Guitar Tricks - Music is coming back

The Ace

08-15-2004, 06:08 PM

I'm not big of the growing trends of music. I don't listen to the radio except for sometimes on this station that plays jazz until midnite. I use my CD's

The main reason for this is because music that is popular usually isn't of high quality (as far as us guitarists can say... where did all the solos go??? :mad: ).

So the other day I turned on VH1 (I love Best week ever), and music videos were playing. The one that was on, was some song by Alter Bridge, so I decided since nothing else was on, I'd watch it.

Now I didn't expect the music to be good, but the guy seemed really into it from the video, but here's the crazy part: the guy played an actual technical solo. I mean this wasn't like all these numetal and punk rock bands. Sure it was nothing like Vai or Satch or Hendrix.... but it actually took skill.

And then the next song (which is what got me) was Heaven by Los Lonely boys. I had never heard their music, but I read in guitar world and guitar player that the guitarist had chops, and was filling the void of texas blues after SRV died. I thought that (when I read it) they would be another band you would never hear on the radio, but just saw the occasional article. Not so. We're talking music video on national television.

Ok so where am I going with this? I just wanna say that I think "real" music, that combines feeling with technical ability, like it was in the good old days (that I wasn't alive in) is coming back into the glow of the popular scene.

So to all of you that threw the radios out the window, and put a permanent block on channels such as Vh1, pretty soon (I'm hoping) you won't have to. Guitar solos, virtuoso influences and more than just power chord music is coming back :D ! Have we waited long enough?

TheWizard

08-15-2004, 07:04 PM

Ive heard los lonely boys a few times and that guy can really play

unfortunatly the songs on the whole are kind of weak, but yeah that guy, and the bass player has some skills

ketsueki15

08-15-2004, 07:52 PM

I actually like the Los lonely boys...lol thats about the only christian music I like..the lyrics arnt my favorite but he can play the guitar..I like his style

The Ace

08-15-2004, 08:39 PM

thats about the only christian music I like

What about Jesus Christ Superstar? It's only the greatest rock opera of all time!

(Note: there are only two rock operas, the one above, and Tommy, PLEASE tell me if you know of anymore, it's kind of an obsessive thing for me)

iiholly

08-15-2004, 08:55 PM

I was actually thinking that today. It's a conspiracy! You might have just jinxed us though. Bastard. :mad: :p

The Ace

08-15-2004, 08:58 PM

I was actually thinking that today.

What that I'm obsessed with rock operas? Man iiholly, I know you are obsessed with me, but I didn't think you are a stalker to.

:rolleyes:

DreamRyche2112

08-15-2004, 09:55 PM

I actually like the Los lonely boys...lol thats about the only christian music I like..the lyrics arnt my favorite but he can play the guitar..I like his style

Yeah I like them too, I also like shinedown and sevendust too.

PonyOne

08-16-2004, 12:15 AM

(Note: there are only two rock operas, the one above, and Tommy, PLEASE tell me if you know of anymore, it's kind of an obsessive thing for me)

Quadrophenia, also by the Who.

IMHO the music has always been there, it's just that you've had to search harder to find it as of late. that being said the only recent-recent badn i can think of that i've given the thumbs up to wholeheartedly is Interpol. Turn On The Bright Lights is a great album...

I think that as guitarists we can tend to get gummed up on songs that have amazing solos and can forget that there needs to be good music holding the solo up; it seems that we let a band be held in high regard just because the guy with the Jackson has some chops.

To me, good music is good music, no matter where the sounds come from, I just happen to play guitar (and sax) so i guess it could be said i feel more "empathy" with the instrument. I try to be the best musician I can, so, while i have some songs on my itunes that have really killer solos and ok music, i try to keep more songs that are just plain awesome on there. i appreciate Vai and Satch and Petrucci and all these guitar gods with superhuman chops, but, i don't find their songs as listenable as other, less technically-advanced music.

Refused is a good example... their stuff is by no means ubertechnical, but, god damn if the guitars on The Shape Of Punk To Come don't cut through lead! Radiohead, too: no showboating, really, but the guitars are very good and their songs are awesome, they reach a depth that I hear very few people get too.

And then my latest band, The Residents. Not many guitars present in the first place, but some of the coolest, most bizzarely listenable stuff I've heard in years.

iamthe_eggman

08-16-2004, 12:29 AM

Alter Bridge is the original members of Creed plus a new singer. The guitarist has always claimed to be a Metallica fan and idolizes Hammett, but we didn't really know for sure how true that was until this new project. I don't really dig the solo (for now, that is), but at least it's something. Some nice arpeggiation and such in it.

