Guitar Hero #3: John Petrucci

John Peter Petrucci is an American guitarist and songwriter born on July 12, 1967. He is well known as one the founding members of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. He has appeared in G3 tours together with Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Paul Gilbert several times. GuitarOne magazine has ranked him as the 9th Greatest Shredder of All Time.

As I have mentioned in earlier posts, speed is not the only determining factor for a guitarist to be called “great”. Though Petrucci is well know for his speed much like Paul Gilbert, the thing that I like the most with his style is his wide harmonic vocabulary. This gives him the ability to write melodramatic pieces. I like listening to his solo album, Suspended Animation, for these reasons. I’m not really a Dream Theater fan: but I really have to say they are damn good! In terms of the mood of his compositions, I like to compare Petrucci with Paul Gilbert. I think Petrucci mostly has melodrama and anger in his music while Paul Gilbert has humor and joy. But of course, this is subjective. I’m living in a free country right?