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76-532: Juan Alderete de la Peña (born September 5, 1963) is an American musician. He is best known as the longtime bassist of Racer X and for his tenures in the Mars Volta and Marilyn Manson . Alderete was born in Los Angeles , California the fourth of five children. Son of the late civil rights activist Angel Manuel Alderete, he was exposed to jazz music on a weekly basis by his father, who often played it around

152-532: A bonus DVD with three videos from the band's live performance at the Electric Ballroom , London in 2003 as well as an audio of non-album track "Frances the Mute". Gold Standard Laboratories issued two vinyl versions of the album, a standard 3-LP set on black vinyl, and a limited-edition 4-LP set printed on glow-in-the-dark vinyl and packaged in a red plastic case; the fourth disc was a bonus 12" featuring "Frances

228-451: A certain amount of discipline. Then once we understand the part, everyone's free to elaborate—their personalities come out and it's not my part anymore; they get into and give it that swing that I can't give it." Rodríguez-López took the additional step of recording the band member separately before layering the various tracks to create each song. Drummer Jon Theodore was the first to record his parts, and he spent time arranging and mapping out

304-575: A cycling accident. In support of him, Paul Gilbert finished and released an outtake from the Technical Difficulties sessions: a cover of the Partridge Family song "I Think I Love You", the first Racer X song in 18 years. Final lineup Past Frances The Mute Frances the Mute made multiple "Best of" lists at the end of 2005. In the Q & Mojo magazine Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock ,

380-555: A drum clinic." Paste also gave it four stars out of five and said it "bursts at the jewel-case hinges with Comatorium' s trademarks: musical inventiveness and wildly emotive vocals." NME gave it a score of seven out of ten and said, "Within this impressive, ambitious, often stupid whole, are moments of melting human beauty." Billboard gave it a positive review and said the album "unfolds upon multiple listens, sometimes threatening to collapse under its own pretensions (meandering musical passages, sound effects), but ultimately, it

456-413: A drummer. Alderete showed up at the audition, bringing a Musician's Institute student and drum-playing friend named Bill Lescohier. Although Lescohier was turned down for the part, Gilbert was impressed with Alderete's bass playing; the two quickly sought to form a speed metal band that would incorporate Gilbert's advanced neoclassical metal guitar technique with Alderete's solid bass lines. To complete

532-561: A few lineup changes, with bassist Juan Alderete being the sole constant member. They were signed to Shrapnel Records . Guitarist Paul Gilbert first gained notoriety when he was featured in Mike Varney 's Spotlight Column in the February 1983 issue of Guitar Player magazine. Gilbert was 16 years old and was living in Greensburg, Pennsylvania . He later moved to Los Angeles and enrolled at

608-734: A halt. Scott Travis, with Judas Priest, toured with Ozzfest in 2004 and recorded Angel of Retribution . Jeff Martin began recording and touring with George Lynch , Kevin DuBrow , Michael Schenker , recorded a 3-song demo with the band Leatherwolf , and began a solo career with the release of The Fool in 2006. Juan Alderete joined the band The Mars Volta in 2003, which has toured regularly and recorded several albums. Paul Gilbert has released several solo albums, as well as compilation albums and tours with Dream Theater 's previous drummer Mike Portnoy . Gilbert has toured with his supporting band in support of his latest albums. Racer X performed at

684-501: A lengthy, non-radio-friendly outro of manipulated tape loops of organs and electronic noise; for the single release, this part was edited out. Ambient noise plays a larger role on Frances the Mute than it does on De-Loused in the Comatorium : "Cygnus....Vismund Cygnus" ends with the recording of children's voices and passing cars (made by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez in front of the house where he used to live with Bixler-Zavala and Ward ), while

760-500: A lot better because it was the first reaction to the music. It's just really [about] being in a state of being willing to give up to the producer your scratch tracks, as opposed to really working on it and refining it. In December 2004, a full copy of Frances the Mute was leaked to the Internet from the vinyl version. The rip was of poor quality. Encoded as a 96 kbit/s MP3 , other versions were reencoded to 192 kbit/s WMA from

836-504: A lot of refinement to what we do—obviously there is— but I consider it a balance of raw energy and refinement." Frances the Mute featured the largest array of guest musicians on any Mars Volta album to date. Flea , who played bass on De-Loused in the Comatorium , this time contributed trumpet to "The Widow" and "Miranda...". "L'Via L'Viaquez" featured guitar solos from John Frusciante as well as piano solos by Omar's childhood hero, salsa pianist Larry Harlow . Rodríguez-López described

