the greatest shredder that ever lived...and died RIP

[Milo]

I thing Guthrie Govan is in the same class,
Unreal good players both. Thanks for reminding me of the great late Shawn Lane.
Bless him,

Every class has a master.

Hehe,indeed!

 

[crankyrayhanky]

10 seconds of SLane puts me in awe
60 seconds of SLane makes me want to turn it off in boredom

SRV is to human emotion as SLane is to Robot

 

[marshall]

10 seconds of SLane puts me in awe
60 seconds of SLane makes me want to turn it off in boredom

SRV is to human emotion as SLane is to Robot

Calling Lane's playing "robotic" speaks more of your ear than anything else.
"Human emotion"? Are you serious? SRV had a stock set of licks he repeated in every song.

 

[thiswaythatway]

Man! Lane is HUGE in that last pic!! As for him being on anothe rplanet in comparison to SRV.. I guess we will agree to disagree. Lane definitely is more versatile a player but bang for my buck, SRV always brought the thunder. It is all in the ears.... I guess it just appeals to me more. No harm in that. All these guys are/were amazing!

And what is really sad is that his weight problem could have been corrected. There's people over 500lbs that go on the Biggest Loser and 3 months later they get down to 200lbs. Just a shame that nothing was done by Lane or that nobody helped him lose weight.

 

[mentoneman]

SL was many times more sophisticated a musician than SRV

but SRV had tone, soul, catered to the blues traditions, and connected to more common folk.

the only time i saw shawn live was at NAMM this night:


and i was blown away by his tone as well as how totally incredibly he played.

guthrie, holdsworth, gambale, jason becker, yngwie, and racer x.....they all were able to play unimaginable things and blow me away and i've been fortunate enough to see them all in pretty intimate up close settings,

but what shawn played was so extreme it didn't make sense what i was seeing. i could not imagine someone playing with that physically demanding speed and complexity and precision, yet be so musical. he took his hero holdsworth and brought rock sensibility and right hand attack to it, and married some of the neoclassical yngwie thing to it as well as some eric johnson.

the centrifugal funk stuff shawn played when it came out was scoffed and looked down upon, tagged "video game noises". same with his first shrapnel stuff.


but by the time i saw him he had evolved into a full fledged monster.

This coming from a guy that saw the whole shred explosion come on the scene up close.

Pure shred Shane was the man, that Ibanez NAMM show where everyone from Gilbert to Timmons was on the same stage Lane just dominated, guyts were looking at each other speechless.

i should throw ej into that mix too.
i saw him at the coach house on the ah via musicom tour sitting with my feet literally against his side of the stage, and his tone and playing put me in a trance. perfection. after the encore my friend steve sitting next to me stood up and shook ej's hand as he came up from his bow that's how close we were.
something about anticipating a show/player so highly, and then having all your expectations not only met but blown away, on that cerebral level, makes you experience wonder or a thrill like a little kid on Christmas. Landau is like that but not shred..just TONE FOR DAYS AND NIGHTS>

on the SRV note i also saw him open for bryan adams and the police in hawaii, and the big diff was he played in front of 50k people and lane played in a tent at NAMM for 150? maybe? the tragic irony. i walked into the celestion tent one song into the set after leaving zachman to watch holdsworth, and there was a ton of room in this tent to mill around. but after a minute i was transfixed. the guy that shot the video of that gig was standing right next to me. i remember thinking how lucky that guy was to have a camera there because shawn crushed it. and how i wished bunny brunnel would turn his bass rig down because it was way too loud and obnoxious.

 

[mentoneman]

Man! Lane is HUGE in that last pic!! As for him being on anothe rplanet in comparison to SRV.. I guess we will agree to disagree. Lane definitely is more versatile a player but bang for my buck, SRV always brought the thunder. It is all in the ears.... I guess it just appeals to me more. No harm in that. All these guys are/were amazing!

