After a self-imposed exile from the music industry and the public eye, heralded guitarist Jake E. Lee returned with a fresh new band, Red Dragon Cartel in 2014. Now, Jake and RDC are back with their new album Patina, which is set for release on November 9th.

Jake E. Lee joins the Talk Toomey Podcast this week with host Joshua Toomey to talk about the new album. At the 51 minute mark of the interview, Jake unloads on Yngwie Malmsteen.

Says Jake: "He's a dick. That's my main... my main problem with him is he's an arrogant fucking asshole. And, and he always has been. I don't know if he is right now, to be honest, I haven't seen him in forever. But I can only assume that if when you're younger, you're that arrogant and that big of a dick that you really, you really never change. So I assume he still is.

"But no, he was just, he was a dick. I don't know. And, and he was, you know, great guitar player... But even then he was really good at one little thing that he does, you know, doing the sweeps and arpeggios and playing fast and that's all he could do. That's one of my problems with him a very narrow band of guitar playing. He just focuses on this one part. He's a shitty rhythm player, he can't write a song worth of fuck, and I'm saying this and this sounds bad, I feel a little bit bad but knowing what an asshole he is I don't feel that bad. You can't be that arrogant if you're only really good at one minute aspect of the art of playing guitar... and that's all he was... yeah fuck him."

Pre-order Red Dragon Cartel's Patina album on CD/LP/Digital here, and find a lyric video for the song "Crooked Man" below.

Jake's 2014 comeback was greeted with much enthusiasm from the fans and media alike and the virtuoso guitarist is back once again to grace the rock world with his unbridled skill. With an extremely talented band featuring Anthony Esposito on bass (ex-Lynch Mob), Phil Varone (ex-Saigon Kick, Skid Row) on drums and returning vocalist Darren Smith (Harem Scarem) backing him up, Jake has delivered the album fans have been eager to hear since Badlands dissolved years ago.

In addition to being the new bassist for Red Dragon Cartel, Anthony Esposito co-produced the album alongside Jake E. Lee.  "I think we had a great production partnership. He never discouraged me from trying things that were a bit outside the box, in fact he encouraged it. His attention to detail in the recording of everything was exceptional. Much more than I alone would have toiled over. He has an incredible work ethic that kept me from lapsing into complacency. If we disagreed on how something should be, we'd find a perfect marriage of the two sides, or completely reimagine it. We didn't settle on anything unless we both agreed it was perfect. If I do another album, I'd love it to be with him again," says Lee.

Another new member to Red Dragon Cartel is drummer Phil Varone, whose style Lee really appreciated. "Phil is a very solid and groove oriented player, who is not afraid to turn things upside down to give the song a more unique flavor," explains Lee.

Patina marks a change of style from the debut Red Dragon Cartel album, going more bluesy hard rock as opposed to the debuts heavier leanings. Remarks Lee, "The first album was more of a piecemeal production with some of the song ideas being 10 years old, and never having more than one player in the room at any time. I wanted to do this one from scratch with all the songs originating and worked on with everyone in the room, on their instruments. It felt much more organic, like the way I used to do it for the first 20 years of my career, more honest to my roots."

When asked about his musical inspirations for the record, Jake muses, "My inspirations for Patina are from the artists I loved during my youth. Robin Trower, Santana, Black Sabbath, Captain Beyond, Thin Lizzy, Grand Funk Railroad, David Bowie .. I could go on and on, but let me also say that there are also hints of Sly & the Family Stone, Dick Dale, psychedelia and even some George Benson. Don't let any of that scare you, it all makes sense!"

Patina is a definitive statement of Jake's unbelievable skills with a monster production from Esposito and a perfect mix, courtesy of Max Norman, whose relationship with Jake dates back to his days with Ozzy Osbourne.

Tracklisting:

"Speedbag"
"Havana"
"Crooked Man"
"The Luxury Of Breathing"
"Bitter"
"Chasing Ghosts"
"A Painted Heart"
"Punchclown" (Bonus Track)
"My Beautiful Mess"
"Ink & Water"

"Crooked Man" lyric video:

"Havana" video: