Paul Gilbert was 18 years old when he met bassist John Alderete in Hollywood and they decided to form a heavy metal band and call it RACER X.
Paul wanted to form a band that would stun people with speed, intensity, and his crazy guitar playing. But unlike the thrash and speed metal bands of the time, Paul insisted on having melodic songs and vocals. Paul and John auditioned singers from all over the west coast and finally found the perfect voice in Jeff Martin.
Scott Travis moved to L.A. soon after and was immediatley "stolen" from his band to be the drummer for RACER X.
RACER X proceeded to conquer the L.A. clubs and make several now-legendary heavy metal records.
In the late 80's, Paul left to join MR. BIG, Jeff joined Jake Lee's BADLANDS (as the drummer!), John formed THE SCREAM, and Scott became the drummer for metal legends JUDAS PRIEST (who he still plays with.)
But RACER X style HEAVY METAL was always in their souls, and finally in 1999 Paul, Jeff, Scott, and John reformed and recorded the amazing TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES album. This was followed by an even more intense album, SUPERHEROES, and a live CD to prove they could rock hard onstage titled SNOWBALL OF DOOM.
The band's newest album is called GETTING HEAVIER.
It was written and recorded in Paul's studio in Las Vegas in Sept. and Oct. of 2002. The album features 12 new songs written by the band. "We basically locked ourselves in the studio for two months" says Paul. "We spent hours and hours every day just rehearsing and playing the songs together. The actual recording sessions happened very quickly at the end. I love working this way because we could keep a lot of the live tracks and make an album that sounds heavy and REAL."
GETTING HEAVIER continues in the tradition of fast and intense music. Songs like "Lucifer's Hammer" and "Bucket of Rocks" have the intensity and crunch of classic 80's RACER X. Songs like "Empty Man", "The Siren's Eye", "Golden God" and "Everything's Everything" have the influence of classic metal bands like Van Halen, Rush, Rainbow, and Judas Priest but turned up a notch in true RACER X fashion.
GETTING HEAVIER also features some new sounds from RACER X. "Dr. X" and "Catapult to Extinction" feature Scott Travis as he continues to show why he is one of the world's premier heavy metal double bass drummers. "Ghostdance" features the LONGEST SUSTAINED GUITAR NOTE that Paul(or maybe anyone)has ever played. And "Heaven in '74" features the dual lead vocals of Jeff and Paul in solid harmony.
Finally a word of caution. Racer X fans in America have been reporting that the song "Go-GG-Go" can get you in trouble with the police! John's bass and Scott's drums have so much power on this song that people who have listened to the song in their car have been given tickets for "excessive noise".
It's been 18 years since Racer X first formed, and although they are still skinny rockers, the music continues GETTING HEAVIER!
For further information please contact Yvo Tap at Mascot-Provogue Records:
Tel +31-10-5120384
Fax +31-10-5121170
promo@mascotrecords.com |
