2025-Apr-26 - Adrenaline Rush
This week is the 44th and final song spotlight, featuring Adrenaline Rush, track #8 from disc #3 of my triple CD album It Was All Just a Dream.
Adrenaline Rush first appeared on my 2019 album Electric Sky. The final version on It Was All Just a Dream features a punchier bass guitar and drum mix plus better dialed-in guitars.
The Story and Theory Behind The Song
Adrenaline Rush was inspired by one thing: shred guitar! While the majority of my songs are inspired by stories or daydreams, this song from the very beginning was just an unapologetic platform to let loose a furious flurry of notes. And I invited my friends Doug de Jong and Chris Sommers to join in the mayhem!
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Theory-wise, the main intro and verse riff of the song come from a fusion of A pentatonic minor with some chromatic metal-sounding notes added in for good measure (b2 and b5). The chorus starts on Dm (the IV chord in A minor), but it stays in the key of A minor, ending on the classic E7 dominant, which serves to bring the main riff back in.
The bridge section starts out on a riff rooted in A minor pentatonic, but features the b2 and some spicy diminished intervals. The bridge riff then leads into the guitar solo section. For the solos, the backing is just a one-chard vamp. I take the first solo starting at [1:44] with a vamp on G. Next comes Doug de Jong at [1:57] over an A vamp with an absolutely incendiary shred assault -- and if you've seen Doug play, his solos are just as physically acrobatic as they are musically. Next comes Chris Sommers at [2:10] over a B vamp. Where Doug and I had kept our solos rooted in pretty standard pentatonic rock flavor, Chris changes gears using a B Phrygian dominant approach, giving his solo a cool exotic flair. Finally at [2:23] Doug returns over a D vamp, burning up the fretboard and leading the song into its final verse and chorus.
Guitars and Amps
I used four guitars on Adrenaline Rush. For the heavy rhythm guitar parts, I played my Gibson Les Paul Standard and my wife's Ibanez RG421 (not pictured) through my Mesa Boogie Mark V:25 IIC+ voice. I played all of the melody guitar parts on my Ibanez JS1CR30 "Chrome Boy" and my guitar solo on my Ibanez RG5120M, both using my Mark V:25 IIC+ voice.
 2014 Gibson Les Paul Standard |
 2018 Ibanez JS1CR30 “Chome Boy” |
 2019 Ibanez RG5120M |
If you love what you hear and want to support the music I make, please consider purchasing It Was All Just a Dream on CD or digital download. I will gladly personalize and autograph your copy.
https://chrisstark.com/it-was-all-just-a-dream
And that is officially a wrap on my Saturday song spotlight series! I sincerely hope you've enjoyed the background, behind-the-scenes info on each of the 44 songs from It Was All Just a Dream. As always, thank you sincerely for all of your support!
Love, Aloha, and Rock!
❤️😎🎸