What about Jesus Christ Superstar? It's only the greatest rock opera of all time!

(Note: there are only two rock operas, the one above, and Tommy, PLEASE tell me if you know of anymore, it's kind of an obsessive thing for me)

Hmm... did we forget "The Wall", perhaps the definitive rock opera? I don't really agree with calling Jesus Christ Superstar a rock opera, since it was an actual theatre production, whereas I believe the usual definition of rock opera is an album by a rock band that has a storyline.

Also, there's Greendale by Neil Young, which is actually a murder mystery. That's pretty darned funny, if you ask me! Apparently when he was touring with the new album (he might still be) he would play it all the way through and there would be actors onstage with the band acting out the murder mystery.

SLY

08-16-2004, 09:15 AM

Isn't it puzzling how good guitar music and solos disappeared from rock music in the 90's , even though today , we see more kids who can play everything from Hendrix and Page to Vai or Malmsteen at the age of 15 or less.

Where do these guys go , while those other ****heads become rock stars and guitarists of the year?

Is it that most decent guitarists now are just digital copiers instead of being creative ?

The Ace

08-16-2004, 09:41 AM

Quadrophenia does not classify as a rock opera to me. Rock opera (to me at least) means an "opera" (which means the whole thing is in song) made of "rock" music. Quadrophenia is more like a rock musical to me....

By that definition JSS is a rock opera.... all song, and you can tell its rock just by listening to the overture.

pstring

08-16-2004, 09:54 AM

It wouldn't surprise me if more guitar oriented bands start making a comeback, although I'm not going to hold my breath while I wait, I think there is hope , if, the songwriting is strong and the solo's, riffs, fills etc are kept short and interesting, growing up in the classic rock era that seemed to be the formula for pop radio, I think the 90's disappearence of the guitar solo may have been in part a backlash against hair bands that were big on guitar and short on songwriting kind of like the new wave/punk bands were a backlash against the 70's rockers, Maybe Los Lonely Boys are opening up the door a bit, I bought their CD and it's the first CD I've bought in over 10 years that getting any popular/rock radio airplay ..............

DreamRyche2112

08-16-2004, 12:03 PM

The music out today is bad, not because of the absence of solos or bad lyrics, although those facts do contribute, but it's that all the music sounds the same. I was at some party the other day, and they played 2 cd's and me and my drummer ( for my band) had asked the host what band it was, and she was like " Its a mix with all different Bands". I cracked up, because i was like : it all sounds the same". Thats too bad about the music today. My bro though knows ALOT of music, So luckily he tells me some good new bands that are out makin cd's.

ketsueki15

08-16-2004, 06:25 PM

I wish the thrash metal scene and the 80's metal scene would come back..my favorite thrash band was Testament and they had killer solos along with very cool rythms..Im obsessed with thers cd's and exodus and anthrax arent to bad...there are some thrash bands today that are decent but they dont compare to testament IMHO...is testament a christian band????lol

The Ace

08-16-2004, 06:49 PM

Isn't it puzzling how good guitar music and solos disappeared from rock music in the 90's , even though today , we see more kids who can play everything from Hendrix and Page to Vai or Malmsteen at the age of 15 or less.

Where do these guys go

That reminds me of Aiwass.... where did that dude go?

SLY

08-16-2004, 11:09 PM

Yeah , I remember this dude.
He goes off for long whiles ,and comeback again ... I do this oftenly too ! ;)

pikengren

08-16-2004, 11:41 PM

i think good guitar work is on it's way back. i've seen some signs, nothing i can put my finger on, call it a gut feeling.
people do get sick of hearing the same sound, and want to hear something different. and i'm hearing more and more younger people ( not just guitar players) having an appreciation for bands that i grew up listening to, which, incidentally, lol were bands from before my time as well.
and i'm hearing more guitar licks in songs that i actually like, things that sound fun to play. it is time. :)

iiholly

08-17-2004, 06:56 PM

Ace your name is tatooed on my butt, and I'm you're groupie. So if you qualify a groupie as a stalker, then yes, I am your stalker.

Jolly McJollyson

08-17-2004, 06:58 PM

That reminds me of Aiwass.... where did that dude go?

I ate him. Alive.

iiholly

08-17-2004, 08:05 PM

I ate him. Alive.

I wonder if human is Atkins approved...

The Ace

08-17-2004, 08:35 PM

I wonder if human is Atkins approved...

depends on who you eat... Aiwass? probably...