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912-453: A man in Australia bashing him with anger, the famous "Snakebyte" email. In the email he chastised Paul for the more pop-oriented music on his solo records and accused him of forgetting his shred metal roots. Paul was apparently inspired to record heavy metal and decided to reform Racer X. Gilbert was joined by every original member except Bruce Bouillet, who did not choose to return. In mid-1999,

988-484: A member of the band to this day. In 1992, Shrapnel Records released Extreme Volume II Live , which featured songs from the farewell Racer X concerts at the Country Club. Like the first live record, it included several previously unreleased songs, like "Poison Eyes" and "Give it to Me". The release gave die-hard Racer X fans hope that new material was on the way, but nothing came to fruition. The one most notable track

1064-483: A new album. In October 2002, all four members of Racer X gathered at Gilbert's house in Las Vegas to record a new album. For the first time in the history of the band all four members were together at the same time to record a Racer X album. The outcome of the recording was Getting Heavier , which was sold alongside Snowball of Doom 2 in a package deal. After the release of Getting Heavier , Racer X's progress came to

1140-453: A number of solo albums by Omar Rodríguez-López. Since joining the band, he has played at Madison Square Garden and was featured on the front cover of the March 2005 issue of Bass Player Magazine. Aside from The Mars Volta, Alderete has been invested in his own musical projects. Big Sir is a group composed of Juan and singer Lisa Papineau that has released four albums. Vato Negro is a group with

1216-399: A radio producer, Alderete received a call from Omar Rodríguez-López of The Mars Volta while on their European tour with an offer to audition for the band: Eventually I auditioned, but they gave me no sign of whether I was cutting it or not. But they said I could leave my gear for the next day. On the second day, I didn't think I played that well. We jammed some more on the third day, but I

1292-667: A revolving door of musicians; originally a duo of Alderete and drummer Matt Sherrod , it has since featured Deantoni Parks , Omar Rodriguez-López, and Jon Theodore in various lineups. Alderete has played shows with both groups in 2010, in California and Fuji Rock Festival in Japan. In addition, Alderete co-produced the film The Sentimental Engine Slayer with Rodríguez-López and former Mars Volta bandmate Paul Hinojos . After The Mars Volta broke up in 2013, Alderete joined vocalist Cedric-Bixler Zavala in his new band, Zavalaz , and later became

1368-455: A score of 75 out of 100 from Metacritic based on "generally favorable reviews". The Aquarian Weekly gave it an A and called it "a very heavyweight fight for a listener to get through". Punknews.org gave it all five stars and said, "Leave the hating to the real playa hatas, like Buc Nasty and Silky Johnson, because Frances The Mute will blow your mind. So give up your qualms about how pretentious this is, and how overindulgent, because given

1444-530: A score of three stars out of five and said of The Mars Volta: "You have to give them credit for ambition, though, because you're not going to find this particular witches' brew anywhere else." The New York Times gave it an average review and said, "The music combines the kitchen-sink inclusiveness of psychedelia with the swerves and jolts of the hip-hop era, to approach the ravenous eclecticism of Latin alternative rock." Yahoo! Music UK gave it five stars out of ten and called it "An incredibly accomplished record,

1520-412: A section in "Cassandra Gemini" one of the orchestra members played so hard that he broke his antique bow: "And you could see his ‘classical’ side come out – like, ‘I broke this playing a fuckin’ rock song??’ He was pissed off. But I was like, ‘Fuck yeah, man, that’s on the record! You’ve got to realise things like that are cool.’” In 2012, Juan Alderete noted that Frances the Mute is the studio album he

1596-619: A short-lived outfit named Bad Dog with drummer Todd DeVito and former War & Peace and future Fight and Steel Panther guitarist Russ Parrish ; the latter had also been part of Electric Fence, a side project featuring Martin and Paul Gilbert. Martin eventually went on to replace Eric Singer in Jake E. Lee 's band, Badlands . After the demise of the final Racer X line-up, with former Roxanne vocalist Jamie Brown briefly taking over for Martin, Juan Alderete , Bruce Bouillet , and Scott Travis teamed up with former Angora vocalist John Corabi to form

