Technique vs. Feeling

[Big Ears]

The thing with his speed is that there is still a sense of musical creativeness and awe inspiring clean technique that comes through with his playing that isn't produced by most shredders. With most shredders it seems like they're speeding along the path of least resistance. When I hear a shredder I think "wow, he's fast. When I hear John Mc I think "holy shit, he's a wizard."

Exactly right.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

I'm not really into the Shrapnel recs/solo-artist type "shred-god" ....not saying I don't like some of that instrumental shred stuff (Vai, Michael Romeo, Vinnie Moore, George Bellas, Mike Orlando, Kiko Loureiro & a few others) ...but I doubt I have more than 10-15 of those albums in my collection. I much prefer the guys who 'shred' solo's within the context of a band.