Now if you eat someone like Azrael, then your in big trouble....

(JK Az, had to pick on some1 besides the Doc and eggman)

PonyOne

08-18-2004, 03:55 AM

Sly, to respond to your question about kids learning virtuoso solos at a young age and disappearing, i have a theory...

not to open up a debate, but, it seems it sort of pertains to the age old "technique vs talent" argument.

i've met lots of kids myself (keep in mind here i'm only 20) who have been taking lessons for a year or so, and know every chord, every note, and every solo by all the "guitar gods." i meet them and then i shake my head for being such a retard :D because i can sweep, i can play complex chords, i do all the "cool stuff" but i've been playing off and on since i was 14. that's 6 years. most of my "off" periods of time were when i felt like giving up because i felt stupid; as i got older i just kind of rolled with it, and i learned a lot more than i did before.

i think a lot of these wunderkids get crammed full of booksmarts, and it becomes just like writing a paper in class, or playing basketball to pass gym: it's not out of enjoyment, it's just "something you gotta do." "My mom said that if i learned an instrument she'd help me get my first car... and guitar's a lot less dorky than oboe..." that sort of thing.

so, like pretty much any skill you learn at that age, you'll try and show it off to some degree, and you'll try out the "lifestyle" behind it: join a band, get something nicer than a squier, etc. but then they realize that though they can play a mean purple haze or they can surf with the alien, they just can't make their own stuff that doesn't sound like Vai playing a Hendrix solo. so they just kind of go "screw it" at some point and go on to college in something that has nothing to do with music. just my theory...

ace, i see what you mean now... Interpol's CD "turn on the bright lights" is about a breakup in NYC (Obstacle 1 is about the breakup itself and the reasons, New York is about walking through the city, Obstacle 2 is about the reconciliation, etc). It's not an "epic" album but it's pretty damn good, IMHO.

Lordathestrings

08-18-2004, 12:37 PM

... most of my "off" periods of time were when i felt like giving up because i felt stupid; as i got older i just kind of rolled with it, and i learned a lot more than i did before.

... but then they realize that though they can play a mean purple haze or they can surf with the alien, they just can't make their own stuff that doesn't sound like Vai playing a Hendrix solo. so they just kind of go "screw it" at some point and go on to college in something that has nothing to do with music. just my theory... YESSS!!!

Since 1968, there have been a lot of times I felt, uh, insufficient? because I couldn't casually tear off a note-perfect copy of Vai, Satriani, or even Hammet. But there have also been a lot of times when some whiz-kid has been invited to add stuff to some tracks I've laid down and they've been unable to replicate my chops. Not 'cause they're particularly intricate or technical, it's just that my style has a unique sort of twist to the timing and dynamics.

And it's original, while still paying respect to my mentors and influences. :D

iiholly

08-18-2004, 08:11 PM

Don't be too modest now Lord. :p

I agree with that theory Pony One. Not just with those kids who are gifted, but for anyone who has maybe worked for their talent. They soon stop realizing that not everyone can do what they can do. Like that one thread on here where people are upset, because audiences applaud them after playing a bad version of "Stairway to Heaven." People need to learn how to give themselves some credit. Except for LOTS, he obviously doesn't need his ego to be inflated anymore than it already is (just teasing).

Incidents Happen

08-18-2004, 11:54 PM

Yeah I like them too, I also like shinedown and sevendust too.

My friend's cousin is the drummer for Shinedown. I didn't realize they were that big until my friend said they were going to be on FUSE at 2 AM; I joked about it and said "Oh yeah, alot of people will watch that...." and he informed me that they have a record contract with I believe he said Atlantic, in which I said "Wait a minute...".

I thought there was a chance he was ****ting me until he picked me up one day with his van, and there were 150 of those black "Shinedown" shirts with the crazy logo thing. I guess his cousin sent the shirts up here in Wisconsin (Shinedown is from Atlanta i think) to be distributed. Once again I laughed and said "No way. You're not going to sell those at $10 bucks a pop." and I asked him 3 and a half weeks later about it, and he sold every single one.

That being said, I downloaded a few of their songs off the internet and thought it was really ****ing typical and lame, but apparently some people disagree.

~Incidents

P.S- I believe this is about the sixty-seventh time I've hijacked a thread. Luckily my name isn't Mohammad, I should be safe from profiling.;)

iiholly

08-19-2004, 12:02 AM

I agree with you Incidents. I like 45 though, its just the teenie bopper in me I guess. :o

iamthe_eggman

08-19-2004, 12:06 AM

Who the heck is Shinedown?

