‘Queen Babylon’ follows videos for the album cuts ‘Rat Race,’ ‘Midnight Driver of the Love Machine and ‘Tin Soldier,’ and extends the comeback run the group has enjoyed with ‘Better Days Comin’,’ which debuted in the Top 10 of the iTunes rock chart after its April 23 release.

“Soundwise, ‘Queen Babylon’ is classic first-album Winger meets Winger of today,” explains Winger frontman Kip Winger. “This video features the exclusive, unreleased extended audio version of the song with a dual solo from Reb [Beach] and John [Roth] at the end that isn’t featured on the album version. It is also the first video to include our original keyboardist Paul Taylor since [1990's] ‘In the Heart of the Young.’”

“I have three different things I do: solo records, classical music and the band. And the sound of Winger is when Reb plays guitar and I play bass, and we write from that perspective,” Winger explained in an interview with Songfacts. “It’s really helped my rock writing to have studied composition for so long, because I can now take a riff that normally any given band might repeat four times, and then move to the next thing … Bach never did anything more than three times, so there’s a whole plethora of s? that I do on both levels. One feeds the other.”

"Today, GuitarWorld.com presents the exclusive premiere of "Tin Soldier," the new music video by Winger.

The song is from the band's new album (and first in five years), Better Days Comin’, which will be released April 22 via Frontiers Records.

"Tin Soldier" showcases Winger building on their previous album's tendency toward prog-rock, delivering an intricate landscape that basks in harmonic, melodic components that weave through three different time signatures.

Winger doing prog rock? It's not a total shocker.

Frontman, composer and producer Kip Winger acknowledges Rush's Geddy Lee as a major influence. Winger (the man) has fronted the Alan Parsons Project on tour and collaborated with Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess on several projects, along with Winger drummer Rod Morgenstein.

“I remember when I saw the first Winger video many years ago," Rudess said. "I was struck by the high level of musicality within the band and the charisma of Kip Winger. I can still feel the magic and the power of this group.

"I've had the amazing fortune to work with Rod Morgenstein, one of the greatest drummers on the planet. He can play anything from solid rock to the craziest prog I can think of. I've also worked with Kip. His voice and musicianship shine through anything he touches, whether it's singing Rudess, Gentle Giant or ELP songs on my albums, creating original orchestral music in his own compositions or leading Winger.”

Deep Purple guitarist Steve Morse, who's also in Dixie Dregs with Morgenstein, added:

"When I saw these guys live, I couldn't believe how good they sounded. I prefer bands that have many different influences; you know, the further you look, the more varied experiences and styles you'll find. That's what makes the music interesting on top of the great writing and performances. I witnessed them all bend over backwards to help keep a young musician's musical dream alive. After that, I describe them as my heroes.”

Winger guitarist Reb Beach added:

"[The album] is kind of a cross between our last two albums, IV and Karma. It has elements of both. There's a very progressive song on there called 'Tin Soldier' [Hear it below], and then there are rock songs like 'Rat Race' and 'Midnight Driver of a Love Machine' a la Karma." For the rest of this interview, Read here.

Winger also features John Roth on guitar.

Better Days Comin’ is available for pre-order in standard and deluxe configurations. The deluxe edition includes the track “Another Beautiful Day” and a DVD with a making-of documentary and videos for “Rat Race” and the title track.

Here's a cool tapping run that starts on the high E string and moves across the neck to the A string.
It’s based around the A minor pentatonic box at the fifth fret and includes a couple of color tones added on the D and A strings, namely B and F#.

I tap with my middle finger and begin this lick by lightly flicking the string with the finger to get the sound going, basically doing a "phantom" pull-off to the A note at the fifth fret.

I then play a sequence that goes "hammer, tap, pull" and repeats as I move across the strings, initiating the first note on each lower string with a "hammer-on from nowhere" with my fret-hand ring finger. I do this a lot in my tapping forays.

You’ll notice I backtrack at a couple of points in bars 1 and 2 and move back to the previous string, which I do to extend the run. When doing this, I’ll tap the first note on the higher string.

I finish the lick by pulling off to the open A string, which I then lightly touch directly over the fifth fret to produce a high A natural harmonic, two octaves above the fundamental. I then decorate this final note with a whammy bar dip, shake and dive.

From WINGER facebook, @ monsters of the rock cruise

Got a question for your favorite guitarist? Let us be your go-between. The concept is easy ? you submit your queries and we pass them on to some of the world's greatest guitarists. Only the sharpest and funniest questions will be used.

This month, we're giving you the chance to ask Eighties rocker Reb Beach anything you want! From his time as Winger's shredding lead guitarist to his spots in Dokken, Whitesnake and Alice Cooper...nothing's off limits!

Just email your questions to dearguitarhero@guitarworld.com and put "Reb Beach" in the subject line. Remember to include your name in the email body, so you can get credited in the magazine, and impress and annoy your jealous friends!"


