Marty Friedman "Introduction"

Martin Adam "Marty" Friedman (born December 8, 1962) is an American guitarist, known for his tenure as the lead guitarist for heavy metal band Megadeth which spanned nearly the full decade of the 1990s. He is also known for playing alongside Jason Becker in Cacophony until 1989, as well as his 13 solo albums and tours. Friedman has resided in Tokyo, Japan since 2003, where he has appeared on over 700 Japanese television programs such as Rock Fujiyama, Hebimeta-san, Kouhaku uta gassen and Jukebox English. He has released albums with several record labels, including Avex Trax, Universal, EMI, Prosthetic, and Shrapnel Records.

Introduction is the third studio album by guitarist Marty Friedman, released on November 8, 1994 through Shrapnel Records (United States) and Roadrunner Records (Europe), one week after his band Megadeth released Youthanasia. It is also the second album to feature Megadeth bandmate Nick Menza on drums. It was also a family affair, with Nick's father Don Menza playing shakuhachi.

Robert Taylor at AllMusic gave Introduction 4.5 stars out of 5, calling it "An unexpected masterpiece in a genre that could use more releases such as this." The album was described as having built on the formula set out in Friedman's previous album, Scenes (1992), but "with more maturity and musical diversity. Themes are not just introduced and abandoned in favor of gratuitous technical noodling, rather the compositions are thoughtfully explored and brought to a natural conclusion."

Track listing

All tracks are written by Marty Friedman.

1. "Arrival" 4:52
2. "Bittersweet" 5:27
3. "Be" 4:51
4. "Escapism" 9:14
5. "Luna" 5:17
6. "Mama" 3:55
7. "Loneliness" 4:08
8. "Siberia" 4:20

Total length: 42:04

Recording information:

Recorded at Total Access Recording Studios, Redondo Beach, California, November / December 1993

Additional tracking at Alex Wilkinson's Studio, Shadow Hills, California

Mastering at Rocket Lab, San Francisco, California