Michael Angelo Batio's new CD
Hands Without Shadows 2 — Voices

Michael adds his signature lead guitar playing to every song making these renditions truly unique and all his own. Virtuoso drummer Joe Babiak performed on the entire CD as well as new comer Warren Dunlevy, Jr. on vocals. Warren is a truly great singer. When you listen to the record it is hard to imagine that just one singer sang all of the songs. Warren’s voice seems to change to sound like a completely different singer on each song. Some of his vocal highlights are “Symphony of Destruction” where you would swear that Dave Mustaine was singing, or “EVH” where Warren really captures the essence of David Lee Roth. What Michael does on the arrangements is seamlessly weave many different songs of each Artist into one cohesive and unified track. These are like “MAB style Mashups!” Special guests on “HWS 2 - Voices” include “Creed” and “Alter Bridge” guitarist Mark Tremonti, “UFO” guitarist Vinnie Moore, solo artist George Bellas, “Exit the Ride” guitarist Bill Peck and “DSG”guitarist David Shankle. Michael has 3 Shrapnel Records alumni on this CD. MAB, Vinnie Moore and George Bellas have all been on records released by Shrapnel and all 3 of them are featured on the song ”Symphony of Destruction!” Triple the virtuosity on one track! Michael has also added, as a bonus track, an instrumental song with solos performed by members of the MAB Forum! MAB Forum member Maxwell Carlisle wrote and recorded the track. “I feel that this is a great way to get the fans involved as well as feature new guitar talent” quotes MAB. Michael performs the ending solo on the song. A sincere thanks to Max and all of the MAB Forum members and MAB Forum “shredders” that are on the track.

Special guests on “HWS 2 - Voices” include Mark Tremonti - Creed, Alter Bridge, Vinnie Moore - UFO, Solo Artist, George Bellas - Solo Artist, Bill Peck - Exit the Ride, David Shankle - DSG and The MAB Forum Shredders!

Audio CD $14.95 Add to Cart

Michael Angelo Batio's new CD
Hands Without Shadows 1

“Hands Without Shadows”® features guest appearances by Mark Tremonti of Alter Bridge and Creed, Rudy Sarzo of Ozzy, Whitesnake and Quiet Riot, Doug Marks, founder of Metal Method, virtuoso guitarist Bill Peck and more. The primary bassist William Kopecky is a 6 string and fretless virtuoso. Chris Wisco engineered and mixed the CD, famed graphic designer Stephen Jensen designed the “HWS” artwork and the disc was mastered by Trevor Sadler.

Hands Without Shadows ®
by Michael Angelo Batio - in Michael’s own words...

I started recording “Hands Without Shadows”® in July of 2004. 15 months later, the CD was completed. In between recording I performed over 100 shows on 3 different continents, filmed an instructional DVD and recorded numerous sessions for other artists. I wanted the CD to include some of my new songs plus my versions of some of the best rock songs of the past- to pay tribute to some of the legendary Rock Guitar greats like Jimmy Page, Randy Rhoads, Jimi Hendrix and more. I also wanted the CD to be cohesive and have a central theme, sound and continuous atmosphere from beginning to end. “HWS” is my uncompromising vision.

All of the rhythms on “HWS” were recorded with Dean Guitars using one Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier amp with a matching 4 by 12 cabinet. All of the solos on “HWS” were recorded using various single Marshall amps with an assortment of Dean Guitars. With the exception of “All Along the Watchtower”, all of the lead guitars were recorded dry, with no FX, except where a “Wah-Wah” pedal is heard. When the “Wah” is played there are still no other FX.

My initial mixing discussions with engineer Chris Wisco were based around two “schools of thought”. Do we make a really “wet” mix with a lot of reverb, ambiance and effects or take a different approach and make clarity the issue over the use of FX? We both thought that keeping the over all mix “drier” was the way to go. There is virtually nothing added to the guitars. Again, I recorded almost everything completely dry and we left much of the CD’s mix of the guitars that way.

Audio CD $14.95 Add to Cart