King Diamond - Andy LaRocque

Kapo_Polenton

Kapo_Polenton

Well-known member
Ok, let's do this again.. I know JerEvil is huge on the King and I have brought up a few KD threads in the past but this past week I have been revisiting the old albums and some of the latest live stuff and I am starting to think, could Andy be the most UNDERRATED guitar hero out there? The dude rips on even the shittiest songs or King Diamond albums but yet has some of the most iconic riffs and lead breaks out there. Album after album Andy just oozes chops with that signature floyd flutter, siren, and crazy descending diminished lick with wide ass vibrato and harmonics. I just can't get enough of this guy. Rocking Conspiracy this morning and the riffs just have this groove or excitement to them that a lot of down tuned metal just doesn't have. King is unique in that the guitars can get very busy around his voice rather than drudge on in a palm mute.

I also love these scandinavian guys and their stage names :D . Andy " La Rock " essentially with french looking spelling. Or Pete " Blakk". Mickey " Dee" lol.

Also, let's take a time out to appreciate King for running two bands and constantly finding the best musicians for support role or that other guitar in the band. The drummers i mean come on.. Mickey Dee, Snowy Shaw etc.. take your pick any era of KD. He never puts a shit lineup on stage or in the studio.
 
He’s probably #1 on my list of underrated guys.

I had an awareness of KD before this, but barely any, so when my bass player brought me to a show about 20 years ago my jaw was on the floor all night watching Andy. I figured he was some hired gun or something because it was inconceivable to me that a guy could rip that hard and I’d never heard his name, then I found out after it was Andy and he’d been with him forever, just no one gave a shit. Fuckin’ crazy.
 
That's the thing, think back to 80's and 90's.., did you see Andy on many Guitar Player magazine covers? Was he in the adds between the pages? Was he endorsing this or that gear? Not really, he was just ripping and shredding his ass off. He's so f-cking good and CONSISTENT live it's wild. Total pro. He's also such a melodic player and can solo over odd time signatures. Total package player. My buddy also met him years ago when he was producing someone's album and he said he's a great guy. Just a good dude without the ego you'd get with some of these guys (YJM as much as i love him)
 
Alright, I'm going to listen to "Conspiracy" and see what this Andy Laroque talk is all about.
 
Techdeth said:

His first solo is just magical . Most underrated song ever
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That's my point.. Graveyard is more or less a weak album. I just listened to it today actually. BUT, the leads are all killer. I think the strongest albums are Abigail, Them, Conspiracy, and the Eye. These you could consider " prime" years. But along the way there are so many gems album to album. Spider's Lullaby has some strong songs on it, Voodoo has a couple, Puppet Master too.
 
For example, Voodoo album was ok, definitely better than Graveyard BUT it has some really great aggressive playing on it and I think this might be because Andy had done that spot with DEATH. I find the tone suffered after The Eye and became more scooped but I guess that was the sign of the times.

The lead break in this one is off the charts, better sit down for it. The guitar duelling is bitching. Herb Simonsen looks like.. another stud Scandinavian lead player to play with Andy.

 
Abigail is the best one imo. Remember being in college and hearing it on ZRock when it first came out. Bought the album that weekend. All of them up thru Conspiracy are awesome though. Seen them many times, always great.
 
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