And what is really sad is that his weight problem could have been corrected. There's people over 500lbs that go on the Biggest Loser and 3 months later they get down to 200lbs. Just a shame that nothing was done by Lane or that nobody helped him lose weight.

something tells me he had more going on--some arthritis from what i remember..thyroid...
but overall i agree he could have dropped the cigs and maybe have lived a healthier lifestyle prior to gaining in the first place.

 

[thiswaythatway]

SL was many times more sophisticated a musician than SRV

but SRV had tone, soul, catered to the blues traditions, and connected to more common folk.

the only time i saw shawn live was at NAMM this night:


and i was blown away by his tone as well as how totally incredibly he played.

guthrie, holdsworth, gambale, jason becker, yngwie, and racer x.....they all were able to play unimaginable things and blow me away and i've been fortunate enough to see them all in pretty intimate up close settings,

but what shawn played was so extreme it didn't make sense what i was seeing. i could not imagine someone playing with that physically demanding speed and complexity and precision, yet be so musical. he took his hero holdsworth and brought rock sensibility and right hand attack to it, and married some of the neoclassical yngwie thing to it as well as some eric johnson.

the centrifugal funk stuff shawn played when it came out was scoffed and looked down upon, tagged "video game noises". same with his first shrapnel stuff.


but by the time i saw him he had evolved into a full fledged monster.

This coming from a guy that saw the whole shred explosion come on the scene up close.

Pure shred Shane was the man, that Ibanez NAMM show where everyone from Gilbert to Timmons was on the same stage Lane just dominated, guyts were looking at each other speechless.

i should throw ej into that mix too.
i saw him at the coach house on the ah via musicom tour sitting with my feet literally against his side of the stage, and his tone and playing put me in a trance. perfection. after the encore my friend steve sitting next to me stood up and shook ej's hand as he came up from his bow that's how close we were.
something about anticipating a show/player so highly, and then having all your expectations not only met but blown away, on that cerebral level, makes you experience wonder or a thrill like a little kid on Christmas. Landau is like that but not shred..just TONE FOR DAYS AND NIGHTS>

on the SRV note i also saw him open for bryan adams and the police in hawaii, and the big diff was he played in front of 50k people and lane played in a tent at NAMM for 150? maybe? the tragic irony. i walked into the celestion tent one song into the set after leaving zachman to watch holdsworth, and there was a ton of room in this tent to mill around. but after a minute i was transfixed. the guy that shot the video of that gig was standing right next to me. i remember thinking how lucky that guy was to have a camera there because shawn crushed it. and how i wished bunny brunnel would turn his bass rig down because it was way too loud and obnoxious.

I saw Eric Johnson on that tour as well, must have been 1990. I was right in the front and there was probably only 100 - 150 people in the crowd. It was one of the best performances I've ever seen from a musician. I had that feeling when i first heard someone play a guitar in front of me when i was a kid, just had an uncontrolable smile of goodness.

 

[carl roa]

no one could touch this cat, and no one ever will. FTW RIP shawn.

Killer ... mind blowing playing! Love Shawn Lane.

 

[sinfish]

His bio on wiki said he was a heavy smoker, that's what killed him in 2003.

I f*ckin' love smoking... Cigarettes and me? Can't get enough. I know, I know, gotsta stop...but for now, till I TRY QUITTING AGAIN, gotta keep in mind it's the worst thing I could be doing to myself

V.

I had red a while ago that he died because of psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and a Liver disease. He got so fat because the Steroids he had to take. He liked to booze it hard too. Not so good of an idea for a man with liver problems in the first place. I could not find if the booze or all the meds he had to take caused the liver issues.

Hell of a player. Like many I could not get into it though I tried too.

 

[VigierUSA]

Shawn did so much for Vigier it's probably impossible to measure. His signature guitar is still one of (if not THE) most popular model in the States.

FWIW, his weight was a result of his steroid treatment for psoriatic arthritis, which he was diagnosed with at the age of 13 after being born with psoriasis. Some people have expressed that maybe this disease somehow helped his playing, but that's simply untrue. The fact that he was able to overcome it to play with even a quarter of the technical proficiency he had was a feat unto itself.

