Taking my own path on the Metal Tree from this point forward, I wanted to focus on a sub-genre called Neoclassical. Now I've been in brief youtube debates where people thought I was nuts for calling some of these people metal. However, had those people challenging me bothered to google Neoclassical, or even the people we were talking about they would have found out that it is often called Neoclassical Metal, and the musicians in question tend to be from, or actively in metal bands.
This series began as an inspiration from the Metal Evolution documentary series by Sam Dunn and Banger Films. I covered all of the branches in the metal family tree poster in that series in episodes 2-27. This is the first in the posts tagged metaltree that is not on that poster and is added by me.
The first post in this series and explaining why I am writing them can be found here. It also has the first 21 posts linked at the very end of it. After that point it was beyond 30 days old and I could no longer edit the posts. You can see all of them by clicking on the metaltree tag, and clicking on new, promoted, etc. I do promote them when I happen to have some SBD to promote them with.
Let Us Begin
Before I dive into the actual musicians/bands in this section let's go ahead and address "Why is this metal?". I explained how I decided things were metal back in the original post and ongoing over time. There is historically no clear delineation for when something suddenly became metal. There are borders between rock, and metal where it may have been called Hard Rock, Acid Rock, and even some Progressive Rock, where the sound that was being produced is what would become metal. So there is a blurry border area where bands will sometimes be called metal, and sometimes be called rock. The thing you'll find if you dig into this deep is that it is really a subjective thing and often the only reason they don't want to be called metal is that some people still treat that word with a stigma. It is viewed as a bad thing. Yet in reality they are very much metal. They don't sound like Elvis, like Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, or any of the other early acts that are what gave Rock and Roll (aka rock) it's name.
Out of all metal the only consistent thing I can find about the bands is that at some point they will use guitars with distortion. The drumming, the vocals, and all of those things can vary a great deal within metal and it's sub-genres. The only defining thing that seems consistent is the distortion. They don't have to do it in every song, or consistently through a song. They simply need to have songs that it is used in. At that point does it mean they are solely metal? No. They could do a metal song, a pop song, a country song, and be all three of those things depending upon which song you listened to.
With this said I do believe Neoclassical largely does deserve to be within the sub-genre of metal. It is a classical, and metal hybrid for the most part heavily inspired by the likes of Niccolo Paganini and J.S. Bach.
Neoclassical Metal is very guitar centric. All cases I know of revolve heavily around the guitarist. This again is a throwback to the Paganini style approach. The common thing with these acts is heavy emphasis on classical scale stylings, and modes. It also often uses a lot of arpeggios and sweeping arpeggios. In fact, sweeping arpeggios are one of the hallmarks of the typical neoclassical guitarist. So while there are many guitarists who are skilled, this is not purely about skill, but more about the background influences and style with which the guitarists compose their music. It should be noted that within this sub-genre any guitarist that tends to get mentioned is well respected as a guitarist and sometimes people will push some of these as the best guitarist in the world. I am not part of this group, because I don't believe there actually IS a best guitarist in the world. Most guitarists people make a lot of noise about are really good at one or two styles and are almost untouchable in those areas. Yet in other areas they are not particularly gifted and do not stand out in those genres/sub-genres as well. So I don't see a best. If you want to pick a very specific style and say "who is the best at X guitar style" I'd likely be able to come up with an opinion.
Ritchie Blackmore
First appearance: 1968
Nationality: United Kingdoms
Some Performing History: Deep Purple-1968, Rainbow-1975
Ritchie Blackmore is known for mixing Baroque style musicality into songs. Deep Purple is one of those bands I discussed in one of the first few posts of this series. They are on the edge of the creation of heavy metal, and are one of the bands sometimes credited as partially responsible for it's creation. With iconic songs such as Smoke on The Water. Then he went on to form Rainbow with Ronnie James Dio as the vocalist, and this definitely could be considered early metal, but it could also be considered perhaps some of the earliest examples of what would become Neoclassical.
Blues & Beethoven - yes, Blackmore was also quite versed in blues. Some Neoclassical guitarists cannot claim the same.
Beethoven Neoclassical
Amazing Guitar Solo
Rainbow - Stargazer
Uli Jon Roth
First appearance: 1974
Nationality: Germany
Some Performing History: Scorpions-1974, Electric Sun-1979, Solo-1987-2015
Uli Jon Roth is perhaps best known as the guitarist for the Scorpions, but his playing and performances go well beyond that. If you look into any more recent Neoclassical artists and asked them who influenced them you will likely always find Uli Jon Roth listed as an influence.
Sky Overture Live
Sails of Charon - Scorpions
We'll Burn The Sky - Scorpions
Randy Rhoads
First appearance: 1976
Nationality: United States
Some Performing History: Quiet Riot-1976, Ozzy Osbourne-1979
Randy Rhoads very much loved classical music and was intending on going to college for classical guitar before his untimely death in a private airplane crash in 1982. In the brief period he was with us he influenced a lot of guitarists. While he would often go the classical, neo-classical route, he is also known for power chords, and using non-standard scale patterns. So it can be argued based upon the lick based soloing he was not a neoclassical purist, and this would be true.
