Paul Gilbert working on new Dio Tribute album????

[merlo_zeppelin]

I've never heard he was hard to work with. Might be true, but it comes as a shock given who nice of a guy he seems to be.
While there's moments of Paul's solo carrer I really like,  I think the role of the hotshot guitar hero in a kick ass band is the one that suits him best, and he really found that in Mr Big. That band is a true supergroup and a complete package of songs, vocals, chops and showmanship .

[eduardoritos]

The problem with Paul is that left to his own devices Paul is essentially a great cover band guitarist.

 

He was in some GREAT cover bands with Portnoy. 

Never thought of his solo albums that way, but I get your point, and there are examples of that. A lot of artists work that way. Every time I've ever asked Amy where a song she wrote came from, she was usually thinking about some other artist as the original impetus.  But that doesn't matter much to me if the songs are good and it's not Kingdom Come levels of ripoff. 

Gilbert's earned the right to do whatever he wants. Like you say, he won't be the first or the last to disappoint some portion of his fans by choosing a less popular path. 
 

 

Yellow Matter Custards was an INCREDIBLE Beatless cover band.