaking dexterity and control, especially when it came to synchronizing both hands and alternate picking with effortless precision.
His other main band, Mr. Big, was — and still is — an infinitely more melodic affair: perhaps best known for multiple chart-topping early Nineties hit “To Be with You,” as well as other choice offerings like “Green Tinted Sixties Mind,” “Colorado Bulldog” and “Take Cover.” Then, of course, there are the REH instructional videos such as Intense Rock, Intense Rock II and Terrifying Guitar Trip, which have become widely regarded as shredders’ bibles, with Gilbert breaking down his signature licks and moves while injecting his own unique sense of humor to make the footage more engaging and less stuffy, as many tapes of that era often were.
But where do you go when you’ve been long established as one of the most technically gifted and creatively ambitious guitar players in the world? In Gilbert’s case, his solo releases over the last decade or so have been rooted more in earthy blues, working with less gain using Marshall combos in place of the Laney half-stacks of the past, and in recent years, he’s been expanding into the world of slide guitar. His latest release, simply titled The Dio, witnesses him reigniting his passion for heavy metal through the hits that soundtracked his youth, from Ronnie James Dio’s thunderous anthems fronting Black Sabbath to other famous works recorded with Rainbow and his solo band.
