Billy Talent: Real Life Guitar Heroes

07/10/09 4:43pm

by Sheena Lyonnais (CHARTattack)

Wanna play guitar with Billy Talent? This isn't a contest — the band are releasing a deluxe edition of their upcoming album Billy Talent III with the guitar tracks removed, instead.

The deluxe 'Guitar Villain' edition includes two copies of the album, one full disc and one sans guitar licks. Two posters with the guitar tabs for all 11 songs and a bonus of four early demo tracks from the album are included with the package.

"A guy at our label came up with this brilliant idea and it's never been done before. We thought it was genius, so we went ahead with it," says guitarist Ian D'Sa.

"We haven't really been on Guitar Hero, so we thought, 'Lets make our own.' It's basically for the guitarists who want to play along with Billy Talent III.

"Sometimes [the] tabs people make are a little wrong because I play in a different tuning and a different styling. The good thing about the deluxe pack is I looked over all the tabs myself and went through everything and everything is bang on with the way I play it."

Billy Talent III goes back to the band's riff-rock roots. It seeks inspiration from bands like Soundgarden and Led Zeppelin and has some of the most challenging guitar parts to date, D'Sa says.

Billy Talent fans are prone to discussing tablature on the official message boards, with some claiming to have already tabbed the entire album even though it is not out until Tuesday. Guitarists are even picking up on tuning changes in certain songs.

"There were two songs in drop C sharp which is the same as drop D — just one down — and that was actually a suggestion from Brendan [O'Brien, producer]. Ben's [Kowalewicz] vocals which are so high in those songs, would just sound better and be a little closer to Ben's range," D'Sa says.

"It's amazing how sharp they are. They're right on top of it. It's really cool," bassist Jon Gallant says.

"Ian's a very unique guitar player and as a guitar player — I play guitar casually, I'm a bass player always first — nobody plays like him. He comes up with original stuff and I think when a guitar player hears that, they're interested in figuring it out."

The deluxe edition is available for pre-order on the band's website.

Billy Talent are currently on tour supporting Rise Against and Rancid. They'll play the following dates:

July 10 Chula Vista, CA @ Cricket Wireless Amphitheater w/Rise Against and Rancid
July 11 Inglewood, CA @ The Forum w/Rise Against and Rancid
July 13 Las Vegas, NV @ The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel w/Rise Against and Rancid
July 14 Mesa, AZ @ Mesa Arts Center w/Rise Against and Rancid
July 16 Dallas, TX @ Palladium Ballroom w/Rise Against and Rancid
July 17 Austin, TX @ Stubb's Waller Creek Amphitheater w/Rise Against and Rancid
July 18 Houston, TX @ Verizon Wireless Theater w/Rise Against and Rancid
July 20-21 Lake Buena Vista, FL @ House Of Blues Orlando w/Rise Against and Rancid
July 23 North Myrtle Beach, SC @ House Of Blues w/Rise Against and Rancid
July 24 Baltimore, MD @ Ram's Head Live w/Rise Against and Rancid
July 25 Philadelphia, PA @ Festival Pier at Penn's Landing w/Rise Against and Rancid
July 26 New York, NY @ Roseland Ballroom w/Rise Against and Rancid
July 28-29 Boston, MA @ House Of Blues w/Rise Against and Rancid
July 30 Hamburg, NY @ Agri Center At America's Fairgrounds w/Rise Against and Rancid
Aug 28 Reading, England @ Richfield Avenue (Reading Festival)
Aug 29 Saint-Cloud, France @ Domaine National De Saint-Cloud (Rock En Seine)
Aug 30 Leeds, England @ Bramham Park (Leeds Festival)