In high school I got tuned on to the Zenhouse live cd with Jonas Hellborg and was hooked. All the songs are 10+ minutes of listenable material - that's pretty amazing to me. I can't remember which track it was, but there was one where I would rewind it constantly because Shawn goes on something like a minute and a half run of just unrelenting speed that just makes you wanna give up playing.

RIP Shawn

 

[mentoneman]

it is a little strange how lane, gatton, srv, rhoads, and hendrix were all top form guitar heroes that died in their primes.

jason becker is the other story of remorse for the guitar community. stars that didn't get to shine long enough.

 

[crankyrayhanky]

10 seconds of SLane puts me in awe
60 seconds of SLane makes me want to turn it off in boredom

SRV is to human emotion as SLane is to Robot

Calling Lane's playing "robotic" speaks more of your ear than anything else.
"Human emotion"? Are you serious? SRV had a stock set of licks he repeated in every song.

I'm usually a shred fanboi, but not in this case. Oh well, others seem to really enjoy it so sorry to be a buzzkill. Maybe I just need more exposure, but my limited listening experiences turn into a blur when I listen to his work

Greatest shredder? IDK, I think something with more rock/metal vibe when I think shred, not smooth pop jazz. I'll take Al Dimeola for that nomination.

 

[Gainfreak]

Shawn is Incredible and most definitely one of a kind. Ive always loved his playing and I think that he was one of the few who could mix the mind bending speed with beautiful melodic lines and vibrato.

You either get it or you don't and that's absolutely OK because we all like different things.

 

[Gainfreak]

Shawn is Incredible and most definitely one of a kind. Ive always loved his playing and I think that he was one of the few who could mix the mind bending speed with beautiful melodic lines and vibrato.

You either get it or you don't and that's absolutely OK because we all like different things.

I like this Shawn Lane male individual a lot, I just can't go on a long drive and listen to Powers of Ten over and over, maybe once....once.

I have a lot of albums like that. i dig them but I can only take so much. That reminds me... Me Father hung me on a hook Once........Once....

 

[Gainfreak]

That reminds me... Me Father hung me on a hook Once........Once....

why?

I was home.

 

[rupe]

I think one of the coolest things about Shawn Lane was all the hot chicks who came to his shows

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

I'm usually a shred fanboi, but not in this case. Oh well, others seem to really enjoy it so sorry to be a buzzkill. Maybe I just need more exposure, but my limited listening experiences turn into a blur when I listen to his work

Agreed... kind of jazz fusionish in a lot of senses to... I know Paul Gilbert raved about Lane BUT to me, Paul Gilbert is one of the best shredders of all time and I don't find Lane on the same level. Yes Lane had some cool stretches and licks but overall from a phrasing perspective, I gotta go with Gilbert. If I want blues and shred, I'll go with Kotzen!

 

[MrHotMod]

I've seen a lot of killer players. McLaughlin, DiMeola, Holdsworth, Eric Johnson, Scofield, Metheny, Malmsteen, Guthrie Govan, etc.

I have never seen anyone who had this much technique. Whether it's musical or not is up to the individual. But as far as being the greatest shredder ever... Shawn Lane owns everyone.

 

[Ayrton]

Shawn is like watching paint dry...

I will take Gilbert any day.

 

[marshall]

I'm usually a shred fanboi, but not in this case. Oh well, others seem to really enjoy it so sorry to be a buzzkill. Maybe I just need more exposure, but my limited listening experiences turn into a blur when I listen to his work

Agreed... kind of jazz fusionish in a lot of senses to... I know Paul Gilbert raved about Lane BUT to me, Paul Gilbert is one of the best shredders of all time and I don't find Lane on the same level. Yes Lane had some cool stretches and licks but overall from a phrasing perspective, I gotta go with Gilbert. If I want blues and shred, I'll go with Kotzen!

How absoluely absurd. You're naming a few guys from different genres and in end Lane not only smoked them, he existed on a plane those guy will never attain in their lifetimes.