From bubblegrunge to Steve Vai's hollowbody dalliance: here are this week's essential guitar tracks

Tim Ohrstrom performs with Avatar at USF Verftet in Bergen, Norway on March 7, 2019
(Image credit: Gonzales Photo/Jarle H. Moe/PYMCA/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)

Though team GW took a break from this column last week – attending as we were to all things Black Friday and Cyber Monday guitar deals –  we had our ears to the ground all the while.

Now, we return with not one, but two, weeks worth of delectable guitar goodness to share with you, including a riff-heavy return to form from Bloc Party, Steve Vai’s dalliance with hollowbodies, a typically theatrical crusher from Avatar, a moody rocker from Failure, and much more. 

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Matt Owen
Senior Staff Writer, GuitarWorld.com

Matt is a Senior Staff Writer, writing for Guitar World, Guitarist and Total Guitar. He has a Masters in the guitar, a degree in history, and has spent the last 16 years playing everything from blues and jazz to indie and pop. When he’s not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt records for a number of UK-based bands and songwriters as a session musician.