2007 was a pretty good year for guitar-oriented albums. These are the ones that made the top of my list for the year (listed in alphabetical order).

Alter Bridge – Blackbird

I’ve been a fan of Mark Tremonti for a while now, and he continues putting out great riffs peppered with nice melodies. Lead singer Myles Kennedy adds an additional element to the mix by playing guitar more on this album.

Joe Bonamassa – Sloe Gin

This is the album that really got me into Bonamassa. It includes a mixture of acoustic and heavy blues, and Bonamassa’s playing is inspired and dynamic.

Robben Ford – Truth

This was the surprise album of the year for me. I didn’t know much about Robben Ford before this album, but this album has really turned me on to his music. A great collection of tasteful blues.

John 5 – The Devil Knows My Name

With special guests Eric Johnson and Joe Satriani, there are a lot of great guitar moments on this album. John 5 continues to meld country licks with heavy metal attitude, and somehow it all works.

Maroon 5 – It Won’t Be Soon Before Long

While Maroon 5 aren’t necessarily known for their guitar licks, I really like guitarist James Valentine’s tasteful and funky playing on this album.

Oz Noy – Fuzzy

I don’t know whether to call this funky jazz or jazzy funk. All I know is that it’s funky and it’s jazzy and I like it.

Brad Paisley – 5th Gear

Brad Paisley is one of the best country guitarists playing today, and 5th Gear, like his other albums, displays why.

Porcupine Tree – Fear of a Blank Planet

With Fear of a Blank Planet, Porcupine Tree continue solidifying their position as one of the best progressive rock bands of today. Includes a special guest solo by Alex Lifeson.

Stevie Ray Vaughan – Solos, Sessions & Encores

A collection of Stevie Ray Vaughan music is always welcomed in my house. This album covers his appearances with other musicians, so it’s an interesting listen into how he could change his style enough to fit the music, but still retain the power and tone that he’s known for.

Ana Vidovic – Frederico Moreno Torroba Guitar Music 1

Another great classical guitar album by Vidovic. My favorite classical guitar album of the year.

What are your favorite guitar albums of 2007?

This is a collection of links I’ve found interesting over the past week or so.

Tommy Emmanuel cancels Australian Tour – Tommy has fallen ill and has canceled his upcoming tour in Australia in order to return to Nashville for treatment (via Guitar Toy Box)

Trent Reznor on Year Zero, Planting Clues, and What’s Ludicrous About Being a Musician Today – Interesting interview with Trent Reznor (via TDS)

MusicRadar.com – New site for musicians, covering many aspects of making music. Currently in beta (via Mark McGuigan)

Jimmy Herring 1985 GIT video – Squakin’ in the Henhouse – Early video of Jimmy Herring playing guitar. Watch out for the Widespread Panic album in February featuring Herring on guitar

Solidbodies – The 50 Year Guitar War – New movie covering the competing sounds of the Les Paul and the Stratocaster, with commentary by Joe Bonamassa, Derek Trucks, Henry Gaza, George Gruhn, Wes Jeans, and others

The Mad Stratter has put out his 2008 resolutions for his guitar playing and his Web site. I haven’t thought too much about next year yet, but I thought I’d follow the Mad Stratter’s lead and post some goals I’d like to achieve during 2008 (although they aren’t quite as ambitious as learning to play all of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Texas Flood).

Guitar:

• Become a better lead guitar player – I’ve never been a very good lead player, and I’d like to change this next year
• Play more regularly – Some weeks I play all the time; other weeks, it seems like I barely play at all. Ultimately, I’d like to carve out time each day to play, but I’d settle for just playing more consistently
• Play with other musicians – I haven’t played with other musicians in quite a while
• Refresh my knowledge of music theory – I spent quite a bit of time in college learning music theory, but haven’t focused on it in a long time
• See more live music and support my local music community – I don’t get out to see live music nearly as often as I’d like. I’d like to change this next year

I have a lot of ideas for this Web site next year. Here are a few of them:

• Post more consistently – Like my guitar playing, some weeks I post every day, while other weeks I don’t post at all
• Do more to help other guitar players – Like IG, I’d like to do more on this site to help other guitar players
• Add some new features – I have some specific ideas, but we’ll see what pans out

So, what are your guitar/Web site resolutions for 2008?

This is a collection of links I’ve found interesting over the past week or so.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Interview – Interview with KWS about the blues, guitars and cars

Artist Interview: Brad Paisley on the Jamcast – Audio interview with Brad Paisley

Guitar World Tabs – Guitar World magazine has created a Web site for tabs created by the magazine as well as user contributions. Currently in beta

Robben Ford – The Art of Blues Rhythm – New instructional DVD featuring Robben Ford (via Rich Murray)

Snarling Dogs Spin Slides – Interesting looking slides that you can spin around for regular fretting (via Guitar Noize)

Super Crazy Guitar Maniac 2 – Flash-based online Guitar Hero-like game (via Listening Post)

Master That Riff! 29 – Sweet Child o’ Mine – Learn to play one of the most recognizable riffs of all time. Mark also has many other riffs to learn on his site

At the Alan Parsons seminar that my friend Taylor and I went to several months ago, Alan showed pictures from the book Recording The Beatles. I had heard about the book a while ago, but had forgotten about it until Parsons mentioned it again.

This looks like a fantastic book, with very thorough and detailed information about how the Beatles’ albums were recorded, including information about the studio equipment and techniques used to record the albums. Parsons, who was there for the Abbey Road sessions, says that this is the most definitive book available.

