Shrapnel Records is a guitar-oriented record label started in 1980 by record producer Mike Varney. Guitarist Marty Friedman (ex-Megadeth, ex-Cacophony), one of the label's most successful artists, first appeared on the album Unsung Guitar Heroes II in 1980 with the band Vixen. (Vixen would later change their name to Hawaii and release the album "One Nation Underground" for Shrapnel.) In 1981, a friend gave Mike Varney a tape featuring a 17-year-old Swedish guitarist named Yngwie Malmsteen. A year later, Malmsteen wrote to the label stating that he wanted to export his music to America. Varney, who started writing a column called "Spotlight" for Guitar Player magazine in 1982, featured Malmsteen in his February 1983 column. The record executive flew Malmsteen to California and set him up with vocalist Ron Keel's new band called Steeler. Steeler's self-titled album became a best selling release for Shrapnel Records.
The Shrapnel Records label and a growing worldwide interest in virtuoso "neoclassical-fusion" guitar playing helped launch the careers of dozens of other technically adept guitarists such as David Chastain, Vinnie Moore, Tony MacAlpine, Paul Gilbert, Bruce Bouillet, Joey Tafolla, Jason Becker, Phantom Blue, Greg Howe, Richie Kotzen and the aforementioned Marty Friedman. In the 1990s, established players such as George Lynch (from Lynch Mob and Dokken) and Michael Schenker (MSG,Scorpions) recorded albums for the label. Today, Shrapnel Records continues to provide a platform for exceptional hard rock, shred, progressive metal and heavy metal guitarists. Recent signings include: Marc Rizzo from Soulfly, John 5 of Marilyn Manson fame and the melodic speed-metal band TimeLord which features the guitar team of Matt Aub and Aaron Richert. Shrapnel continues to be the home of the "heavy metal guitar hero." In the 1990s Mike Varney started the Tone Center and Blues Bureau International sublabels to promote fusion and blues respectively.
Notable Shrapnel Records Releases
- (SH-1006) Unsung Guitar Heroes II (feat. Michael "Angelo" Batio and Marty Friedman)
- (SH-1007) Steeler, Steeler (feat. Yngwie Malmsteen)
- (SH-1009) Hawaii, One Nation Underground
- (SH-1013) Unsung Guitar Heroes IV (feat. Shawn Lane)
- (SH-1021) Tony MacAlpine, Edge of Insanity
- (SH-1023) Racer X, Street Lethal
- (SH-1027) Vinnie Moore, Mind's Eye
- (SH-1030) Joey Tafolla, Out of the Sun
- (SH-1031) Cacophony, Speed Metal Symphony
- (SH-1032) Racer X, Second Heat
- (SH-1035) Marty Friedman, Dragon's Kiss
- (SH-1036) Jason Becker, Perpetual Burn
- (SH-1037) Greg Howe, Greg Howe
- (SH-1038) Racer X, Live Extreme Volume I
- (SH-1040) Cacophony, Go Off!
- (SH-1042) Richie Kotzen, Richie Kotzen
Official Shrapnel Records Websites
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