Welcome, everyone, to episode 445 of Signals
from Mars. I'm your host, Victor. And for this
episode, we bring you Alex Skolnick. He's here
to talk about metal allegiance. We talk a little
bit about testament, sabotage, all those rumors
surrounding Ozzy. So we get into all of that
stuff up next. Quick reminder that in addition
to hosting Signals from Mars, I've also worked
behind the scenes helping other podcasters. With
over 16 years of experience and more than 1 ,200
episodes that I've produced or appeared on, I
offer podcasting, editing, ghost hosting interviews,
and repurposing content into viral clips, show
notes, transcripts, and social media posts. If
you've got a podcast and need help making it
sound professional, or if you want to turn your
episodes into content that actually grows your
audience, I can help. Check out the podcasting
services page over at signalsfrommars .com. Just
go all the way to the right on the menu. You'll
see work with me, hover over that, and you'll
see podcast services and sponsorship. Let me
help you make your podcast stand out. Speaking
of sponsorships. Signals from Mars is sponsored
by listeners like you and also by great sponsors.
If you've got a brand, product, or service that
connects with rock and metal fans, I'd love to
work with you. Our audience isn't casual. They're
collectors, concert goers, and gear buyers who
support the bands and brands they love. Sponsorship
packages start at just $150 a month and include
on -air mentions, social media plugs, and even
product features. If you want to connect with
a loyal rock and metal audience, head on over
to the sponsorship page on SignalsFromMars .com
to learn more. I want to send a quick shout out
to my patrons. Sean Richman, Tony Espin, Anthony
Mackey, Ed Ferguson, Johan Edström, Metal Dan,
Chris Vaglio, Gabriel Ruiz, Mark Striegel, Brad
Dahl, Mike Jones, Jeremy Weltman, Steve Hoker,
and Steven Saylor. Thank you guys for all of
your support. You can become a patron for as
little as $2 a month. All types of great videos.
We have a small tribe there, a small community,
troll free. We love talking about music. I post
videos daily on there for us to comment about
all types of different questions and polls. And
you have the Victor M. Ruiz podcast as well,
where I talk about behind the scenes stuff and
shit going on in my life, so on and so forth.
Yeah, so Alex Skolnick, this is a really cool
interview. This one's a long time in the making,
and sometimes when you least expect it, a cool
interview like this appears. So as I mentioned
at the beginning of the show, we dive into a
bunch of different things. We focus mainly on
Metal Allegiance initially, and then we move
on to other things from throughout his career.
This was a treat, and it's funny, as I'm recording
the interview, I realize Alex Skolnick is actually
over my right shoulder during every episode.
If you check out the video version of this, you'll
see that I've got a bunch of different things
behind me to try to spice things up in the background.
From bottom to top, it's Eddie Van Halen, Ace
Fraley, Dave Mustaine, and Alex Skolnick all
in a row. If you don't catch it, it's between
the Metallica poster and the Misfits flag that's
hanging there in the background. So this is awesome.
Hope you guys enjoy it. Just remember, if you're
going to be voting on your favorite albums of
1980, the deadline is... tomorrow, February 25th
to submit them. Send me your 10 favorite albums,
hard rock metal related or anything that's remotely
close. If you've only got five, I'll work with
that. If you've got three, I'll work with that.
Whatever it is, whatever you submit, I'll work
with it. Your number one gets 10 points. Number
two gets nine points all the way down to 10.
which gets one point. And it should be a fun
discussion this Friday, February 27th. I'm sure
that there will be more than one argument that
takes place. So it'll be fun. In any event, go
to SignalsFromMars .com to find out more. And
if you want to submit a list, SignalsFromMars
at SignalsFromMars .com. Let's get on with the
show. Welcome on and on to the latest episode
of Signals from Mars. Joining me is Alex Skolnick.
Alex, how are you, sir? I'm good. How about yourself?
Not bad. And I just realized as the intro video
kicks in, you actually appear from some shot.
So that was the formation of Damnation Tour.
You guys were opening up for Judas Priest. San
Sebastian, Spain, uh, Megadeth was also opening
up. So I, yes, I remember. Yeah. So that was,
uh, that's roughly about three hours from where,
uh, yeah. So that's 2009 exactly. Because I'm
remembering that I, uh, went to try the, um,
I got fitted for my, uh, um, not tuxedo for my
suit for my wedding. Uh, Oh, okay. Cool. Oh,
yeah. So that was back in 09. That was such a
great show because, I mean, three just great
bands just firing on all cylinders. I remember
you guys had Paul Bostoff on drums. And right
away, one of my friends who went with us is a
huge Slayer fan. And right away, he started up
the whole Lombardo -Bostoff. And everyone was
against him because he was saying that he preferred
Paul's playing because he felt that he was a
little bit more adventurous with what he had
done. So it was a big thrill for him to see you
guys with Paul. Yeah, sure enough, Paul would
be back in Slayer a short time later. Yeah, absolutely.
