Part_7

As heavy metal began diversifying itself continuously, certain musicians would decide to relieve its characteristic vocals to a second plane, or to completely eliminate them. Among these were guitar virtuosos Joe Satriani, his student Steve Vai, and Yngwie Malmsteen. The first, often called "the guitarist's guitarist," created masterworks like Surfing With the Alien and The Extremist; the second has an illustrious career, having played with the likes of Frank Zappa and Whitesnake, and later working on his solo projects; and Malmsteen is recognized for his heavy and constant classical music influence and swift dexterity, while criticized because of his ego and extroverted persona. Meanwhile, others like bassist Stu Hamm, Scorpions drummer Herman Rarebell, and guitarists Steve Morse, Richie Kotzen, and the sadly ALS-afflicted genius Jason Becker have slowly created a name for themselves by the release of solo albums and working with other bands and musicians, either temporary or permanently. The prominence of instrumental variations of metal has gradually grown through the years; however, only few of its exponents have achieved wide commercial and media exposure.
Also during the heyday of thrash and pop metal, and while the genre's instrumental branch was bringing technique to the foreground, two bands became responsible for holding progressive metal's ground: Queensr and Fates Warning.
With Rush approaching a softer sound during most of the Eighties, and progressive rock having lost much of its popularity during the late Seventies, progressive metal had lost most of its appeal. Queensryche failed to obtain commercial success with prodigious releases like The Warning and Rage for Order, but the single "Eyes Of a Stranger" propelled Operation: Mindcrime into gold status quickly and cemented the group's reputation. Empire would later obtain platinum (1,000,000 albums sold) sales through the heavy rotation of "Silent Lucidity," while Fates Warning maintained a low but strong profile on albums like Awaken the Guardian and Perfect Symmetry. Other bands, such as Crimson Glory with its melodic progressive metal and King's X with its combinations of vocal harmonies with heavy riffs (later made heavier by the Galactic Cowboys) would also tread the path of musical complexity, therefore contributing to an important resurrection of progressive metal which culminated in the 1993 release of Rush's Counterparts, featuring the band's return to a heavier direction.