Michael Angelo Batio

H

helpme15

New member
If you think Batio is a good guitarist, you've spent way too much time reading the magazines at guitar center and not nearly enough time listening to his (and others') music. The dude makes Satriani look like Gilmour for christ's sake.
 
I personally don't listen to Batio much at all unless he comes on at random. I have his albums, but collecting music is a bit of a hobby for me and I have albums from almost every famous guitarist out there.

However, I find it a bit ridiculous when people say "that guy sucks" and "if you like that guy, you don't know anything". "That guy" is of course a variable. In this case, just substitute it for Batio.

Let's just say that unless you don't know what a guitar is, it should be obvious that he is a good guitarist. It's the one thing he's got going for him and the one thing he is famous for. If you don't like it, that's fair. If you don't think he's as brilliant as someone else, that's alright too. I much prefer listening to Mark Knopfler's laid back guitar than I do Batio's finger frenzies, but I'm not gonna spend my time here trying to convince people he's a bad guitarist when he's obviously not. You might be surprised, but it is possible to discuss without polarizing and putting people down for what they like.
 
Well you're right about that.

But it is entertaining to watch the guy on youtube, because he's so goofy and full of himself, it's hilarious to watch.

Not as fun as watching Yngwie though.
 
In my opinion he is one of the best guitarists in the world. he has amazing speed, style and he can also make it sound perfectly clean, go listen to the song No Boundaries and tell me what you think about it.

you can search it up on youtube just type in No Boundaries or Michael Angelo Batio and you will find it

what do you think about him?
 
For the lazy people.
[YOUTUBE]qG74eVb6V10[/YOUTUBE]
My opinion is that he has got skill, but I typically prefer more melodic players. I think MAB gets carried away sometimes and over does the whole "I CAN PLAY FAST HURF DURF" thing. I find his stuff enjoyable from time to time but he isn't one of my favorites.
 
I know a guy who made a youtube video poking fun of Batio's guitar playing, Batio not only found it (because he googles himself at least 3 times a day) and had it removed for copyright violation, but he proceeded to find the music forum my friend goes to and personally signed up himself to antagonize him. He was really pissed off at this kid.

True story.
 
If you post a Batio vid, shouldn't you post one where he plays quad or double axe? ;)

[youtube]P-XfnkLdkjo[/youtube]

Anyways, I think I have all his solo albums and while some of his stuff is good, I think of him more as just another guitar wanker. There are so many of them, I feel like technical talent and wankery is a little inflated. Overall, I find him less interesting than say Buckethead who may not have the best albums, but still put out some astounding tracks here and there.

edit :

His quad/double guitars make him quite the curiosity though.
 
sorry, as someone who's been playing guitar since the average user on this site was in pre-school / kindergarten i'm gonna have to disagree.

he's about as 'good' as any 17 year old you see in a music store playing along to whatever classic rock is being pumped through the air. the ONLY reason he stanRAB out and has ANY sort of recognition is because of his ridiculous multi-necked guitars. otherwise he's about as 'good' as that guy from poison, or that guy from whitesnake, or that guy from RATT... ie he's a generic cheeseball.

while his arabidexterity is impressive, it's clear that one hand is dominant. if all he was concerned with was how his music sounded as it was played he could easily use a sampler/loop effect to recreate what he does with the 2nd neck. but that doesn't draw nearly as much attention.

as for the quad guitar. WTF was that? he only used 3 of the necks. the bottom right never got touched. the two on the left were played THE EXACT SAME WAY, the one of the top right was still played using his 'regular' hanRAB, only they're crossed but he's still fretting with the left and picking with the right. the only time he holRAB onto both necks at once is when the other guy is noodling or he's holding a bend. ultimately there is NO reason to be using a multi-neck guitar for that solo, it's not like they're in different tunings, or have different tones, or 12 strings, or any valid reason to have multiple necks. just 'HEY LOOK AT MY CROTCH'.

the 2nd video is significantly better but still cheesy as hell, it's like something you'd hear over the closing credits to some 80s b-grade action movie mashed in with a leftover alice in chains riff from the dirt sessions.

his whole hand over the neck instead of under the neck is on the same level as some balding pot bellied middle aged wanker dancing a two step while picking and grinning with his guitar behind his head because he's 'pulling a hendrix'.
 
I love that video simply because its so cheesy that it makes me laugh. The whole explosion being played in reverse that forms into Batio's guitar is hilarious.

As for Batio, I'm definately not a fan of his work. The most common arguement against this guy seems to be the whole "all technical no emotion or musicality." The emotion and musicality is still there, much of his work is very melodic. The thing is, there isn't really any originality, experimentation or anything else that makes him interesting. Its just metal. Boring, always the same, metal with a big heaping pile of cheese on top. I like it when musicians blend genres, try new ideas, and focus on something other then the speed metal or melodic classic rock solo. If you really are going to have "no boundaries," you wouldn't just play cheesey hair/classic/speed metal. I'm sorry, tearing down musical boundaries is not getting sUm M4d ch0pz and using them to play hair metal.
 
Population Override was a very good album.

Buckethead is far from being just a shredder. Batio is just a shredder, I'm not saying that's a bad thing... well ok I am because I hate most shred music, especially his but whatever.

I can't say a guy with a comically 80s mullet and super tight pants playing 4 neck guitars really f*cking fast dosen't have it's appeal, it's like modern day vaudeville, which is cool. I just don't understand how anyone could be really into the actual music.
 
I hate Batio more than anyone can imagine, but I don't agree with this.

He gets recognition because he plays fast and clean and his stuff is pretty intricate, which is not easy to do and for that he deserves credit. He's certainly one of the more skilled shred guitartists.
 
I don't agree with the zero musicality bit. Like other purely instrumental guitar wankers, he has to rely on the aesthetics of his music. Take this song "rain forest" f.ex from his debut as a solo artist, "No Boundaries" from 1995 - here played as an instruction vid (still pretty close to the studio recording).

[youtube]UiT6qtM09tI[/youtube]

Maybe it's not your taste, but you can't say he's got no musicality. I don't think anyone who can play guitar like that gets there without knowing music. ;)

edit :

If the above comment was about Buckethead, then I'll go along with Boo Boo and say that he's much more than a shredder. He has a lot of beautiful acoustic guitar pieces (an album full actually and then some) for example, something most other "guitar wankers" don't. Part of what makes Buckethead interesting is the duality of the character and the emotional guitar songs he puts out. ;)
 
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