So we're here to talk a little bit about Metal
Allegiance. You guys just released a single.
Black Horizon. It features William Duvall of
Alice in Chains. Mark Menge is kind of the main
guy in Metal Allegiance. When you guys are putting
songs together for Metal Allegiance, let's say
you bring in a William Duvall, do you pivot in
your writing because he's coming into the song
or does he come in after you've already written
your parts? We always write the parts before
the vocals happen. Pretty much every Metal Legion
song has been completed instrumentally. Once
we have the song finished, then we have a pretty
good idea of what type of voice we want to add
to the song. In the case of William, these parts
didn't really fit anybody else we had worked
with. And we needed the right... type of voice
and it's just amazing that it worked out that
we were able to finally get william i think who
was perfect for it all along okay do you guys
tend to demo the songs with different singers
or do you have someone in mind when the completed
song is done uh we've never demoed a song with
the singer we've always recorded it and then
worked on vocal parts occasionally there might
be some edits in the studio just to fit the vocalist
or to fit the arrangement. Maybe a singer will
come in and suddenly we have a chorus or we have
another part that we hadn't realized was a chorus
and that needs to happen more. So we'll edit
it and have more of those parts or vice versa.
Maybe we'll take something out. For the most
part, you know, we have these songs that sound
pretty good instrumentally. And there's a variety.
There are cases where we do hear a certain type
of voice and we know exactly who we're going
to reach out to for it. And then there's others
where we just have no idea. And we're just going
to throw caution to the wind and hopefully we
will find the right person for that song. Is
there ever like an oh shit moment where, oh,
wow, we've been able to get this guy to sing
on the track or to be featured on a track that
you weren't expecting? Well, this was one. I
mean, this was, you know, this was pretty recent.
But yeah, there have been a couple others. I
mean, in the case of Randy from Lamb of God,
and he's a... close friend of mine and we've
done events together and worked on projects together
but he was just so crazy busy at the time we
were doing this recording with the one that he
ended up on it was like a small miracle that
we we got him and we also got him in person so
we were actually able to spend the day with him
kind of constructing the parts tracking and everything
okay ed is it ever difficult to convince someone
to come in and sing on a track? Um, not, I wouldn't
say it's difficult. Um, I mean, it's definitely
more scheduling than anything. Okay. Um, yeah,
some of them tend to be more, um, familiar with
us. We have, they like somebody like, um, Troy,
Sanders from Mastodon. He's done multiple shows
with us. He's like family. We're never going
to have to convince him. As long as he likes
the track. But yeah, somebody like Floor Jensen
from Nightwish who was on Power Drunk Majesty,
the title track of the second album, part two.
If you hear something over there, you can do
whatever you want for this. And then I think
that convinced her. Oh, wow. Cool. You just mentioned
shows. You guys did a show recently. And when
you're putting the shows together, obviously
scheduling is an issue as well to kind of bring
everyone in. be able to pull a lot of these songs
off live. Is it ever, has there ever been a situation
where you haven't been able to do a show the
way that you guys fully intended because you
couldn't bring somebody in? Not really. I mean,
I think at this point, there's so many songs
to choose from. There's so many different vocal
styles to choose from. We don't need the exact
lineups that are on the record. In fact, There
are quite a few songs that have been sung by
different singers live, depending on availability.
We've never had Randy at a show yet. Hopefully
that'll change. But he's very hard to pin down.
Lamb of God is so busy. But we have had his song
sang by Chuck Billy. Chuck does a great version
of it live. We've had shows where Chuck couldn't
make the show. And John Bush could sing his part,
and it sounds good. And, you know, it's fine.
We always make it work. You're also not talking
about any slouches either. So even if you're
bringing in other people to fill in the parts,
they're still bringing their flavor to the table,
but they're still... excellent musicians, excellent
artists on their own. Oh, absolutely. Everybody
has their own thing and then they'll put their
own stamp on the tune. And it's kind of fun.
