Legendary guitar and piano/keyboard virtuoso, Tony MacAlpine‘s new selftitled album, to be released June 21 on Favored Nations, marks a highly-anticipated return to solo work after a prolific decade of output with his bands, including prog-metal-fusion trio Planet X; GRAMMY-nominated jazz fusion outfit CAB; power metallers Ring Of Fire; as well as performing keyboard and guitar duties in Steve Vai‘s double platinum DVD-selling live band The Breed from 2001-2006.
‘When I set out to write a new album, I quickly realized that my urge to once again create and define myself as a solo artist had returned with a vengeance,’ said MacAlpine. ‘This is my strongest album to date. I can’t wait to hit the road and play it live.’
Recorded in his home studio in Pasadena, CA, Tony MacAlpine is the musician’s 11th solo album. Featuring 12 tracks of guitar-laden progressive instrumental metal – MacAlpine performing 7 and 8-string guitar, keyboards, bass and programming, along with drum legends Virgil Donati (Planet X, Virgil Donati Band) on tracks 1, 5, & 10; and Marco Minnemann (Adrian Belew, Necrophagist) on tracks 3, 4, 8 & 12. Bassist Philip Bynoe (Steve Vai, Ring Of Fire) also appears on track 2. The album was mixed by Ulrich Wild (Deftones, Static X, Dethklok) and mastered by former Chief Mastering Engineer of A&M Studios, Dave Collins.
One of the guitarists at the forefront of the virtuoso guitar movement of the mid-80s, 2011 marks Tony’s 25th anniversary of groundbreaking guitar work (his seminal 1986 debut album Edge Of Insanity was recently ranked #4 in Guitar World magazine’s Top 10 Shred Albums Of All Time), in a career spanning 11 solo albums, 13 band albums, and countless guest appearances, in genres as diverse as metal, progressive fusion, neoclassical, jazz and classical piano.
The album’s opening tracks ‘Serpens Cauda’ and ‘Ölüdeniz’ are available now for FREE download in high quality MP3 at Tony’s website: www.tonymacalpine.com
Tony plans to tour the album in the USA, Europe and South America later this year and 2012.
Tracklisting:
1. Serpens Cauda (4:23)
2. Ölüdeniz (5:16)
3. Fire Mountain (4:23)
4. Dream Mechanism (4:18)
5. Ten Seconds to Mercury (4:35)
6. Flowers For Monday (3:05)
7. Angel of Twilight (5:03)
8. Pyrokinesis (3:56)
9. Blue Maserati (4:41)
10. Summer Palace (4:36)
11. Salar de Uyuni (5:40)
12. The Dedication (4:22)
