by Steve Patrick
Staff Writer —
Guitarist/producer Paul Crook has a pretty impressive resume thus far. He toured and recorded with the mighty Anthrax on Stomp 442 and Volume 8: The Threat Is Real, the latter of which he also co-produced. Ex-Skid Row vocalist Sebastian Bach then enlisted Crook to play in his touring band and Crook played guitar for Bach until 2004. After numerous other projects, another major break came in 2003 when Crook was asked to handle lead guitar duties in Meat Loaf’s Neverland Express, a position he still holds to this day. If all of that wasn’t enough, Crook also landed the coveted lead guitar position in the Las Vegas cast of the We Will Rock You Queen musical. As part of getting that gig, Crook received personal guitar training from Brian May to gain the highest level of authenticity.
Crook’s most recent endeavor was handling the role of producer and lead guitarist on Meat Loaf’s most recent album Hell in a Handbasket. In addition to that, Crook has also just wrapped up mixing the sound for an as-yet-untitled live Meat Loaf DVD. Crook was kind enough to take some time out of the recording process of Meat Loaf’s upcoming Christmas album to speak with Hardrock Haven about the making of Hell in a Handbasket, his thoughts on his time with Anthrax, his one-on-one lessons with Brian May, and whatever else came to mind.
Hell in a Handbasket is available wherever records are sold. For more information, please visit www.meatloaf.net and www.paul-crook.com
