This thread is for the one and the only Jason Becker. Becker was a guitarist who was starting to get in the high leauges when he got a tragic disease, making him unable to move his body (incluing his fingers). Becker is still today very influencal to guitar players though he havn't put out that much records.

Anyways, lets start discuss Becker here, whats your favorite work with him? In what way has he inspired you?

If you dont know who Jason Becker are, i would recommend these sites:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFjQgDe_a0E&search=jason%20becker - Great documentary about Jason, lot of info about his struggling to the disease.

www.jasonbecker.com - Jason Beckers website.

Very nice thread about a great guitarist, should I remember Cacophony with the also great Marty Friedman or am I to qupote his solo work with albums like "Perpetual Burn" or "The Raspberry Jams" albus that show the pure genius of this man? One of the best guitaristis ever! Aman that had and has so many ideas too bad for his illness.

Was lucky enough to see Cacophony play at the Stone in San Francisco. Jason was awesome. Seeing both he and Marty together on stage shredding and blowing everyone's mind was a sight I'll never forget. In fact, knowing that I'd be seeing two great guitarists on stage I went to the show straight and enjoyed the hell out of it. I guess, you can watch a show straight and still enjoy it. My only question is why do we need to decide which of his works are best. Anyone, who's heard this young man, knows that he is just great and that's all that needs to be said. Too bad his career ended even before it got started. Hopefully one day they'll find a cure for Lou Gehrig's disease and Jason (like all the others suffering from this dreaded disease) will be able to make a full recovery. BTW thanks to BlindedByFear for starting this thread. Hope there are more Becker fans and they'll respond.

or should it be

An extremely talanted guitar player...too bad that horrible disease got to him...his struggle with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) is very inspiring...I cant believe that someone who cannot talk, move, and eats and breaths through a tube, wrote all those beautiful melodies...his music is just different, he never gets repetitive...he is just unique...I feel sorry for him...I guess thats how life is...it can happen to any of us...poor poor Jason, one day you're a young talented guy full of hopes and dreams, with great expectatives in life, and the next, you're in a wheelchair, trapped in a body, not able to move or speak...how sad...cause he knows what is going on, his mind is in perfect condition...there are so few in this world like him, so brilliant and so strong...his talent has not gone unnoticed...hmm...I always look at so called shred forums where they dont know who the hell Jason is, and they talk about how emotional Petrucci's playing is...fuck that! You dont know guitar playing until you have listened to Jason Becker...now he is one of my biggest insprirations, musically and spiritually...he lets us see that the body is only a box, and what really counts is what is inside...btw, great thread Fredrik!



"This photo was taken in May 1999 by my uncle Ron. I wanted to show the gruesome truth of tracheostomy & gastrostomy"



If you dont know anything about Jason, please...please, you have to watch this clip (Thanks Fredrik) this is an exellent documentary...please watch it, I didnt realize how amazing Jason was, until I saw this video...Im shure you won't regret it...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=X93DwoDUbRE

Cacophony is so great, both albums.. WOnderful speed metal, very skilled and moving music.. Speed Metal Symphony!!!!
It's such a pity for that disease.. I'll listen more Perpetual Burn, too. This thread made me want to do that..

This guy simply amazed me, when I first checked him out, I was seeing the "Paganini's 5th Caprice". He simply amazed me, at the time I never knew what happened to him and I always wondered why I never heard of anything new from this person, I was assuming he died until I did some research on the poor guy.

I wonder how Godly he would sound today?

Indeed he was an amazing guitarist but he is still a great composer! I'd very much like to find his albums in a store, but I never have.

jason becker is a fuckin god of the guitar and an excellent role model with really strong willpower.. perpetual burn is easily one of the top 5 shred albums of all time, and altitudes has gotta have one of the most epic arpeggio sequences ever recorded

I watched an interview with Chris Broderick a few days ago and he mentioned (and it seems not for the first time) that one of his favorite albums was Perpetual Burn. How could I not check this album? I did, and I must say it's quite a piece of guitar work. A very diverse record with almost thrash-like heaviness at times, prog elements, neo-classical parts, bluesy riffs, classical guitar (on Air) and what not. A great record for sure.

I can't state for sure, but it seems that very many guitarists very influenced by him and probably very many power and progressive metal bands as well.

I was not aware Jason was on this site. He was, and is, a completely one of a kind individual. Whether you are a guitarist or not this man is an incredible inspiration.

I remember hearing awhile ago that he was working on a new album with the help of friends? Was this finished, released, or delayed? I'm curious to know what happened with it and would love to get it if it's out.

Written by Got Mayhem? on 05.07.2010 at 23:44

I was not aware Jason was on this site. He was, and is, a completely one of a kind individual. Whether you are a guitarist or not this man is an incredible inspiration.

I remember hearing awhile ago that he was working on a new album with the help of friends? Was this finished, released, or delayed? I'm curious to know what happened with it and would love to get it if it's out.

Are you referring to the album 'Collection' that was released back in '08? That's the one that had musicians such as Satriani, Vai, Lee Roth, Friedman contributing to the album.

As for Jason himself, a very unique and inspiring individual without a doubt. Unable to physically move yet still working hard to compose and get his musical ideas out there into the world.

What an inspiration... it really gives me chills when I think about his inner strength. I just saw that there is a documentary coming out next year about his life, looking forward to it.

Speed Metal Symphony....yeah it sucks what happened to him.

Best guitarist the world has ever seen, RIP

Written by Tetravirulence on 31.05.2011 at 19:50

Best guitarist the world has ever seen, RIP

RIP? wtf? he is not dead. But indeed quite probably the guitar player the earth has seen.

Written by K✞ulu on 01.06.2011 at 11:26

Written by Tetravirulence on 31.05.2011 at 19:50

Best guitarist the world has ever seen, RIP

RIP? wtf? he is not dead. But indeed quite probably the guitar player the earth has seen.

LOL i mean as in guitar RIP, he cant play anymore tho he can compose

Written by Tetravirulence on 01.06.2011 at 14:56

Written by K✞ulu on 01.06.2011 at 11:26

Written by Tetravirulence on 31.05.2011 at 19:50

Best guitarist the world has ever seen, RIP

RIP? wtf? he is not dead. But indeed quite probably the guitar player the earth has seen.

LOL i mean as in guitar RIP, he cant play anymore tho he can compose

ok, just don't give up him so soon with that RIP

He was a great musician, but personally I'm more amazed by him as a composer as I feel he can inspire more people and be a role model to many more musician's in that way (although it indeed was a great shame he got ALS). He might not be able to move his body but his mind is still intact and he continue to compose awesome music.

Clint W. You can order his albums on Amazon.