It's kind of fun to imagine the song had it been
recorded by this person. And it could have worked,
but it's different. But once somebody records
the voice for one of the songs, they're obviously
going to get the first call to come sing the
song live. Does playing with somebody live kind
of feel like the inspiration to maybe write a
track and have someone involved? Well, you know,
when we did the second album, Power Drunk Majesty,
I think at that point we had done a few shows.
So we had some shows under our belt with different
singers. Yeah, I think, yeah, then we had a pretty
good idea of who, you know, who we'd want to
sing certain songs. And, you know, we had some
returning people. Like on that album, we had
Mark Osagueda, who had been on the first album.
But we had also done a bunch of shows with him,
so it made sense to have him come in and try
something new. Okay. Are there any tracks that
for you are must plays at the Metal Allegiance
shows? There are several. Yeah. The song, well,
Pledge of Allegiance is a must play. Okay. That's
sort of our peace elves. We can't not do that
song. It's a bit of an anthem. There's another
one, The Accuser, with the late Trevor from Black
Dahlia Murder. Great guy. We all miss a lot.
And that song, that's been sung by a couple of
different people. I believe Chuck sang that song
before. John Bush has really found a great way
to do that one live. But that's, yeah, that's
also become essential. That tends, whereas Pledge
of Allegiance tends to be closer or near the
end. The Accuser tends to be a good song to kick
things off and put towards the beginning of the
set. Okay. And are there, you guys are known
for doing covers as well. Are there any covers
that you feel like you have to play all the time?
Not all the time. There are certain bands, I
think, that need to be represented. Iron Maiden
needs to be in there. Metallica's been there
quite a bit. There's a few others. Yeah, we've
definitely covered some others. And sometimes
it depends on who's with us. If Chuck's there.
kind of makes sense to do a testament tune and
uh yeah if um troy is there you know a mastodon
tune so those bands tend to be represented but
as far as uh bands yeah that we always know we're
gonna cover yeah it's at least iron maiden and
metallic okay is there anything that you haven't
covered that you'd like to cover um You know,
I wouldn't mind covering a bit more Rush, even
though they're not metal per se. You know, they're
like an honorary metal band. It's not that we've
never done it, too. We did. We have done some
Rush, you know, tribute to Neil and his passing.
And then actually the very first metal show,
metal legion show that I did, I remember we did
Tom Sawyer. Okay. And it was really fun. I had
never played it live. I mean, that's such a classic.
And does covering a song like that get you nervous
to try to get it kind of perfect, to make it
the perfect tribute to that band? Well, you definitely
have to put some more work into it than some
of the other songs, you know, because it's just
so precise and so well. just the level of execution
of Rush is higher than average. Right. Yeah.
You know, because they weren't trying to be like
groups like Maiden and Priest, you know, as tight
as they are. Yeah, Maiden, yeah, sorry, Rush
was, you know, they were listening to Genesis
and King Crimson. Sort of going for that level
of precision. Right. Okay. And to you, what's
the funnest Metal Allegiant song to play live?
I really like playing Let Darkness Fall, which
has Troy Sanders on vocals. And it's just got
this really cool breakdown in the middle. Kind
of Master of Puppets style, where everything
stops. And then you build the song back up again.
And it's got a section where there's nylon string
acoustic guitar. And we did a couple of shows
where it was tricky to work that into the show
because I have to switch guitars and I play on
a separate stand. It's called a Gracie stand.
So you wear your electric guitar, but you switch
to this acoustic guitar that's on the stand.
Right. It used to be a challenge, and somebody
forgot to push a button. There was no sound.
We've got to have been through the ringer. But
this last time, we really got it. And the sound
came through, and it worked. I think we finally
figured out how to do it. So that's a fun one.
Let darkness fall. Is it challenging to get the
nylon guitar to cut through? Uh, it is, it is,
you know, you definitely, uh, you wouldn't want
to do that without a sound check. That's for
sure. Yeah. Okay. Um, is there anyone that you,
um, would like to work with in the future on
a metal allegiance track? Um, I mean, there's,
there's always people. Yeah. Um, Yeah. Rob Halford,
give us a call. There you go, Rob. If you're
watching, give him a call. So this is a standalone
single that's just come out. Excuse me. Is there
a full length in the works? Not at this moment.
Okay. But I think the, yeah. This song has certainly
inspired us and it's created some excitement
and some momentum. So I can't promise anything,
but it's not impossible that this momentum will
somehow channel itself into more music. Okay.
