Al Di Meola - Land of the Midnight Sun (1976)

We were all blown away when were first heard this. Nobody we'd listened to before played the guitar this fast. And the fact that the Return To Forever guitarist was only 22 when he recorded this debut solo album impressed us even more.

Of course, these days there're thousands of kids barely into their teens who can play as fast or faster. But guitar-playing skills are useless if you can't come up with good tunes — and many can't. The compositions here are quite involved — by fusion standards, that is — and Di Meola gets solid support from RTF mates Stanley Clarke and Chick Corea as well as pals like Jaco Pastorius, Anthony Jackson and Steve Gadd.