Don't Wig Out: M. A. Batio Is Kinda Amazing (Nitro? Not So Much)
Today's post is from our friend HIM.
When your band is treated like the less enjoyable version of the Vinnie Vincent Invasion, you know something is amiss. When you are compared to Malmsteen, and then try to prove you are better than Yngwie, it is an odd world you inhabit. When your singer is a roided-up fluff-screamer who ends up being the sane part of a marriage, you are definitely not living a normal life.
Alas, this is the tale of Michael Angelo Batio. Why do I, and why should you, care? Well, partially because his frizz-glam question mark of a band Nitro is reuniting with the skin-smithing of no less than Chris Adler (Lamb of God, Megadeth) behind the wig-glue sprayed kit. Because the poodle of a singer, Gillette, was once married to Lita Ford. That dog is now a dawg, covered in tats and MMA drool . . . and with full custody of two kids who think “Kiss Me Deadly” was written about them. Batio? He belongs to the same club as Blackmore and J. L. Turner. All are clients. One of them because of a medical condition. The other two because of vanity and a fecal-ton of talent.
I really don’t care about Nitro. They are an odd detour in the history of metal. And what was once an Aqua Net nightmare of bad hair and questionable jeans looks, reunited, like some MMA video game promo:
I don’t really want to compare Batio to Malmsteen either. That is like comparing meth-induced classical music to a roadside hotel’s shower walls: both have too many scales. And I can’t spank the guitarist for wearing his hair (or his system) how he wants to do so. Like Blackmore, the guy has a right to feel fully hirsute even if genetics (and countless YouTube videos) scream back at him: “WHY?!!!?”
Much has been made about his (and Gillette’s) instructional videos. Similar snarks have been offered regarding the fact that Batio can play a one, two, four, six and ten neck guitar backwards and forwards, all while balancing his checkbook. Like Malmsteen, is that all skill and no soul? Is it technique without passion? Where do they buy their doughnuts? I digress.
My simple point (I made it complicated in honor of him) is this: he is a damn good guitar player. I won’t go to old tape of him shredding a jazz ditty. But I will go to fairly recent events where he paid tribute to another oddball guitarist:
That is some damn fine playing. And I think all twenty people at each event had a great time. I kid. Batio is a badass. But he is a victim of his talent. What makes Blackmore more relevant, if no less eccentric? Simply this: timing, choices, and happenstance. What makes Batio better? He enjoys his slim moments in the sun, and treats his fans with—imagine that?—respect.