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'{{short description|American guitarist}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2015}} {{Infobox musical artist | image = Savatage - Wacken Open Air 2015-0982.jpg | name = Al Pitrelli | image_size = | caption = Pitrelli performing in 2015 | birth_name = | alias = | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = | instrument = Guitar | genre = [[Hard rock]], [[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]], [[thrash metal]], [[progressive rock]], [[symphonic metal]] | occupation = Musician, songwriter | years_active = 1982–present | label = | associated_acts = [[Danger Danger]], Hotshot, [[Alice Cooper]], [[Asia (band)|Asia]], [[Joe Lynn Turner]], Place Called Rage, [[Savatage]], [[Trans-Siberian Orchestra]], [[Megadeth]], O'2L, Widowmaker (U.S.), [[Sebastian Bach]], [[Michael Bolton]], T.M. Stevens, [[Vertex (band)|Vertex]], [[Blue Öyster Cult]], [[Expose (band)|Expose]] | website = }} '''Al Pitrelli''' is an American guitarist, best known for his work with the [[Trans-Siberian Orchestra]], [[Megadeth]], [[Alice Cooper]], [[Joe Lynn Turner]], [[Asia (band)|Asia]] and [[Savatage]]. ==Early career (1982–1995)== Pitrelli attended the [[Berklee College of Music]] in [[Boston]] in the early 1980s (where keyboardist [[Derek Sherinian]] was his dorm roommate; they would later work together in the [[Alice Cooper]] band). While at Berklee, Pitrelli formed an original 1980s metal band with classmates that included [[Venom (band)|Venom]] guitarist Mike Hickey. After dropping out of Berklee, Pitrelli worked as a session musician and taught guitar lessons in [[Manhattan]] and in Bellmore, Long Island. His first major label gig was performing with [[Michael Bolton]], helping him support his single "[[Michael Bolton (album)|Fool's Game]]". Pitrelli said of the single, "This was when Michael Bolton was still trying to be [[Sammy Hagar]] and not [[Engelbert Humperdinck (singer)|Engelbert Humperdinck]]."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pitrelli.shender4.com/history.htm |title=Archived copy |access-date=2007-01-16 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070118133309/http://pitrelli.shender4.com/history.htm |archivedate=January 18, 2007 |df=mdy-all }} Al Pitrelli career history & bio.</ref> In 1989, Pitrelli featured as second guitar on the song "Uptown" on bassist <ref>Randy Coven</ref>'s first album "Funk Me Tender". He then joined forces with Coven and drummer John O'Reilly as a formal member of the Randy Coven Band to release "Sammy Says Ouch!".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.musicandartinterviews.com/2019/04/john-oreilly.html|title=A Conversation with John O.Reilly|date=April 28, 2019|access-date=April 28, 2019}}</ref> This lineup would also release an album under a different band name of Coven, Pitrelli, and Reilly (CPR). The album was simply titled "CPR" after the band. Pitrelli was [[Alice Cooper]]'s guitarist and musical director from 1989 until 1991 on the ''[[Trashes The World]]'' tour. He then joined [[Dee Snider]]'s band Widowmaker for two albums in the early/mid–1990s, and also briefly played with [[Stephen Pearcy]] (from the band [[Ratt]]) in a band called [[Vertex (band)|Vertex]]. Pitrelli also joined [[Asia (band)|Asia]], appearing on their albums ''[[Aqua (Asia album)|Aqua]]'' (1992) and ''[[Aria (Asia album)|Aria]]'' (1994). He would go on to be featured on many New York sessions, including for [[Kathy Troccoli]], [[Taylor Dayne]], Randy Coven and [[Exposé (group)|Exposé]]. His songs have been covered by [[Y&T]], [[Lita