Recording The Beatles is not a cheap book at $100, but might make a great gift for the Beatles fan in your life.

An article on the New York Times online reviews the Led Zeppelin show from yesterday. By all accounts, it seems to have been a big success. Jimmy Page has left the door open for a tour next year, so I’m hopeful that they’ll take the show on the road. I was too young to have caught them the first time and would love to see them.

Today Gov’t Mule have released a new two-DVD set titled A Tail of 2 Cities. The DVD spans two shows, one from The Orpheum Theatre in Boston, MA recorded on 10/15/04 and one from The Riviera Theatre in Chicago, IL recorded on 12/9/06. I’ve seen Gov’t Mule live several times and they always put on a great show. The set lists for the shows are as follows:

Disc One:
Recorded at The Orpheum Theatre, Boston, MA on 10/15/04

Set I:
1. Bad Man Walking
2. About To Rage
3. Mr. Man
4. Banks Of The Deep End
5. Temporary Saint
6. Sco-Mule
7. Beautifully Broken
8. Slackjaw Jezebel
9. Blind Man In The Dark

Set II:
10. Thelonius Beck
11. Painted Silver Light
12. No Need To Suffer
13. Devil Likes It Slow
14. Drums
15. Burro Of Brighton Jam
16. My Separate Reality
17. Bad Little Doggie
18. Lola Leave Your Light On
Encore:
19. I’m A Ram

Disc Two:
Recorded at The Riviera Theatre, Chicago, IL on 12/9/06

Set I:
1. Blind Man In The Dark
2. Bad Little Doggie (4:06)
3. Mr. High & Mighty (5:51)
4. About To Rage (11:04)
5. Unring The Bell (8:56)
6. Rocking Horse (9:13)
7. Larger Than Life (6:28)
8. Slackjaw Jezebel (8:07)
9. Brand New Angel (7:03)

Set II:
10. So Weak, So Strong (6:40)
11. 32/20 Blues (8:25)
12. Time To Confess (9:19)
13. Brighter Days (6:50)
14. Like Flies> (5:04)
15. Drums> (9:04)
16. Mother Earth (9:38)
17. Gameface > Mountain Jam > Gameface > Power Outage > Gameface (12:54)
18. Thorazine Shuffle (11:29)
Encore:
19. Reggae Soulshine (8:04)

* Information from Gov’t Mule’s online shop

It’s two weeks until Christmas, and if you’re out of gift ideas for yourself or that guitar lover in your life, I’ll provide a few ideas for you.

Online technical-product retailer ThinkGeek.com has a few specialty gifts for guitarists:

Fender Strobe-e keychain tuner: a guitar tuner, a flashlight and a bottle-opener in one

Electric Guitar Jam Lab: allows you to connect your guitar to your computer using a USB port

Guitar Center has several gift ideas:

Fender 20th Anniversary Custom Shop Pick Tin: package of 30 Fender Custom Shop picks, packaged in a nice tin

Planet Waves Pro-Winder String Winder/Cutter: string winder tool with built-in string cutter

And, for the times when the guitar isn’t around, you need some books and t-shirts:

Slash: Slash tells his side of the story

Jimmy Page – Magus Musician Man: an unauthorized biography of Page

Fender Logo T-Shirt: show your Fender pride

P.S. You can also see what the Ig and his readers are recommending at Ig’s holiday gift list. What other gift ideas do you have for guitarists?

I first heard about Philip Sayce on JP’s blog, where he linked to a video of Sayce burning up his Strat. The playing in that video blew me away, so I did a little research and found out that Sayce has had a pretty interesting career. As a teenager, he played along side Jeff Healey. Then, Sayce moved to LA where he started playing guitar for Uncle Kracker. In 2003, he joined Melissa Etheridge’s band and has toured and played with her band since then. In addition, Sayce has fronted his own blues-rock band and has released several albums, most notably Peace Machine in 2005. He’s currently writing and recording an album with Richard Marx.

Sayce has taken full advantage of the Internet and posted many videos of his live shows on YouTube. There’s some real gems in there. I’m currently enjoying the funky blues of Scars, which you can watch below.

Influences like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix can be heard in Sayce’s music, but it doesn’t sound like he’s trying to copy them. He brings his own style to the blues-rock genre, and I’m really enjoying it. I highly recommend you check him out.

This is a collection of links I’ve found interesting over the past week or so.

The New Virtuosos – Acoustic Guitar Magazine highlights three up-and-coming classical guitar virtuosos, including my favorite classical guitarist Ana Vidovic

Fender Reissues Deluxe Roadhouse & Lonestar Stratocasters – A couple of excellent Stratocasters in the $550 price range

Steve Morse’s Guitar Rig – Some interesting photos of Steve Morse’s Deep Purple guitar rig (via Rich Murray)

Petty, Heartbreakers To Rock Super Bowl Halftime – Tom Petty will be playing the halftime show at the Super Bowl on Feb. 3, 2008

The 28 Most Recognizable Guitars – Blender magazine highlights 28 of the most iconic guitars

Mike Keneally Interview – Interesting interview with former Zappa guitarist Mike Keneally

Paul Reed Smith Interview – New to me interview with guitar maker Paul Reed Smith from 2005

New Steve Lukather album to be released 2/22/08 – The album will be titled Ever Changing Times

Shred Academy embraces blogging – Looks like an interesting site if you’re into shred guitar (via Truth in Shredding)

Journey Finds Replacement Singer on YouTube – Journey guitarist Neil Schon found their new singer, Arnel Pineda, on YouTube