Let's hope. Do you think it makes more sense
to maybe work on a single at a time or maybe
an EP as opposed to doing a full length? I think
at this point, yeah, doing a single at a time
is a lot more convenient. Because doing a full
-length LP really requires blocking out a big
chunk of time in one's calendar that a lot of
us just don't have these days. When we did the
debut Metal Allegiance recording, 2014, it was
just miraculous that we had the time. I had wrapped
up a couple solo projects. I had done a record
with my trio a couple years before and didn't
feel I needed to rush back in the studio. I had
just done a big acoustic world music album called
Planetary Coalition. testament was wrapping up
an album cycle and had some time off so it was
just kind of it just felt like um you know the
the stars aligned in that case but uh the way
things have been especially in recent years uh
we've just been so busy uh but we yeah we can
one song at a time we can certainly manage so
who knows maybe yeah maybe you'll see more singles
i would That would be great. Okay, cool. You
just mentioned Testament. Parabellum, at least
on my show, was voted the listener's second favorite
album of the year. For some reason, Alice Cooper
snuck in there and got number one. No one saw
that coming. Okay, well, you know, if we're going
to be number two to somebody, it might as well
be Alice Cooper. So there you go. We'll take
it. The one thing that was brought up consistently,
there was one word that was associated to you
throughout people's feedback. And even when we
reviewed the album a few months ago, when it
came out, the one word was magic. And it was
associated to your soloing specifically on the
album. Oh, thank you. One of the reviewers that
does the shows with me. who's a guitarist himself
mentioned how he felt that your playing was just
at a different level on Parabellum and felt that
it, you could kind of notice that a lot of work
went into not only the compositions, but the
actual soloing, like none of the soloing was,
was throwaways. And we talked about how, you
know, there's opposed to how Testament started
out. where you guys were probably rushed to put
albums out and stuff like that. Now you guys
are much more conscious, it seems like, when
you're writing and putting things out. So that
was what was brought forward, just how important.
That's so nice. How do you feel your writing
process and your soloing has changed from the
beginning to now? Well, I just think experience
has a lot to do with it. You know, there's just
no comparison. You know, having done quite a
few records. Right. And just knowing what that
process is like and knowing what to expect versus,
you know, the beginning when, you know, you haven't
been in the studio. You look at the mixing console
and it just looks like this thing from outer
space. And you just have no concept of what is
supposed to happen. When do I get to play? The
process. When did the drum tracks get laid down?
When did the bass rhythm tracks get laid down?
The whole thing. And having been through it,
you know, I, I just think, I think it helps.
And, um, it also just adds to the, um, you know,
the process of creating something that you would
want to listen to. Right. Right. That excites
you instead of, um, you know, just going in and
you know hope playing a bunch of takes hoping
for the best okay i can live with this one just
yeah really working on it let's make this something
that you know i would get excited about as as
a listener right and knowing how to do that but
that that just comes with experience so um it's
true a lot a lot more does go into it i think
it's also helped uh that we're not as dependent
on recording studios as we used to be um the
drums still need to be recorded in a proper recording
studio but you know overdubs such as the solos
don't necessarily need to be and uh just so to
be able to take your time and just say instead
of booking uh some high -end recording studio
by the hour and feeling the pressure of you know
the clock ticking and knowing it's costing a
record label money money that the band is gonna
have to pay back you know not having that it's
like oh you know um i have a free evening tonight
i'm gonna uh here's how i'm gonna i'm gonna work
out these solos i feel like you know um after
midnight i'm gonna be really feeling good about
this and but yeah I could do that. Whereas that,
you know, so that it makes a big difference just
having all these options, such as being able
to record at home. Yeah. And, and it's cool that
you guys went in and recorded actual drums where
as, as a wannabe musician myself and messing
around with superior drummer and stuff like that,
you hear albums and you're like, well, you know,
those symbols are this patch or, you know, So
it's refreshing to hear live drums on an album.
It gives it a whole different energy and vibe
to it. To me, I think it's so important, especially
in metal music. Yeah, to me, there's no comparison.
I just, you know, I think the drum programs are
fine for demos. That's amazing. I've made my
own demos of parts that people have asked, who's
playing the drums? It's great, but it's true.
When it comes to an actual album and the song
that's going out into the world, it really makes
a difference just to have it. Play it live. Yeah.
I think of a lot of classic albums as well. Like
we touched upon Maiden. You think about a lot
of those Martin Burch albums that he did, whether
it's some of those albums with Dio and Sabbath
or even, you know, Power Slave or Peace of Mind,
where you listen to those albums and they still
sound fresh and vibrant today, like as if you're
in the room with them, with the drum sound so
alive. That's so true. So I think it's so important.