Jolly McJollyson

08-19-2004, 12:29 AM

Who the heck is Shinedown?

An AWFUL band. Whose entire song consists of "SHUUTT UUUUUUUUUUUUUUPPP!" They're rock and roll's version of emo lyrics. AND they do a Half-assed job covering a Lynyrd Skynyrd classic: Simple man.

Boo this band.

Incidents Happen

08-19-2004, 02:12 AM

My thoughts exactly, Jolly; What i was suprised at was how popular they are with teenagers, though. I'd say that people are losing their ability to listen and judge music for themselves and not from the stance of their own generation. For example, Ewan McCall (Sea-Shanty Folk Musician) made this obscure record in the late 50's called Blow Boys Blow, as well as Thar She Blows. There was this song called "Off To Sea Once More" (written around 1860, obviously not by him) that I let a girl listen to, and I asked her to really listen to it and ask me what she thought. She listened, and was angry that there wasn't a chorus, and found it hard to pinpoint, "it wasn't catchy". Don't bore us, get to the chorus! Music is not getting better, it's getting progressively worse, each and every year. When the top 10 is filled with rappers, I have to wonder what kind of world this is.

~Incidents

Meta

08-21-2004, 09:23 AM

chris mood

08-21-2004, 01:45 PM

People just aren't going to get excited about music that's been around for hundreds of years (and I mean exact music, note for note). I'm not going to rush out to the store and get John Williams' newest CD, because who gives a **** about John Williams?

~Incidents
Well some people are just great interpreters, like John Williams. You know when you buy a John Williams cd the musicianship is not going to be less then spectacular. I dig what your saying though, people need to pay attention and support the newer artists so that music keeps moving forward, but we also can't forget about paying homage to the masters. Balance is the key word here.

PonyOne

08-21-2004, 04:12 PM

I just think that, sadly, while on a local, individual level music is following the same course it has for all time and continues to speak through some very talented and brilliant people, the mainstream is sorely lacking in pretty much every genre.

It's frustrating that it seems that many younger people seem to think of Linkin Park and Blink 182 as "classic" music, and the music business supports those 2 or 3 bands and performers releasing album after album, but then is in this mad rush to put out a stream of knockoff bands that sound exactly like them. The members of those bands cash in and get out, then go work as A&R guys for the next 20 years.

Then you have these really good bands, and labels will put their CD's out but don't push their records, don't try to make it known that they're touring, etc. They only end up putting out maybe one or two CD's, and owing the record companies $50,000 each.

This is part of the reason that for now I'm content with playing in my apartment with friends, or down on the beach, or on my porch, collecting smiles from passersby on their way to the beach... because it brings me so much joy and I'm not worrying about it paying my bills. I'm not worrying that my shelf life is almost up and I'm going to have to pay Capitol Records back for the guitars & amps I used on my tour that bombed, or for the bus, or the thousands of T-shirts we had pressed that are sitting in a warehouse in Ohio.

PlayLoud

08-22-2004, 02:43 AM

With few exceptions, the 90's and 00's lack any good music. Rock nowadays is really ****, and most "music" is made in 10 minutes with synthesizers on a computer.

Not a lot of people listen to classical stuff anymore. That's pathetic imho. I think that music as we once knew it has taken a plunge down the proverbial drain.

zepo

08-22-2004, 06:34 PM

First thing, Alter Bridge's guitar player actually used to take lessons from Michael Angelo (learned about that at the dean guitar clinic with Batio) So you know he can tear it up if he wants (damn closest shredders!)

Secondly I got to see Los Lonely boys when they opened up for George Throrogood back in March before they blew up. The bass player is nuts live took his bass off slapped a towel on the floor placed the neck on the towel then proceded to play it kinda like a keyboard, goood stuff. All their stuff sounds great live, I wouldn't go as far as classifying them as a christian rock band though most of their other songs didn't have the same lyrical style of Heaven but I don't have their new cd so I'm not sure what the record label letting them put out.

