Racer X

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Racer X is an American heavy metal band formed in 1985 in Los Angeles, California. The group was founded by guitarist Paul Gilbert—who later went on to achieve great success with the multi platinum-selling hard rock band Mr. Big—and bassist Juan Alderete, who is now the bassist for The Mars Volta.

History

1980s

Guitarist Paul Gilbert first gained notoriety when he was featured in Mike Varney’s Spotlight Column in the February 1983 issue of Guitar Player magazine. Gilbert was 16 years old and living in Greensburg, Pennsylvania; he later moved to Los Angeles and enrolled at the Guitar Institute of Technology (GIT), part of the Musicians Institute. After graduating from the school, Gilbert was hired as an instructor.

While at GIT, Paul met fellow student John Alderete. Searching for a drummer, Alderete and Gilbert first turned to Scott Travis, who was living in Virginia at the time, but he turned down the offer due to his commitment to the band Hawk; Travis was receiving a salary from Doug Marks, the band's lead guitarist, and would not turn down the income. Alderete and Gilbert instead sought the services of fellow student Harry Gschoesser.

After acquiring Gschoesser, Gilbert, with the help of Varney, recruited Jeff Martin of the Phoenix-area metal band Surgical Steel. Martin, who still lived in Phoenix and could not regularly write songs with Racer X in Los Angeles, began writing lyrics immediately for demo tapes that Gilbert had sent, and recording for their first album, Street Lethal, began quickly. The band began the recording process in 1985, and Racer X's debut album was released in January 1986 on Mike Varney's Shrapnel Records label.

Popularity boost

With the release of the first album, Paul Gilbert suddenly burst into the mainstream as one of the members of a new genre of guitar style known as neoclassical, popularized by Randy Rhoads and Yngwie J. Malmsteen. While Racer X was not playing neo-classical pieces as frequently as Rhoads or Malmsteen, Gilbert was often mentioned alongside Yngwie and Randy in many guitar and music magazines.^{[citation needed]} Gilbert acknowledged his debt to Malmsteen on the Street Lethal album with the neoclassical instrumental "Y.R.O."-- the title is an acronym for "Yngwie Rip Off". (He would repeat such a reference on a later song, "B.R.O.", which stands for "Bach Rip Off".)

Racer X was rapidly becoming a popular live act on the Sunset Strip.^{[citation needed]} Around this time, Gilbert secured an endorsement deal with Ibanez guitars, which continues to this day.^{[citation needed]} The song "Getaway" received limited airplay on Los Angeles' heavy metal radio station, KNAC.

Lineup change

After the release of the first album, Gilbert was still teaching at GIT for steady income. One of Gilbert's students, Bruce Bouillet, gained his attention. Gilbert asked him to join Racer X, and the two guitarists would soon work out synchronized harmony passages that would redefine Racer X's sound.

In 1986 Harry Gschoesser's visa expired, and he returned to his native country, Austria. He was initially replaced with Todd "Vito" DeVito, but was soon replaced by Scott Travis (DeVito went on to become a drum technician for Mikkey Dee of Motörhead).

The band headed to Prairie Sun Studios in Cotati to record their second studio album. Second Heat was released in February 1988, and solidified Racer X's style of double-lead guitar solos using techniques such as fast alternate-picking, two-handed tapping, string skipping, and swept-arpeggios.

The album also has two tracks written by other artists. "Moonage Daydream" was a David Bowie cover; "Heart of a Lion" was a Judas Priest song dropped from the Turbo album—the song was a birthday gift by Rob Halford, who had befriended Jeff Martin in the band's early days. Halford later recorded the track with his band, Halford.

Dissolution

While the Los Angeles music scene was at the peak for glam metal, Racer X were reaching the height of their popularity with their live shows. The band was selling out and packing their usual rotation of The Roxy Theatre, Troubadour, and the Country Club in Reseda, California.

The years of unsuccessfully searching for major label representation finally took its toll on the band, and the group's last gasp came with two nights of back-to-back live shows at the Country Club, which were recorded and released as Live Extreme, Volume 1 (1988) and Live Extreme, Volume 2 (1992). But even as Live Extreme, Vol. 1 was getting ready for release, the dismantling of the band was near. Billy Sheehan, bass player of the band Talas, approached Paul Gilbert about forming a new band; in 1989, the two formed the band Mr. Big. Gilbert had mentally detached himself from Racer X during the final shows; the rest of the group, searching for an explanation to the lack of major label interest, focused their frustrations on Jeff Martin; before long both Gilbert and Martin left the band on the same day.

John Alderete, Bruce Bouillet, and Scott Travis initially brought in Guitar Spotlight player Chris Arvan as a replacement and performed a few shows – one with Oni Logan from Lynch Mob – but the dissolution of Racer X was imminent, and soon, the members of the band went separate ways. Racer X's hiatus carried on well into the late 1990s.

