After a 15-year break, guitarist Mike Shouse has officially re-entered the chat — and he didn’t come alone. His brand-new 9-track album, Jaded, is the kind of comeback that guitar nerds, metalheads, and lovers of pure shred have been waiting for. And honestly? It was worth every second of the wait.
Shouse — born Michael Stephen Shouse in Jackson, Kentucky and a proud graduate of the Guitar Institute of Technology — has spent decades sharpening his craft, contributing lessons to chopsfromhell.com and guitar9.com, and landing coverage in Progression, Fireworks, and The Sound. His earlier projects, from Enter the Soul to 2010’s Alone on the Sun, earned worldwide praise and even found their way onto compilation albums and guitar-centric TV shows.
The album feels like a rebirth — Shouse says that himself — and he backs up the claim by bringing some absolute titans along for the ride. We’re talking Michael Angelo Batio, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, and Tony MacAlpine dropping in with guest solos that feel like fireworks. On drums, he taps the unstoppable Charlie Zeleny, and holding down the low end is Metal Hall of Famer James Amelio Pulli. Add mixing and mastering from Nashville heavyweight Billy Decker, and you’ve basically assembled the Avengers of instrumental rock.
Across all nine tracks, Shouse blends technical brilliance and raw emotion into something that hits both the heart and the adrenaline gland.
‘Jaded’ is a fiery, full-throttle return for Mike Shouse