Yeah, I mean, it wouldn't have been the case
if those albums had been done with drum programs.
Right. They just would not have the level of
intensity that they have. Yeah, absolutely. How
important is it for you as a musician to have
all the outlets that you have? Does it help recharge
your... you know, when you're recording with
Testament, does doing your trio help because
you're getting, you know, a certain sense of
energy or creativeness through writing for the
trio. Then when you go back to Testament, it's
a different sort of release for you or, or is
it all kind of the same? No, it's very different.
Yeah. It's very, it's very helpful, you know,
because of the, the trio albums. I, I steer the
ship on those. I decide on the songs. I obviously
consult with the guys in the band and respect
how they feel about parts. But I have the final
say. And I can say, oh, yeah, here's, I produced
this. I composed and arranged this. And I can
point to that and just say, yeah, I can. take
credit for for all this and i'm no less proud
of my you know my work with testament but it
is of you know it's a collaborative effort and
um you know i have my role there right as a lead
player and i do the best i can i i make suggestions
they're not always taken um sometimes later i'll
agree uh you know that they were right not to
take that but sometimes they are um and then
you know they're just they're very different
musical situations and i'm yeah i it they balance
each other out because you know i i'm not dependent
on testament to be this thing that you know where
i have all this creative control. I have that.
I have other projects where I, where I can do
that. Yeah. And it's interesting because, you
know, a lot of people get hung up on the best
of this or the best of that. And you even mentioned
it with rush before there's different proficiencies
in music, depending on styles and different things.
You may like a certain style more, but I think
with music and all the arts, there's like no
definitive best of. It's whatever speaks to you,
you know. So to absolutely say, oh, well, you
know, Alex is best at this. Right. You know,
it's kind of, I don't know, kind of putting a
ceiling on you as far as being a creative person
or, you know, an artist where you're trying to
kind of paint different pictures with the different
things that you're doing. Yeah. And, you know,
there are a lot of opinions out there. Definitely.
And that's fine. You know, I mean, everybody's
entitled to their opinion, but nobody really
knows what goes on or what an artist's intention
is, except for that artist. Yeah. So, yeah, a
lot of people get too caught up in their own
opinions, I believe. Yeah, it seems, and especially
in recent years where with social media and everything
else, people feel that they know an artist. You
know, you've become the soundtrack of my life
all these years. So all of a sudden I know you
because I can interact with you on social media.
But as you're saying, you know, you don't really
know the artist. You don't know what's 100 %
what's going on behind. just what you're interpreting.
Yeah. I mean, on the one hand, social media can
be great because it does give artists an outlet
to present ourselves the way we want to be presented.
You know, when Testament does a promotional photo
shoot, it's the photo that each of us like can
live with that. You know, there's there's plenty
of photos that one of us will say, no, please
don't use. I hate the way I appear. And that's
why many photos are taken. And then, you know,
OK, there's a small batch where everybody likes
it. And it may not be my favorite photo of me,
but it's OK. It's, you know, but, you know, you're
limited with. Just promotional photos or just
magazines or, you know, just traditional media.
I'm having social media, especially as an individual
artist. You can put up any photo you want. You
can put up any type of playing you want, you
know. And so I like that aspect of it. So on
the other hand, like you're saying, it amplifies
opinions. There's always been a lot of opinions
from listeners out there, and now they're amplified.
Now we're all sharing this giant bulletin board
electronically. So we're bombarded with opinions,
and that can be a little overwhelming. Understood.
Another band that you had been involved with,
Savatage, is putting out an album this year.
Do you have any involvement at all in that album?
Were you asked to appear on it at all as being
a previous member? No. I mean, they have a two
-guitar lineup with Chris and Al. They don't
need anybody else. I'm happy for them. I'm so
glad they're finally up and running again. Because,
you know, Testament got, we reunited and then
it really led to this whole resurrection of the
band. And so I always knew if Sabotage got together
again, especially in Europe with all the European
festivals. The opportunities would be there,
and there's such appreciation. Just the one record
I did with them, I'm asked about it often. There's
just so many dedicated fans of the band, for
sure, but also of that album. So I'm happy for
them, and I'm happy. They'll be just fine without
me. And you're a small company of people that
got to play with Ozzy. There are so many rumors
about people like a Michael Shanker, like a Bernie
Torme and Alex Skolnick being able to play with
Ozzy, even if you didn't make it on an album.