1990s

Separation

After Gilbert left for Mr. Big, other members also went on to other projects. Jeff Martin went on to replace Eric Singer in Jake E. Lee's band, Badlands. Juan Alderete, Bruce Bouillet, John Corabi, and Scott Travis joined together briefly to form the band Black Cloud – which would later become The Scream. The four played one show at the Troubadour before Travis received an offer from Judas Priest, who was looking to replace the recently departed Dave Holland. Jeff Martin, a friend of Judas Priest, relayed the message to Travis, who was ecstatic at the opportunity, and accepted the offer. Travis would go on to record several albums with Judas Priest, and remains a member of the band to this day.

In 1992, Shrapnel Records released Live Extreme, Volume 2, which featured songs from the farewell Racer X concerts at the Country Club. Like the first live record, it included several previously unreleased songs, like "Poison Eyes" and "Give it to Me". The release did give die-hard Racer X fans hope that new material was on the way, but nothing came to fruition. The one most notable track is Racer X's cover of KISS' "Detroit Rock City". Recording the song, Gilbert and Bouillet – wanting to make the song unique and fitting to their style – stood side by side and played the famous solo with their teeth. One other KISS song was played the night before – Cold Gin – but never appeared on either of the first two live releases.

Reemergence

Racer X in 1999, as appears in the Technical Difficulties album.

After departing Mr. Big in 1997 after the recording of the Hey Man album, Gilbert started a solo career. In 1998, Gilbert pondered reforming Racer X with his Japanese label, Universal Japan, and the other members of Racer X, except Bruce Bouillet. All agreed, and in mid-1999 the band recorded the album Technical Difficulties.

Technical Difficulties went gold in Japan, and Racer X's new record label requested a follow-up. In late 2000, the band released what is recognized by many fans as their best album to date, Superheroes.^{[citation needed]} The album's packaging featured pictures of the band members dressed as superheroes. Gilbert became the Electric Bat, Martin became Motorman, Alderete became The X-tinguisher, and Travis became Cowboy Axe. The record was mixed by former Racer X guitarist, Bruce Bouillet.

In order to further capitalize on their new-found success in Japan, Universal Japan requested that the band record a live show for another live CD and DVD. On May 25, 2001, the band played their first live performance in thirteen years at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles. The show was recorded for both audio and video, and in 2002, both the CD and DVD were released under the name Snowball of Doom, which is a reference to fact the band is still "rolling along" after fifteen years, but was still unable to secure a major American record label contract.^{[citation needed]}

Getting Heavier

Jeff Martin takes a break in the studio during the recording of Getting Heavier (2002).

In January 2002, in support of Superheroes and Snowball of Doom, Racer X toured Japan and Taiwan. The band performed these shows in their Superheroes costumes, and the final show, in Yokohama, was hastily recorded in two tracks on the sound board and was to be later released as Snowball of Doom 2.

Gilbert returned to his solo career, recording the album Burning Organ. However, in 2002, Universal Japan pushed for another Racer X release, notifying the band that they would release an official bootleg of the Yokohama concert to promote a new album. In October 2002, all four members of Racer X gathered at Gilbert's house in Las Vegas to record a new album—for the first time in the history of the band all four members were together at the same time to record a Racer X album. The outcome of the recording was Getting Heavier, which was sold alongside Snowball of Doom 2 in a package deal.

After the release of Getting Heavier, Racer X's progress came to a halt. Scott Travis, with Judas Priest, toured with Ozzfest in 2004 and recorded Angel of Retribution; Jeff Martin began recording and touring with George Lynch, Kevin DuBrow, Michael Schenker, recorded a 3-song demo with the band Leatherwolf, and even began a solo career with the release of The Fool in 2006; John Alderete, in 2003, joined the band The Mars Volta, which has toured regularly and recorded several albums; and Paul Gilbert has released several solo albums – as well as compilation albums and tours with Dream Theater's Mike Portnoy – and has toured with his supporting band in support of his latest albums.

Reunion

Racer X performed at the 2009 NAMM show at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California, with a line-up consisting of Paul Gilbert, Scott Travis, Jeff Martin, and John Alderete. ^[1]

Members

• Jeff Martin - vocals (1985-1989, 1999-present)
• Paul Gilbert - lead and rhythm guitar (1985-1989, 1999-present)
• John Alderete - bass guitar (1985-1989, 1999-present)
• Scott Travis - drums (1986-1989, 1999-present)

Former members

• Bruce Bouillet - lead and rhythm guitar (1986-1989)
• Harry Gschoesser - drums (1985-1986)
• Chris Arvan - lead and rhythm guitar (1989)

Discography

Studio

• 1986: Street Lethal
• 1987: Second Heat
• 1999: Technical Difficulties
• 2000: Superheroes
• 2002: Getting Heavier

Live

• 1988: Live Extreme, Vol. 1
• 1992: Live Extreme, Vol. 2
• 2002: Snowball of Doom
• 2002: Snowball of Doom 2

Videography

• Live at the Whisky: Snowball of Doom (2002)

References

1. ^ http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/upcoming_tours/racer_x_to_perform_at_namm.html

External links

• The Official Site of Racer X