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1672-483: A spokesman for the MPD Foundation. On January 13, 2020, Alderete sustained a serious brain injury as a result of a bicycle accident near his home. Despite wearing protective equipment, he suffered a form of diffuse axonal injury and was in a coma for almost four weeks. By September, he had undergone therapies and returned to playing bass. Influenced by players like Jaco Pastorius , Alderete's main playing technique

1748-406: A stack of TVs like that. So he would do that while I would record vocals, and that would be the main inspiration. So it was everything from The Magnificent Seven and any Akira Kurosawa stuff. And I wouldn't have [lyrics] written right away; I would just do takes of gibberish and then later try to fix them to make them into words. Sometimes he wanted to just keep the gibberish takes which he liked

1824-498: A true testament to the band's imagination, intellectual curiosity and outrageous musical talent.... Unfortunately, 'Frances The Mute' is also awful." Under the Radar also gave it a score of five stars out of ten and said, "Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala are fantastically talented musicians and arrangers. But until they rein in their astronomical pretension, they'll always look more important than they truly are." The album

1900-442: A warehouse with one little air conditioner on its last legs, awful wiring and a console you couldn’t rely on". Rather than bring his ideas to the band as a whole and working them out at group rehearsals, he met individually with each player to practice each part one-on-one. "We'll sit there and play it forever and slow—real slow—to understand what's happening. It's easy to play something fast and loud, but to play it soft and slow takes

1976-489: A whole album fitted into one composition. Something ruthless that no one can remain careless to." Regarding the album's lyrical content, vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala stated: A lot of it was [written] on the spot. Omar — because he collects TVs — would set up his wall of TVs again. We used to live together and he would set them up all the time — kind of like in the David Bowie movie, The Man Who Fell to Earth , he had

2052-462: Is Racer X's cover of KISS ' "Detroit Rock City". Recording the song, Gilbert and Bouillet, wanting to make the song unique and fitting to their style, stood side by side and played the famous solo with their teeth. One other KISS song was played the night before, "Cold Gin", but it never appeared on either of the first two live releases. In 1999, Racer X released their third studio album, entitled Technical Difficulties . The album soon became one of

2128-517: Is an ambitious and rewarding album." The A.V. Club also gave it a positive review and said, "On the whole, the record sounds more like the blueprint for a stunning live show than like a viable document of a top-flight hard rock band." Other reviews are average, mixed or negative: Uncut gave it a score of three stars out of five and said it "smells like another concept album, is far too long and so pretentious as to be farcial. Amazingly, it's also mighty entertaining." The Guardian also gave it

2204-593: Is credited as John Alderete on all Racer X albums. However, four years after the creation of the band, Gilbert left Racer X to form the band Mr. Big . The remaining members of Racer X decided to stay active in music, although they went their separate ways. For the next ten years, Alderete would be involved in several different bands (including The Scream, DC-10, Big Sir , and Distortion Felix) as well as becoming an instructor at Musicians Institute. Not long after, he released his first instructional video on bass techniques and modulation . Although Extreme Volume II: Live

2280-412: Is most proud of. Frances the Mute is comparable to The Mars Volta's 2003 release De-Loused in the Comatorium , with its cryptic lyrics and highly layered instrumentals , although the progressive rock influence is stronger on Frances the Mute than it was on De-Loused in the Comatorium . "The Widow" is notably the only short, pop-structured song on the album, although the last half of it features

2356-476: Is to use the "standard" fingers to pluck the strings with his right hand (two fingers: index and middle). He occasionally uses Dunlop Gel picks , as well as his signature picks. He is also known to use two-handed tapping techniques and slapping/popping , which was influenced by Louis Johnson , the bass player for the American funk and R&B band The Brothers Johnson. Alderete also cites Dr. Dre and Kool Keith of

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2432-635: The last At the Drive-In album , the best thing we ever did by the way, had touches of spaghetti-western." The fifth and final song of the album, "Cassandra Gemini", clocking at 32 minutes and 32 seconds is to date the longest studio song released by The Mars Volta. Rodriguez-Lopez said of the song: "Ever since I was a teenager, and had various listening experiences with the likes of King Crimson , John Coltrane , and Miles Davis 's Bitches Brew , I've always wanted to do something like "Cassandra". Something deformed and out of control. Something enormous and violent,

