Poly Vai

Want Steve Vai to play on your album? Polyphia’s Tim Henson and Scott LePage (and Steve Vai!) tell you how it’s done. Behold the epic saga of “Ego Death”

Poly Sci

On Remember That You Will Die, instrumental prog-rock's resident devils achieve startling new levels of intricacy and wow-factor mayhem. Below, Polyphia's Tim Henson and Scott LePage talk gear, practicing, their Steve Vai collab - and the album with the feel-good title of the year

WHEN JIMI MET SPOCK

IN 1968, JIMI HENDRIX BROUGHT THE HOUSE DOWN — ALMOST BURNED IT DOWN, IN FACT — IN CLEVELAND. BUT THE STARS WERE IN ALIGNMENT THAT DAY FOR A MIND-MELD WITH ANOTHER COSMIC AVATAR, LEONARD “MR. SPOCK” NIMOY

Pup

STEFAN BABCOCK AND STEVE SLADKOWSKI REVEL IN THE UNRAVELING OF PUP (THE BAND)

Alexisonfire

DALLAS GREEN AND WADE McNEIL EXPLAIN WHAT’S CHANGED SINCE THE BAND’S LAST ALBUM — FROM 13 YEARS AGO! — INCLUDING THEIR GUITAR DYNAMIC

A Gigaton of Charm

JOSH KLINGHOFFER WAS A RED HOT CHILI PEPPER — AND NOW HE RECORDS WITH EDDIE VEDDER AND PERFORMS WITH PEARL JAM. WHAT IS IT ABOUT HIM THAT ALL THESE (HUGELY SUCCESSFUL) ACTS WANT?

El Perro

WITH THIS NEW PROJECT, LONGTIME RADIO MOSCOW GUITARIST PARKER GRIGGS DOGGEDLY PURSUES HIS GROOVY, PSYCHEDELIC DREAM

Molly Tuttle

EXPERIENCING A CREATIVE RUT? IT MIGHT BE A SIMPLE CASE

Light Reading

GW CATCHES UP WITH DEVIN TOWNSEND, WHOSE PREDICTABLY UNPREDICTABLE 21ST SOLO ALBUM, LIGHTWORK, WILL SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY LATER THIS MONTH

Leprous

GW CATCHES UP WITH TOR ODDMUND SUHRKE, A PROVEN PROG MASTER (WHO'S ALSO A PROFESSIONAL PHYSIOTHERAPIST)

Kirk Fletcher

THE NASHVILLE-BASED BLUES MASTER ISN’T AFRAID TO ADD SOME II’S, III’S AND VI’S TO THE TRIED-AND-TRUE I-IV-V

Still a Ball of Fire

U.K. STRAT LEGEND ROBIN TROWER TALKS NEW MUSIC, THE SECRETS TO STELLAR TONE AND WHY HE'LL ALWAYS HAVE A SOFT SPOT FOR AMERICAN FANS

Gore Obsessed, Old-School Death Metal

INTRIGUED? LET BLOODBATH GUITARIST TOMAS ÅKVIK FILL YOU IN

Z-One 4 Rock

REVEREND BILLY CORGAN SIGNATURE Z-ONE

Dark and Stormy

ESP GUITARS LTD DELUXE SN-1000HT FIRE BLAST

Sonic Reaction

LINE 6 CATALYST 100

ROLLING WITH the chaos

JIM ROOT AND MICK THOMSON DO A DEEP DIVE INTO THE MAKING OF THE END, SO FAR THE SETBACKS, THE DEPRESSION, THE WILD GEAR EXPERIMENTS, THE WHAMMY-BAR HIJINKS AND MORE

THE problem CHILD

WILLIE ADLER AND MARK MORTON, LAMB OF GOD'S YIN-AND-YANG GUITAR DUO, TAKE YOU BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE BAND'S "COMBATIVE," "CONFRONTATIONAL" (AND LIVE-IN-THE-STUDIO) NEW ALBUM

WELCOME TO THE machine

"YOU'RE NOT COMPETING AGAINST OTHER BANDS....YOU'RE COMPETING AGAINST YOUR GUITAR-PLAYING SKILLS FROM A YEAR AGO, OR 10 YEARS AGO" -ROBB FLYNN

A CHUNK OF change

MESHUGGAH'S MÅRTEN HAGSTRÖM TAKES YOU INSIDE THE MAKING OF THE SWEDISH DEATH METAL MASTERS' UNRELENTING NEW ALBUM, IMMUTABLE, HIS WEAKNESS FOR SIMON & GARFUNKEL AND THE RETURN OF CO-FOUNDING GUITARIST FREDRIK THORDENDAL

MXR DYNA COMP

POWER TOOLS

Lari Basilio

THE BRAZILIAN GUITAR ACE HELPS LISTENERS CUT THROUGH PANDEMIC-FUELED DEPRESSION WITH HOPEFUL TUNES AND HER CUSTOMARY KICKASS GUITAR PLAYING

S.G. Goodman

THIS KENTUCKIAN'S GUITAR-LADEN NEW ALBUM HAS PLENTY OF BITE — COURTESY OF HER UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE AND VINTAGE GUILDS

Billy Howerdel

THE A PERFECT CIRCLE GUITARIST UNVEILS HIS SOLO DEBUT, WHAT NORMAL WAS, WHICH TAKES HIS SYNTH ROCK AND SHOEGAZE INFLUENCES TO NEW LIMITS

Bartees Strange

THIS D.C. ARTIST’S LATEST ALBUM IS A CONVINCING REMINDER TO REMEMBER WHERE YOU CAME FROM — WHETHER IT’S THE MUSIC YOU WERE RAISED ON OR THE IMPORTANT PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE

STARDUST MEMORIES

Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust producer (and Beatles engineer) KEN SCOTT recalls the making of two of DAVID BOWIE and MARK RONSON’s most iconic albums.

JOHNSON AND JOHNSON

The Texas guitar great has concocted not one, but two albums bursting with new material — plus a few extras. “It feels good to clear out the vaults and to get everything out there…”

The Meter Is Running Wild

MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST FAREES AND METERS GUITAR LEGEND LEO NOCENTELLI DISCUSS THEIR DEBUT COLLABORATION, “THE MELTING”

This Year’s Model

AFTER SERIOUSLY REINING THINGS IN ON THE LATEST OFFERING BY HIS MAIN BAND, FROST*, PROG-ROCK STALWART JOHN MITCHELL BRINGS HIS AX TO THE FORE ON THE NEW LONELY ROBOT ALBUM, A MODEL LIFE

Lindsay Ell

THE COUNTRY-POP STAR GEEKS OUT ON ANALOG GUITAR GEAR