Dee
Picking Up The Pieces - Quiet Riot
Mr. Crowley - Live 1981 - Ozzy Osbourne
Yngwie J. Malmsteen
First appearance: 1983
Nationality: Sweden
Some Performing History: Steeler-1983, Alcatrazz-1983, Solo-1984-current
Yngwie without a doubt is the most famous and perhaps the most skilled at Neoclassical Metal out there. If you were to make a top 10 of neoclassical it is pretty rare that Yngwie would not end up in the number one spot. However, his brief forays into anything blues like I don't think are very good, so he is a good example of why I don't think there is a best guitarist. For if you ask me who the best Neoclassical Guitarist is I'd likely say Yngwie. If you step outside of this style though he wouldn't make it even into the top 10. Yet, when it comes to Neoclassical Metal there really is no one better. There are some that are close, and there may be some new up and comers I haven't heard yet that are better. He kind of blew minds in 1983 when he burst onto the scene in both Steeler and Alcatrazz. He then went on to make Rising Force as his side solo project but it was so well received he has been a solo act every since that time. Many guitarists strived to play like him after the release of that 1984 Rising Force album. In fact it is likely every Neoclassical guitarist after Yngwie came on the scene was heavily influenced by him. Yngwie's influences were those above him in this post as well as Niccolo Paganini, J.S. Bach, and other classical composers.
Hot On Your Heels - Steeler
Hiroshima Mon Amour - Alcatrazz
Far Beyond The Sun - Yngwie Malmsteen
Black Star - Live - Yngwie Malmsteen
Live with Japanese Philharmonic Orchestra Full - 1:14:08
Vinnie Moore
First appearance: 1985
Nationality: United States
Some Performing History: Vicious Rumors-1985, Solo-1986-2015, Alice Cooper-1991, UFO-2004
Meltdown - Vinnie Moore
Day Dream - Vinnie Moore
Live in New York Sparks '91 - Vinnie Moore
Tony MacAlpine
First appearance: 1986
Nationality: United States
Some Performing History: Vinnie Moore-1986, Planet X-2000, Steve Vai-2003, Solo-1986-2015
Tony performed with some huge names in guitar, and in the process became quite the big name in guitar himself.
Tears of Sahara - Tony MacAlpine
Pyrokinesis - Tony MacAlpine
Kings Cup
Jason Becker
First appearance: 1987
Nationality: United States
Some Performing History: Cacophony-1987, David Lee Roth-1991
Jason Becker is one of those names you kept hearing over and over again in the late 80s guitar scenes. His name was all over in just about any guitar related magazine you could find. It usually was shared in the same articles as Marty Friedman, and Paul Gilbert. Jason Becker and Marty Friedman were both in Cacophony together and that was a band you kept hearing reference to if you wanted to hear some insane guitar. Jason Becker is another one of those tragic stories in music. He joined David Lee Roth and recorded an album with David Lee Roth in 1991. That year he was diagnosed with ALS. This crippled him and he soon would no longer be able to play guitar. So this is why a shining light suddenly became only mentioned in reverence when talking of guitar players of the past.
Serrana - if not for the ALS he might have actually been able to out do Yngwie in this style, as he was that good, and gifted.
Perpetual Burn (Studio Version)
Jam 1986 (Not Dead Yet)
Timo Tolkki
First appearance: 1989
Nationality: Finland
Some Performing History: Stratovarius-1989, Solo-1994-2008, Revolution Renaissance-2008, Symfonia-2011, Avalon-2013,
Alien/Lande - 2014, Chaos Magic-2015
Avalon - Enshrined In My Memory
Lord Of The Rings - Stratovarius
Avalon - A World Without Us
Jeff Loomis
First appearance: 1995
Nationality: United States
Some Performing History: Nevermore-1995-2010, Arch Enemy-2015, Solo-2008-2017, Conquering Dystopia-2014
Jeff Loomis is more than a Neoclassical Guitarist, he does a lot of styles and is often just referred to as Progressive because his scope is broad. One of my favorite bands is Nevermore and until their break up he was the guitarist and wrote most of their music. I didn't add him here, because I like him. When googling lists his name was often coming up as Neoclassical. You are getting some extra videos from him, because I really like his style, he is one of my favorites.
Jato Unit - Jeff Loomis
Perpetual Burn (Jason Becker Cover) - Jeff Loomis
The Ultimatum (Playthrough)
Mercurial
Tony MacAlpine and Jeff Loomis play "Square Circles"
The Obsidian Conspiracy: Bonus Video - Clinic of Nevermore song - only really Neoclassical moments might be in the solo, but like I said I am a big fan of the arrangements Jeff Loomis comes up with, so I tend to go a bit overboard on his stuff. This song normally has awesome Warrel Dane lyrics over it... so I'll share a studio version too. I thought I should show the guitar part though as that is where any Neoclassical references will show at about 3:46 mark.
Stéphan Forté
First appearance: 1996
Nationality: France
Some Performing History: Solo-1996-2014, Adagio-2001-current
I never heard of this guy until I put this post together. I must say I am liking what I am hearing. Thig guy is pretty badass.
Sector A UNDEAD - Some Nudity and Dark Imagery - (perhaps worthy of NSFW, but you don't have to watch it so not necessary) in Video - Stéphan Forté (Edit: I removed the UNCENSORED version from this post as it should be NSFW... I made a second post dedicated to the uncensored version and labeled it NSFW)
Haarlem 2011
The Shadows Compendium (Live in London 2012)
Some Youtube Videos
I made a note of a few videos to share from youtube before I wrote this article.
In Closing
There are a number of acts and guitarists that likely deserve to be in this list. I mainly wanted to introduce this branch of metal and make sure it was not left out of the Metal Tree. The acts I chose above were chosen from several lists and research. I likely could have added Symphony X and a number of other bands in this presentation, but I covered them elsewhere. Many of the acts in this post were not covered in other posts in the Metal Tree. So some bands that I may have left out were likely covered elsewhere. You should still feel free as with all the Metal Tree posts to reply with a video link to someone you think should be in the Neoclassical Metal post that I did not include.
As always, thank you for reading, watching, and listening.
Steem On!