2508-712: The 2009 NAMM Show at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California (the performance actually took place at the Sheraton Park Hotel ballroom next to the convention center), with a line-up consisting of Paul Gilbert , Scott Travis , Jeff Martin , and Juan Alderete . On October 13, 2009, the video game Brütal Legend was released. The game's soundtrack featured two Racer X songs: "Y.R.O." from Street Lethal and "Technical Difficulties" from Technical Difficulties . In 2020, bassist Juan Alderete got into

2584-531: The Alderete household. Juan decided to pick up the bass after he and his friends decided to start a band. Other early influences included his brother's progressive rock albums, which included bands such as Yes , Rush , King Crimson , etc. He started learning the basics of the bass guitar when he was 16, and was influenced by such players as Jaco Pastorius , Geddy Lee , and Stanley Clarke . Some of his other influences include Jamaladeen Tacuma and John Entwistle ,

2660-444: The CD and DVD were released under the name Snowball of Doom , which is a reference to fact that the band is still "rolling along" after fifteen years, but was still unable to secure a major American record label contract. In January 2002, in support of Superheroes and Snowball of Doom , Racer X toured Japan and Taiwan . The band performed these shows in their Superheroes costumes. For

2736-463: The Comatorium , having been originally demoed by Omar Rodríguez-López in the early days of The Mars Volta. While touring in support of De-Loused , the band would incorporate more and more extended improvisational sections into some of their songs, often trying out new ideas. Parts of "Cygnus....Vismund Cygnus" ("Facilis Descenus Averni" and "Con Safo") were first performed live in the middle of "Drunkship of Lanterns" (as heard on Live EP) and "Take

2812-634: The Guitar Institute of Technology (GIT), part of the Musicians Institute . After graduating from GIT, Gilbert was hired as an instructor and recorded the album "Trouble in the Streets" with Los Angeles metal band Black Sheep, released on Enigma Records in November 1985. While at GIT, Gilbert met fellow student Juan Alderete. Searching for a drummer, Alderete and Gilbert first turned to Scott Travis , who

2888-561: The Mute" and a live acoustic version of "The Widow", recorded at The Wiltern , Los Angeles on May 6, 2004. A CD single featuring the same two tracks was given free with the purchase of the album at Best Buy stores in the US. Frances the Mute sold over 100,000 copies within the first week of release, and debuted at number four on the Billboard Album Charts . As of February 2007 according to Nielsen SoundScan, 488,000 copies were sold in

2964-413: The Mute" is presented as audio only; the rest is video. 7:22 3:34 The Best Buy version of the album included a download card for one bonus track: A second Best Buy promotion included a free separate CD of the song "Frances The Mute" itself along with the live acoustic "The Widow". On vinyl, "Cassandra Gemini" was split between two sides, in the middle of "Faminepulse". Each side of vinyl (save

3040-620: The United States. The album was the band's career best at No. 4 until their fourth album The Bedlam in Goliath came out almost 3 years later on the Billboard 200 at No. 3. The album was certified gold by the RIAA in the US for shipments of 500,000 albums on October 5, 2009. In 2008, the edited version of "L'Via L'Viaquez" was featured on the video game Guitar Hero: World Tour . The album so far has

3116-575: The Veil Cerpin Taxt" respectively, while parts of "Cassandra Gemini" originated from improvisations during "Cicatriz ESP" (as heard on Scabdates ). The album was initially to be titled Sarcophagus . Rodríguez-López arranged and produced the recording sessions himself. Unlike De-Loused in the Comatorium , which was recorded in producer Rick Rubin 's mansion , sessions for the new album took place in multiple studios, with most tracking done in what Rodríguez-López described as "a shithole… Basically

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3192-419: The album came #18 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums" and was also named as one of Classic Rock magazine's 10 essential progressive rock albums of the decade. Jeremy Ward , audio artist for The Mars Volta until his death, had previously worked as a repo man. One day, Ward discovered a diary in the backseat of a car he was repossessing, and began to note the similarities between his life and that of

3268-412: The author—most notably, that they had both been adopted. The diary told of the author's search for his biological parents, with the way being pointed by a collection of people, their names being the basis for each named track of Frances the Mute . Some of the material which would end up on Frances the Mute , including "The Widow" and "Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore", pre-dated De-Loused in

3344-481: The band Black Cloud – which would later become The Scream . The four played one show at the Troubadour before Travis received an offer from Judas Priest, who were looking to replace the recently departed Dave Holland . Jeff Martin, a friend of Judas Priest, relayed the message to Travis, who was ecstatic at the opportunity, and accepted the offer. Travis would go on to record several albums with Judas Priest, and remains

