By the mid-'90s, those ol' 'creative differences' upended Mr. Big. Responding to overwhelming fan demand, Gilbert reassembled Racer X - this lineup featured original bassist John Alderete and drummer Scott Travis. The resulting LP went gold in Japan, where Gilbert was a major celebrity.

Paul Gilbert says:

“This was Racer X’s first ‘reunion’ album. I was excited to play some pure metal again, and I especially wanted to record a song called Fire Of Rock that we had played in the ‘80s but had never been recorded.

“I had a studio in my house in Las Vegas, and all the band members flew out to write, rehearse and record. It was the first time that we weren’t rushed in and out of the studio, so we were finally able to spend time getting the sounds and performances exactly how we wanted them.

“I had been making some solo albums with a lot of pop influences, and playing with Racer X again really lit a fire under me to start exploring intense guitar again. I did one short instrumental called B.R.O. (which stands for ‘Bach Rip Off‘). This is some of most ferocious guitar playing I’ve ever done; in fact, the whole band sounds huge. It was great to play with my friends from my teenage heavy metal band again.”