''Tradition'' is the third solo album by American heavy metal musician

Michael Angelo Batio Michael Angelo Batio ( ; born June 12, 1956), also known as Michael Angelo, Mike Batio or MAB, is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal guitarist. He was the lead guitarist for the glam metal band Nitro (band), Nitro in the late 1980s and ...

(credited as Michael Angelo). Recorded and self-produced by the guitarist at Monster Mix Studio in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, it was originally released in 1998 as a companion disc to the instructional video ''Jam with Angelo'', before a standalone release by

M.A.C.E. Music M.A.C.E. Music, Inc. is an American record label founded by Michael Angelo Batio in April 1993. Currently based in Gurnee, Illinois, the label's main job is that of selling material and merchandise of Batio's, including his albums, videos and acces ...

followed in 2000. The collection is entirely written and performed by Batio and is entirely

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

Background

Like his previous albums, Michael Angelo Batio recorded ''Tradition'' at his own Monster Mix Studios in

; he is credited on the album as performing all instruments, as well as producing, engineering and mixing. Prior to its release as ''Tradition'', the album was issued as the companion CD to ''Jam with Angelo'', an instructional video released in late 1998. Alongside seven new songs, the collection features five

backing track A backing track is an audio recording on audiotape, CD or a digital recording medium or a MIDI recording of synthesized instruments, sometimes of purely rhythmic accompaniment, often of a rhythm section or other accompaniment parts that live m ...

s for users of the instructional video. Following its 1998 release, ''Tradition'' was issued as an album in its own right by Batio's label

in 2000. All seven of the main tracks were later remixed and remastered for the 2004 compilation '' Lucid Intervals and Moments of Clarity Part 2''. A number of songs were also featured on instructional videos: "China" and "The Finish Line" on ''Performance'', "Prog" on ''Speed Kills 3'', and "The Finish Line" on ''Speed Lives 3: The Neo Classical Zone''.

Critical reception

A review published by Guitar Nine praised ''Tradition'', with the feature stating that on Batio's "fluid style sends notes gliding and flying all over the fretboard ndhis thick, round sound akesthe unbelievable passages seem easy and effortless". The review highlighted several tracks in particular, including "Voices of the Distant Past" which the writer called "a

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

masterpiece" and "Prog" which they claimed "turns into one of the "coolest" grooves and melodies that Michael has written".

Track listing

Personnel

– guitars, bass, keyboards, drums, percussion, production, engineering, mixing *Mike Hagler – mastering *Phil Carlson – artwork, design, layout *Dan Machnik – photography

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1998 albums Michael Angelo Batio albums M.A.C.E. Music albums