ギター・ワールド誌で”ギターヒーローへの質問”でレブへの質問を受付け中！

Jun 15: Download Festival UK
Jun 17: Glasgow O2 Academy UK
Jun 18: Newcastle O2 Academy UK
Jun 20: Bristol O2 Academy UK
Jun 21: London O2 Academy Islington UK

To commemorate Winger's 25th Anniversary, artist Dan Hubp has created this limited edition first album Commemorative Prints. Dan is the man responsible for creating Winger's s/t album artwork. Only 100 prints will be made and each will be personally hand signed by the original Winger line up, Kip Winger, Reb Beach, Rod Morgenstein & Paul Taylor.

Stryper frontman Michael Sweet and Winger are currently battling it out for your votes.

When we asked our readers which artist has the Most Anticipated Album of 2014, it was a close battle between the new solo album from Michael Sweet of Stryper and Winger‘s forthcoming sixth studio effort. Ultimately, Winger’s ‘Better Days Comin” came out on top over Michael Sweet’s ‘I’m Not Your Suicide,’ as well as the upcoming albums from Ace Frehley, Judas Priest and Van Halen, to name a few.

Within the past week, both artists have released the lead single off of their anticipated albums. Winger took command with “Rat Race,” a song which captured the rock group falling into a familiar groove similar to that showcased on the band’s highly underrated album ‘Pull.’ Michael Sweet similarly stood out with an inspirational music video for “I’m Not Your Suicide,” which showed the renowned vocalist taking a stand against childhood abuse.

A tough decision between two glam metal favorites, however we’re confident that you will make the best decision. You can watch the official music videos for both songs below, as well as cast your vote for the winner. Voting is open until March 22nd, 2014, at 23:59 EST. You can vote once per hour.

Winger have announced the album artwork and track listing for their upcoming studio album, ‘Better Days Comin’.’

Winger‘s sixth studio album ‘Better Days Comin” is scheduled for release next month, and the anticipation for the new effort is noteworthy. The forthcoming album was named by our readers as the Most Anticipated Album of 2014, beating out such names as Judas Priest and Michael Sweet for the title. The band is now stepping into full gear to keep up with this high demand, having recently revealed the album artwork and track listing for the new release.

‘Better Days Comin” will be comprised of eleven new recordings, which bear such attention capturing titles as “Midnight Driver of a Love Machine” and “Be Who You Are, Now.” Winger frontman Kip Winger originally premiered the titles of “Queen Babylon” and “Tin Solider” to us in our exclusive interview this past January.

“To me, it’s a drag to buy an album that has two or three good songs on it and then the rest of them suck,” explained Kip. “Reb [Beach] and I, we start out with as many ideas as we can and then we sift through them, kind of like panning for gold, you know, throw out all the crappy ones.

“Honestly there’s not a song on here that I don’t really like, because all the songs I don’t like didn’t make it to the record! (laughs) You’ll just have to listen to it and see which ones resonate with you, I think its a wide variety of stuff. ‘Better Days Comin’’ is kind of a 70s, funky… I don’t really know how to describe it. It’s very soulful and 70s, like there’s a song on here called “Queen Babylon” that’s super heavy, in the “Hungry” vibe. I’m very happy with the record, it plays from beginning to end real well. I don’t feel there’s one in the bunch where I’m like “Well, I wish we had done a better song.” I’m real happy with it.”

The lead single for ‘Better Days Comin” has been announced as “Rat Race,” and is described as an “adrenaline-fueled rocker that showcases some of the best work in their 25-year career.”

Winger ‘Better Days Comin” Track Listing:

01. Midnight Driver Of A Love Machine
02. Queen Babylon
03. Rat Race
04. Better Days Comin’
05. Tin Soldier
06. Ever Wonder
07. So Long China
08. Storm In Me
09. Be Who You Are, Now
10. Another Beautiful Day (deluxe edition bonus)
11. Out Of This World

長谷部宏、83歳。1998年に休刊となった音楽雑誌「ミュージック・ライフ」の専属カメラマンとして数多くのミュージシャンを撮影し、ロックンロールが日本に浸透する時代を撮り続けてきた。“日本最初のロック・フォトグラファー”長谷部の代表的なカットとともに、そのカメラマン魂に迫っていく。
「ミュージック・ライフ」誌の専属カメラマンとして、来日前のビートルズなど数々のミュージシャンの撮影を行なった長谷部宏。彼が活躍した1960〜80年代は、洋楽に関する情報が今よりもずっと限られていた。全国のロックファンにとっては、長谷部の写真がアーティストのイメージを代表するものになることも多かったという。そういった時代背景もあり、長谷部は“日本最初のロック・フォトグラファー”と呼ばれている。
現在、彼の写真はいまだに世界中からオファーが届く。そのためデジタル化が始まったという。日本に洋楽が充実した時代を撮り続けた長谷部が、ビートルズ、ポール・マッカートニー、クイーン、ボン・ジョヴィなどを撮影したカットとともに、エピソードを明かす。世界で最も撮影したというクイーンなど、対象との距離が密接だった長谷部は、彼らとどう接し限られた条件の中で名カットを残したのか？根幹にあったカメラマン魂に迫る。