Ford]] and Derek Sherinian. For a month he substituted in [[Blue Öyster Cult]]. Widowmaker (w/ Dee Snider) albums "Blood & Bullets" (1994) & "Standby For Pain" (1995) ==Savatage (1995–2000)== Al joined [[Savatage]] in 1995, joining at the same time as [[Chris Caffery]] returned to the band; Caffery had previously been part of the band around the release of ''[[Gutter Ballet]]'' in 1989. Pitrelli played guitar on the albums ''[[Dead Winter Dead]]'' (1995) and ''[[The Wake of Magellan]]'' (1997), and performed some lead guitar work on ''[[Poets and Madmen]]'' (2001), despite being a member of Megadeth at the time. On that album, Pitrelli was responsible for the outro of "Stay with Me a While", the main solos of "Morphine Child" and "The Rumor", the first part of the main solo in "Commissar" and its outro.<ref>[http://www.savatage.com/bandinfo/faq3.html]) Savatage Band FAQ, taken from [http://www.savatage.com www.savatage.com]</ref> During his time with Savatage, he was asked by their producer [[Paul O'Neill (rock producer)|Paul O'Neill]] if he was interested in joining his side project, the [[Trans-Siberian Orchestra]]. Pitrelli agreed and has played a role in all of their albums to date. ==Trans Siberian Orchestra (1995–present)== Pitrelli has been a core member of the group since their first album. As well as being the main lead guitarist, he is also the live musical director. TSO's 2007 tour program credits his "edgy playing and vast musical lexicon" with making him a perfect fit for the band's constant boundary-pushing [[progressive rock]] stylings. Pitrelli's leads are notable on "Tracers" and the instrumental "Toccata – Carpimus Noctem",<ref>Sea of Tranquility, October 27, 2009</ref> the latter being a piece he co-wrote. Both songs form part of the group's fifth rock opera, on their 2009 album ''[[Night Castle]]''.<ref>''Night Castle'' album credits.</ref> ==Megadeth (2000–02)== Pitrelli was a member of [[Megadeth]] from 2000 to 2002, replacing [[Marty Friedman (guitarist)|Marty Friedman]]. Megadeth bandleader [[Dave Mustaine]] asked him to join after hearing good reviews from their then-current drummer [[Jimmy DeGrasso]], with whom Pitrelli played during his days with Alice Cooper in the early 1990s. Pitrelli joined the band after an impromptu "audition" in front of a live crowd in Vancouver on January 16, 2000. Two nights after Friedman played his last show with Megadeth, Pitrelli was asked to play fifteen minutes before the show and was shocked by the prospect as they never rehearsed. He was present during the recording of ''[[Rude Awakening (Megadeth album)|Rude Awakening]]'', a live CD/DVD that was released in 2002. Pitrelli performed on their 2001 album ''[[The World Needs a Hero]]'', which has the song "Promises" which was co-written by Pitrelli and he played most of the guitar solos. When Megadeth entered hiatus after Mustaine injured his arm, Pitrelli rejoined Savatage on April 9, 2002, but did not tour with the band. He also continued his work with TSO, which he's still a member of today. ==Recent work (2002–present)== In 1998, Pitrelli was featured on the video game album ''[[Sonic Adventure]] Remix'', where he played guitar on a remix of the game's theme song "[[Open Your Heart (Sonic Adventure)|Open Your Heart]]". ==Personal life== Al Pitrelli is currently married to Nicole Pitrelli, with whom he has two children: Olivia and Layla. Al also has three sons Jesse, Jamie and Zak. Jesse is a Chief Petty Officer with the United States Coast Guard. Jamie is a Brooklyn-based bass player and Zak is a sailor in the United States Navy stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. ==Discography== {{expand list|date=January 2013}} ===Danger Danger=== * ''[[Rare Cuts (album)|Rare Cuts]]'' (2003) ===Hotshot=== * ''The Bomb'' (2005) ===Alice Cooper=== * ''[[Trashes the World|Alice Cooper Trashes The World]]'' (DVD, 1990) * ''[[Classicks]]'' (1995) ===Asia=== * ''[[Aqua (Asia album)|Aqua]]'' (1992) * ''[[Aria (Asia album)|Aria]]'' (1994) ===Place Called Rage=== * ''Place Called Rage''<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.tommyfarese.com/Tommy%20Farese%20-%20Place%20Called%20Rage.htm |title=Archived copy |access-date=January 29, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091011075656/http://www.tommyfarese.com/Tommy%20Farese%20-%20Place%20Called%20Rage.htm |archive-date=October 11, 2009 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> (1995) ===Randy Coven=== * ''Funk Me Tender'' (1989) * ''Sammy Says Ouch!'' (1990) ===Coven, Pitrelli, O'Reilly (CPR)=== * ''CPR'' (1992) ===Megadeth=== * ''[[Capitol Punishment: The Megadeth Years]]'' (2000) * ''[[The World Needs a Hero]]'' (2001) * ''[[Behind the Music]]'' (DVD, 2001) * ''[[Rude Awakening (Megadeth album)|Rude Awakening]]'' (2002) * ''[[Still Alive... and Well?]]'' (2002) * ''[[Greatest Hits: Back to the Start]]'' (2005) * ''[[Anthology: Set the World Afire]]'' (2008) ===Morning Wood=== * ''[[Tony Harnell#Morning Wood|Morning Wood]]'' (1994) ===O'2L=== * ''O'2L'' * ''Doyle's Brunch'' * ''Eat a Pickle'' ===Savatage=== * ''[[Dead Winter Dead]]'' (1995) * ''[[The Wake of Magellan]]'' (1998) * ''[[Poets and Madmen]]'' (2001) ===Trans-Siberian Orchestra=== * ''[[Christmas Eve and Other Stories]]'' (1996) * ''[[The Christmas Attic]]'' (1998) * ''[[The Ghosts of Christmas Eve]]'' (DVD, 2000) * ''[[Beethoven's Last Night]]'' (2000) * ''[[The Lost Christmas Eve]]'' (2004) * Different Wings (2004)<ref>Released by RHINO Records, Warner Music Group</ref> * ''[[Night Castle]]'' (2009) * Letters From The Labyrinth (2015) ===Widowmaker=== * ''[[Blood and Bullets (album)|Blood and Bullets]]'' (1992) * ''Stand by for Pain'' (1994) ===Vertex=== * ''Vertex'' (1996) ===Guitar Battle=== * ''[[Guitar Battle]]'' (1998) ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== {{commons category|Al Pitrelli}} * [http://www.metal4bremen.de/interviews/al-pitrelli-trans-siberian-orchestra/ Interview with Al Pitrelli on metal4bremen.de] (German / English) * [http://www.melodic.net/#!/interview/514 Interview with TSO's Music Director Al Pitrelli on melodic.net November 2020] (English) {{s-start}} {{succession box | before=* | title=[[Danger Danger]] guitarist | years= 1987–1988 | after= [[Tony "Bruno" Rey]] }} {{succession box | before=[[Marty Friedman (guitarist)|Marty Friedman]] | title=[[Megadeth]] lead guitarist | years=[[Megadeth#Risk (1999–2000)|2000]]–[[Megadeth#Breakup (2002–2004)|2002]] | after= [[Chris Poland]] }} {{s-end}} {{Trans-Siberian Orchestra}} {{Savatage}} {{Danger Danger}} {{Asiaband}} {{Megadeth}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Pitrelli, Al}} [[Category:Berklee College of Music alumni]] [[Category:Danger Danger members]] [[Category:American heavy metal guitarists]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Savatage members]] [[Category:Megadeth members]] [[Category:American people of Italian descent]] [[Category:Trans-Siberian Orchestra members]] [[Category:Alice Cooper (band) members]] [[Category:Asia (band) members]] [[Category:American male guitarists]] [[Category:Place of birth missing (living people)]] [[Category:20th-century American guitarists]] [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]'