From what's out there on the Internet, you played
a few shows with him and then nothing else materialized
after that. But like we're saying, you know,
no one knows the full truth outside of people
that were actually involved. So can you share
what actually took place? Yeah, I'm clearly I'm
in very good company because, you know, the list
of players that play either. played with Ozzy
or Alma were in the running to play with Ozzy
is, is, is great company to be in. Just some
amazing players. So yeah, it's a big honor. And
I actually did get to play with them. It was
one show. Okay. It was a few rehearsals. And
the one show was in Nottingham, the UK venue
called rock city. Okay. And Ozzy had done other
shows there before. He would do an unannounced
show, and it would often be booked last minute.
This is my understanding. The venue would have
a local band or a tribute band or somebody they
could bump and reschedule. Right. And then, you
know, it's, it's, it's this, and then that day
tickets would go on and say, Oh yeah, it's, it's
the Aussie secret show or whatever. And so that,
that's what this was. And the show sort of followed
like a regular audition, a full rehearsal. And
yeah, I basically spent, I think it was about
a week or a week and a half in their orbit. And
it was fascinating. You know, it was my first
time being around a celebrity at that level.
And I mean, you know, it really hadn't been that
long since I'd been in high school. You know,
just all me and all my friends were idolizing
Ozzy. And here I was playing guitar for him.
And also Geezer Butler. Geezer was playing bass
for him at that moment. um and so half of black
sabbath and uh you know doing aussie songs at
this point you know there had been zach there
had been jakey lee in addition to randy who was
one of my big idols so um it was a lot i was
i was given a lot of songs to learn probably
i think 20 okay and um I think we probably played
about half that many in the end. But it was certainly
a crash course in all things Ozzy. Okay. And,
yeah, from what I was told, the show went really
well. And the crew thought I was a good fit.
Everybody around them thought I was a good fit.
The Ozzy. told me he wanted me to play fun but
uh the only person that didn't seem excited was
sharon okay and um i've talked about this before
but uh you know knowing what i know about showbiz
and people in the entertainment industry i think
she had gotten used to zach and zach's presentation
and um I think, you know, my guy was Randy. Like
this kind of guitar nerd. Right. That was sort
of, you know, put into, given a flashy guitar
and put into, you know, a leather vest and just,
you know, did this great thing. And I, you know,
I related to that because I was sort of nerdy.
I was thinking about going back to music school,
which I actually did after this whole experience.
And that's where I was coming from. But I think,
you know, she really liked the sort of biker
image of somebody like Zach. And, you know, it
ended up just being that one show. But still,
it was a great experience. And it puts me in
company with all these amazing players. Yeah.
It's a nice little feather in the cap, I guess.
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, there's very few people
again that can say, Hey, I got to get up there
and do an entire show. I mean, it's not like
one of these shows where he gets up on stage
or, you know, one of these usual like tribute
type shows. Yeah. It wasn't an event or an award
show or something like that. No, it was like,
it was a, full -fledged Ozzy show. Yeah. Was
there any song out of that catalog? I mean, you're
saying that you're a Randy nerd. Was there any
specific song that you were really glad that
you got to play with him? Mr. Crowley, you know,
because to me, that's just so definitive of Randy,
you know? Yeah. It's just, and it just got to
me that captures so much of what i liked about
ozzy i felt like that song really had the modernness
that he had i mean there were other songs i love
you know obviously crazy train and you know so
many others are you know felt like current and
post 70s but i felt like mr crowley just it had
the darkness of blacks out though with that sort
of freshness that we were hearing in the early
80s, the post -Van Halen period. Yeah, makes
sense. And that was also the first guitar solo
of Randy's that I'd ever heard. Oh, wow. Yeah,
because most people, I guess, would have heard
Crazy Train or something like that, which there's,
I mean, that's a great solo as well, but the
Mr. Crowley solo is... Yeah, I had some friends
who were, you know, when I was in, I must have
been in junior high school at the time that knew
I was a Van Halen fan and knew I would play guitar.
And they say, you have to hear this guitar player.
And that was the first thing that they played
me. So it was a very full circle moment to play
that song. But I just got a message. I'm supposed
to be on another interview right now. They put
all these interviews back. Yeah, no, that's fine.
I was. I was going to wrap things up anyway.
So I do appreciate your time, Alex. No problem.
Thank you, Victor. I appreciate it. All right.
Thank you. See you. Okay. Bye -bye. Thank you
for listening to the signals from Mars podcast.
You can subscribe to the show on all your favorite
podcast platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
Google Podcasts, Amazon, and more. Go to signalsfrommars
.com for more information. This concludes our
show.