Oh and lastly I SWEAR that new singer for Alter Bridge is the same guy who plays Thor in the movie Rock Star, you know the one that takes over for Marky Mark near the very end. He comes up and starts singing with him on stage then goes "...call me Thor god of THUNDAAR". Anyways I'll put money on it being him!

iiholly

08-23-2004, 08:32 PM

iamthe_eggman

08-24-2004, 12:58 AM

Isn't this what people used to say about rock 'n roll back in the day. I don't disrespect rap at all. I mean it does take something... I mean I can't do it. Some of it sucks, but what can ya do?
There is plenty of halfway decent music going on, but its just not to your guys' taste. Atleast we still have the music previously made to listen to until maybe music makes an actual come back in the direction you guys want it to.
Don't be so pessimistic, makes me sad. :(

There is good and bad in all styles of music. In my opinion, if it takes talent, it deserves respecting. For example, I really dig Ace of Base simply for their killer hooks. Each song has at least one amazing hook in it. Some people wonder why I listen to them since it seems out of character, but I respect their songwriting skills (to be honest though, I can't exactly listen to it hours on end, but it has its time & place).

I think one cop-out though is people who say "oh, I like all kinds of music", as in "I don't care what kind of music is playing, I dig it".

Incidents Happen

08-26-2004, 01:06 AM

I think one cop-out though is people who say "oh, I like all kinds of music", as in "I don't care what kind of music is playing, I dig it".

Exactly; I meet these people at my high school every day. People say "I like all kinds of music". I've never met a male say this comment, only females who don't know anything about music enough to consider themselves specialized (*don't get sensitive, this is my opinion based on my experiences*). they may say that as in self defense, because I ask the question about music right when i meet a person; Then again, they probably have a specific type of music they like, they just don't want to say it in case i don't like it.......Ah! :)
Well anyways, then I'll ask them if they like Classical music, in which they say "no", then i ask if they like opra, "No", then i ask if they like bebop, "No", then i punch them in the face, "Yes". ;)

What music you like and listen to and are influenced by shows a great deal of your personality. I see a white person from an affluent family overlooking a lake, with a $500,000 house, listening to Jay Z and flashing gang-signs (and wearing FUBU clothes), I immediately think "Identity problems", or "Trying to fit in".

What I don't understand is the whole "Death Metal" genre. King_David did a very good job at defending the attacking Cannibal_Corpse, who tried to convince people that music involving eating intestines through a 30-day dead woman's vagina was suitable for a listening audience. What the ****!? And CC later claims- "Death Metal isn't Death Metal without Death", which, in true class, Lordathestrings replies with "Which makes me wonder why it's so appealing? :confused: "

I believe that a large amount of people listen to mainstream music as a means to fit in, because they are insecure with their position in life. All kinds of people do this, even people in the non-mainstream world (Hippies, Punks, Goths). Anybody agree?

~Incidents

PonyOne

08-26-2004, 03:01 AM

See that's one thing I think I've been truly blessed with... I have no problem admitting to other "rockers" (a label I don't really love all that much) that I like Jamiroquai and think Ase Of Base has some good tunes. And generally no one dares to laugh at me; I guess it's 50% being way bigger than most people, and 50% being well-spoken enough that people take what I say a little more seriously than "THEY KICK ASS!!!!!"

I just really don't care who made it or what style it's in... if it's good, it's good.

Generally, if someone tries to use the "all types" as a cop out, they say "I like all types of music." If someone legitimately does, it seems to go "I like all types of music. You know, I grew up listening to rock, and then I got into blues, and there are some MC's I like." They don't have a problem divulging the bands or genres they like, wheras with the cop out people it's like you have to brandish a hammer at them before they go "...uh... Blink 182, Christina Aguilera and Chingy?"

chris mood

08-26-2004, 12:30 PM

To quote Duke Ellington..."there are only 2 types of music, good music and bad music".

iamthe_eggman

08-26-2004, 12:40 PM

... and like them both.

Jolly McJollyson

08-26-2004, 12:43 PM

I think one cop-out though is people who say "oh, I like all kinds of music", as in "I don't care what kind of music is playing, I dig it".

I..ummm...I do like almost every kind of music.

bob-bobby

08-26-2004, 01:01 PM

for me dudes

anything edible goes ..... :rolleyes:

all liquids goes .... :cool:

anything audible goes .... ;)

Leedogg

08-28-2004, 04:57 PM

thousands of T-shirts we had pressed that are sitting in a warehouse in Ohio.

Where in Ohio, I could get 'em for ya dude, I'm still stuck here. Returning to the original positive message of this thread that music is coming back. I'm really happy with Velvet Revolver (although they're technically old, I guess). I also like that Franz Ferdinand song (maybe cause that was my lapdance song the other night, dunno for sure). And another song, I forget the name of the band, something like Cochise and Cambria. Anyways there's a big dude dressed up like 80's style and he's got a high pitched Geddy Lee-esque voice. But the lyrics are good and the song's good too.