3420-492: The band on the same day. Juan Alderete, Bruce Bouillet, and Scott Travis initially brought in Guitar Spotlight player Chris Arvan in 1989 as a replacement and performed a few shows, including one with Oni Logan from Lynch Mob . Soon, the members of the band went separate ways. Racer X's hiatus carried on well into the late 1990s. After Gilbert left for Mr. Big, other members also went on to other projects. Jeff Martin formed

3496-518: The band recorded Technical Difficulties . The album went gold in Japan, and Racer X's new record label requested a follow-up. In late 2000, the band released what is recognized by many fans as their best album to date, Superheroes . The album's packaging featured pictures of the band members dressed as superheroes . Gilbert became the Electric Bat, Martin became Motorman, Alderete became The X-tinguisher, and Travis became Cowboy Axe. The record

3572-454: The band's most successful to date. Many recognizable songs such as the album cover namesake and instrumental "Technical Difficulties". Other songs such as fan-favorite "Miss Mistreater" and "Snakebite" are most thought of off the album. After departing Mr. Big in 1997 after the recording of the Hey Man album, Gilbert started a solo career releasing King of Clubs . Paul received an email from

3648-451: The band, Harry Gschoesser joined to fill the drummer position, and Jeff Martin became the vocalist; the group named themselves Racer X (a title that Lescohier had suggested). With this lineup, the band released their debut album, Street Lethal , in 1986. Alderete has been recording with Racer X ever since (note: there was a ten-year hiatus starting from 1989), and their latest album was released in 2002, titled Getting Heavier . Alderete

3724-598: The bass player for the Who. His fascination with the bass guitar revolved around it being a somewhat "underappreciated" instrument at the time. Alderete enrolled in Musicians Institute in Hollywood (Los Angeles, CA). He enjoyed his time in the school, explaining that he was able to learn techniques and styles that he had never even considered prior to his enrollment. Alderete and fellow student Paul Gilbert started their musical relationship during an audition that Alderete held to find

3800-528: The chance, you're in for a hell of a ride." Drowned in Sound gave it a perfect score of ten and called it "a compulsory purchase." Spin gave it an A− and said it "explores an explosive groove Comatorium only implied." Kludge gave it a score of ten out of ten and called it a "multi-layered album that can be enjoyed through multiple artistic perspectives" which "works beautifully". Playlouder gave it four-and-a-half stars out of five and said, "Miraculously

3876-419: The final one, "Sarcophagi"). On digital streaming platforms such as Spotify the eight "Cassandra Gemini" tracks appear with incorrect names which also do not match the movements (some of the track names are erroneously taken from the movements of the previous song "Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore"). All lyrics written by Cedric Bixler-Zavala , all music composed by Omar Rodríguez-López . "Frances

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3952-501: The final show, in Yokohama , the performance was hastily recorded in two tracks on the sound board, and this was later released as Snowball of Doom 2 . Gilbert returned to his solo career, recording the album Burning Organ . However, in 2002, Universal Japan pushed for another Racer X release, notifying the band that they would release an official bootleg of the Yokohama concert to promote

4028-579: The first movement of "Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore" ("Vade Mecum") features 4 minutes of coquí frogs (credited as "The Coquí of Puerto Rico " on the album sleeve) singing while a thick soundscape is slowly built from guitars, synthesizers and Bixler-Zavala's voice. According to Rodriguez-Lopez, "Miranda..." was influenced by the music from western movies: "I'm a big fan of spaghetti-western and I think it shows on "Miranda". Our Morricone -influence has always been there, but on "Miranda" we let it all out. The last song ["Non-Zero Possibility"] on

4104-458: The hip hop group Ultramagnetic MCs as influences. While the two didn't formally play bass, Alderete looks to their bass lines for influence. The Laklands that Alderete had on tour are: Lakland had made Alderete a bass guitar that if popular, would become a signature model, assumed to be based on his modified 70's fretless Fender Jazz that he used during the Frances the Mute tour. For live shows he

4180-541: The individualistic approach while keyboard player Isaiah "Ikey" Owens didn't like it at all. However, as Rodríguez-López stated, "People filling in ideas can become tedious and counterproductive. You find yourself working backwards. When you're in the studio 'what ifs' are your biggest enemy, so my general rule is, if it's something you can't live with—if a sentence begins with 'I can't' or 'I will not'—then we examine it. But if it's 'maybe we should' or 'I think that' then it's like, hey man, full steam ahead. Not that there isn't

4256-468: The lyrics never sound like the pompous shite they undoubtedly are. They fit the music and make the whole picture even more laughably and absurdly brilliant." In 2005, the album was ranked number 440 in Rock Hard magazine's book The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time . Blender gave it four stars out of five and called it "a visceral, powerful muso's record, a nerve-jangling explosion in

4332-503: The recording process in 1985, and Racer X's debut album Street Lethal was released on January 1, 1986, on Mike Varney's Shrapnel Records label. With the release of Street Lethal , Paul Gilbert suddenly burst into the mainstream as one of the members of the Neoclassical genre , popularized by Randy Rhoads and Yngwie J. Malmsteen . While Racer X was not playing neo-classical pieces as frequently as Rhoads or Malmsteen, Gilbert

4408-458: The release of the first album, Gilbert was still teaching at GIT for a steady income. One of Gilbert's students, Bruce Bouillet , gained his attention. Gilbert asked him to join Racer X, and the two guitarists would soon work out synchronized harmony passages that would redefine Racer X's sound. In 1986, Racer X's drummer Harry Gschoesser's visa expired, so he returned to his native country, Austria. He

4484-481: The session with Harlow in Puerto Rico as "a childhood dream come true". "Cassandra Gemini" featured flute and saxophone contributions from Mexican woodwind player Adrián Terrazas-González , who would join the band full time for the subsequent tour. All the tracks also included full string and horn sections, arranged by David Campbell with the help of Rodríguez-López. According to Cedric Bixler-Zavala , while recording

4560-417: The songs with Omar and in the process figuring out what the rhythmic structures would be stated on the recording process. "This is the first time I've ever been so methodical about recording. Normally I would go into the situation with as good an idea as I could, whether that was from performing the songs on tour or having a general road map. But this was the first instance where I considered every single hit all

4636-533: The source mp3, resulting in even worse audio quality. Gold Standard Laboratories issued a statement decrying the Internet release for its subpar sound quality , and suggesting that fans should respect the band's request not to share the leaked music. Frances the Mute was released on February 11, 2005 in Japan and February 21, 2005 in Europe; the US release followed on midnight, March 1, 2005. The Japanese version included

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4712-513: The touring bassist for Deltron 3030 . Juan also runs a website dedicated to showcasing effects pedals and other musical gear called PedalsAndEffects.com. Alderete also laid down the bass line for the late rapper and singer Lil Peep on his 2017 single "Benz Truck". On November 5, 2017. Alderete filled in bass for Marilyn Manson at the Ozzfest Meets Knotfest festival, replacing longtime bassist Jeordie White, a.k.a. Twiggy Ramirez . He

4788-408: The way through, every figure up to and including every change. There were no question marks. So when I was tracking with the metronome it was just a question of right or wrong." An exception of such recording method was the middle section of "Cassandra Gemini", edited from a lengthy jam session. Tracking this way had a mixed reception in the band; Theodore and bassist Juan Alderete responded well to

4864-533: Was Manson's live bass player from then until 2024 and recorded bass tracks on his 2020 album We Are Chaos . Alderete lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Anne. On May 1, 2007, Alderete announced that he had been diagnosed with polycythemia vera , a rare blood disease. However he also mentioned that he was feeling fine, would experience no side effects from the medication, and would continue to play music. Since discovering his condition, Alderete had agreed to become

4940-474: Was a David Bowie cover, and "Heart of a Lion" was a Judas Priest song dropped from the Turbo album. The song was a birthday gift by Rob Halford , who had befriended Jeff Martin in the band's early days. Halford later recorded the track with his band, Halford . While the Los Angeles music scene was at the peak for glam metal , Racer X were reaching the height of their popularity with their live shows. The band

5016-452: Was getting ready for release, the dismantling of the band was near. Billy Sheehan , bass player of the band Talas, approached Paul Gilbert about forming a new band; in mid 1989, the two formed the band Mr. Big . Gilbert had mentally detached himself from Racer X during the final shows. The rest of the group, searching for an explanation to the lack of major label interest, focused their frustrations on Jeff Martin. Both Gilbert and Martin left

