For years, Gilbert had straddled the fence between gonzo shred and lighthearted, melodic pop. On his sixth solo release, he put it all together.

Paul Gilbert says:

“I had been living in Japan on and off, and I couldn’t make much noise (or music) there because it would bother the neighbors. I was starving for rock, so when I got back to America I went right in the studio and cranked out this album.

“I think it’s my best combination of lead guitar playing, lead singing and pop-influenced, heavy music. I played all 100 guitars in my collection on a song called I Like Rock, and I’m proud that I could play one of Bach’s Goldberg Variations on acoustic guitar.

“I co-produced the record with my friend Linus of Hollywood, who helped me put thick vocal harmonies everywhere. Marco Minnemann played killer drums. Mike Szuter contributed fantastic bass parts. And I even invented a new way of counting off a song on a tune called I Am Satan: 1-2-3-4-5-6-6-6! (Appropriate, huh?)”