Al Pitrelli

Al Pitrelli (born September 26, 1962 in New York, NY) is a guitarist, best known for his work with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Megadeth, Alice Cooper, Savatage and Blue Öyster Cult.

Early career (1983-1995)

Al Pitrelli attended Berklee College of Music in Boston in the early 80's. Pitrelli worked as a session musician during his early days and also taught guitar lessons. After dropping out of Berklee, his first major label gig was performing with Michael Bolton helping him support his single "Fool's Game". Pitrelli said of the single, "This was when Michael Bolton was still trying to be Sammy Hagar and not Engelbert Humperdinck"^[1]

Pitrelli was Alice Cooper's guitarist and musical director from 1989 until 1993. Pitrelli also joined Asia, appearing on their albums Aqua in 1992 and Aria in 1994.

Savatage (1995-2000)

Al joined Savatage in 1995, joining at the same time as Chris Caffery returned to the band (Chris had previously been a part of the band around the release of Gutter Ballet in 1989). Al played guitar on the albums Dead Winter Dead and The Wake of Magellan and did some of the lead guitar work on Poets and Madmen despite being a member of Megadeth at the time. (Al was responsible for the outro of Stay With Me A While, the main solo of Morphine Child, the main solo of The Rumor, the first part of the main solo in Commissar & the outro of Commissar ^[2] During his time with Savatage, he was asked by their producer Paul O'Neill if he was interested in joining his side project, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Al agreed and has played a role in all of their records thus far, adding his edgy playing style and classical stylings to the group.

Megadeth (2000-2002)

Al was a member of Megadeth from 2000-2002, replacing Marty Friedman. Dave Mustaine asked him to join the band after hearing good reviews from the then Megadeth drummer Jimmy DeGrasso, who he played with during his days with Alice Cooper in the early 90s. Al only joined the band after an "audition" in front of a live crowd in Vancouver on January 16, 2000, 2 nights after Marty played his last show with the band. Al beat off competition for the guitarist's position from the likes of Stef Burns (Y&T, Alice Cooper) and James Murphy (Testament). He was present during the recording of Rude Awakening, a live CD/DVD that was released in 2002. He also recorded The World Needs A Hero with the band, and his textbook-type musical composition skills startled the band, and challenged them as musicians.

Dave Mustaine revealed there were problems in Pitrelli's days with the band, stating "I was having problems with Al because he liked to drink and we didn’t want to show up at places drunk. Al also got married to a nice woman but he wanted to spend time with her. After a few years most married men are willing to die so I figured if we got a couple years into the marriage that might have changed. But the fact was, Al wasn’t fitting in."^[3] When Megadeth entered hiatus after Dave Mustaine injured his arm, Al re-joined Savatage on April 9th, 2002 and also continued his work with TSO. As of yet, Savatage have yet to record a new album since his return, instead concentrating on TSO.

Recent work (2002-present)

More recently, Al has collaborated with Jane Mangini (his second wife) on a project entitled O'2L that has given both musicians critical acclaim. During the winter months, Al and Jane tour with Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

Al Pitrelli has also played with Danger Danger, Asia, Blue Öyster Cult, Vertex and Widowmaker.

In 1998, Al Pitrelli was featured on the video game album Sonic Adventure Remix, where he played guitar on a remix of the game's theme song - Open Your Heart.

He currently resides in Milford, PA with his wife and son, Jamie, who plays bass.

Discography

Alice Cooper

• Alice Cooper Trashes The World (1990)
• Classicks (1995)

Asia

• Aqua (1992)
• Aria (1994)

Max Bacon

• From the Banks of the River Irwell (2002)

Danger Danger

• Rare Cuts (2003)

Coven, Pitrelli, Reilly (CPR)

• CPR (1992)

Megadeth

• The World Needs a Hero (2001)

O'2L

• O'2L
• Doyle's Brunch
• Eat a Pickle

Savatage

• Dead Winter Dead (1995)
• The Wake of Magellan (1998)
• Poets and Madmen (2001)

Trans-Siberian Orchestra

• Christmas Eve and Other Stories (1996)
• The Christmas Attic (1998)
• Beethoven's Last Night (2000)
• The Lost Christmas Eve (2004)
• Night Castle (2009)

Widowmaker

• Blood and Bullets (1992)
• Stand by for Pain (1994)

Vertex

• Vertex (1996)

Guitar Battle

• Guitar Battle (1998)

References