5092-428: Was having trouble with this crazy drum break in "Roulette Dares" from the first record. I just couldn't hear what I was supposed to be doing, so I told Omar, "I don't know why I'm not getting it, but I'll really work on it," and he said, "You'd better get it down, because we have a show on Thursday." He went on to record Frances The Mute with them in 2004, and has played bass on every Mars Volta album since, as well as

5168-694: Was initially replaced with Todd "Vito" DeVito, who had played on Black Sheep's Trouble In The Streets LP alongside Gilbert, but was soon replaced by Scott Travis . DeVito went on to become a drum technician for Mikkey Dee of Motörhead . The band headed to Prairie Sun Studios in Cotati to record their second studio album. Second Heat was released in February 1987 by Shrapnel Records, and solidified Racer X's style of double-lead guitar solos using techniques such as fast alternate-picking , two-handed tapping , string skipping, and sweep picking. The album also has two tracks written by other artists. "Moonage Daydream"

5244-461: Was initially slated to have six songs, however the title track "Frances the Mute" (which was going to be the first song) was left out due to time constraints. The lyrics for the title track still appeared on the inside of the CD jewel case tray, while the song itself was released on "The Widow" single. The ending of "Frances the Mute" reprises the album's bookend, "Sarcophagi" filtered through radio static. The finalized track listing had five tracks and

5320-434: Was intended to be released as such on all formats. Because of disputes with Universal Records , "Cassandra Gemini" (listed as "Cassandra Geminni" on most versions of the album) was arbitrarily split into eight tracks on the CD version, taking up tracks 5 through 12, since the band would otherwise only be paid an EP 's wages for a 5 track album. The splits also were not done according to the song's actual five movements (except

5396-827: Was living in Virginia at the time, but he turned down the offer due to his commitment to the band Hawk . Travis was receiving a salary from Doug Marks , the band's lead guitarist, and would not turn down the income. Alderete and Gilbert instead sought the services of fellow student Harry Gschoesser . After acquiring Gschoesser, Gilbert, with the help of Varney, recruited Jeff Martin of the Phoenix metal band Surgical Steel. Martin, who still lived in Phoenix and could not regularly write songs with Racer X in Los Angeles, began writing lyrics immediately for demo tapes that Gilbert had sent him. Recording for their first album began quickly. The band began

5472-447: Was mixed by former Racer X guitarist, Bruce Bouillet. In order to further capitalize on their new-found success in Japan, Universal Japan requested that the band record a live show for another live CD and DVD . On May 25, 2001, the band played their first live performance in thirteen years at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles. The show was recorded for both audio and video, and in 2002, both

5548-405: Was most recently using a white model with a white pickguard and maple fingerboard. Alderete was featured on the first issue of the online magazine Resonate, talking about his Ampeg Rig. A short, and incomplete, list: Antemasque Bosnian Rainbows ORLG / TMV Racer X (band) Racer X was an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1985. The group went through a hiatus and

5624-740: Was often mentioned alongside Malmsteen and Rhoads in many guitar and music magazines. Gilbert acknowledged his debt to Malmsteen on the Street Lethal album with the neoclassical instrumental "Y.R.O.". The title is an acronym for "Yngwie Rip Off". He would repeat such a reference on a later song, "B.R.O.", which stands for "Bach Rip Off". Racer X was rapidly becoming a popular live act on the Sunset Strip . Around this time, Gilbert secured an endorsement deal with Ibanez guitars, which continues to this day. The song "Getaway" received limited airplay on Los Angeles' heavy metal radio station, KNAC . After

5700-611: Was released in 1992, Racer X was not actually reunited. That year, Paul Gilbert was touring with Mr. Big, and Alderete was recording with a hard rock band called The Scream . In actuality, the album was just a compilation of songs that were recorded in concerts before the hiatus. However, around 1999, Alderete got a telephone call from Paul Gilbert, who asked if there was any possibility of recording another Racer X album. Juan agreed, and Racer X reunited to record Technical Difficulties , which features new material as well as older songs that were never recorded. In 2003, while working as

5776-521: Was selling out and packing their usual rotation of The Roxy Theatre , Troubadour , and the Country Club in Reseda, California . The years of unsuccessfully searching for major label representation finally took its toll on the band, and the group's last gasp came with two nights of back-to-back live shows at the Country Club, which were recorded and released as Extreme Volume Live (1988) and Extreme Volume II Live (1992). But even as Live Extreme, Vol. 1

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