Controversial Music Opinions...

[Kunstmord]

Also, a friend of mine thought "St. Anger" was actually titled "Straight Angle". I think it would've worked wonderfully as an EP – Frantic/St.Anger/Some Kind of Monster/Sweet Amber and that's it.

[Sutekh]

agreed, should have been an EP and should have been free

[The_Prowler]

I don't like Rush. I tried to for years because it seemed like I was supposed to as a musician, that I was somehow wrong for wanting to play music but not wanting to listen to Rush. For years, every time one of their concerts would be on TV, I'd put it on and make myself try to listen in the hopes that maybe eventually I'd finally "get it" and start to like it, but that day never came. As a drummer, I constantly have to listen to other people jizzing their pants over Neil Peart, and I just can't say anything because it's gotten to the point where the mere mention of his name pisses me off. Is he a great drummer for Rush? Absolutely, and probably the only one. But is he/would he be equally amazing elsewhere? Nope. He's the guy from Rush, and that's all he's good for, but he does it better than anyone else could. Doesn't mean I'm a fan, though. I'm not, and I never will be.

I've also had the same problem with Iron Maiden and anything Ronnie James Dio has ever done. I'm a Metal Head. I love Metal. Before I started playing other types of music, I wanted to be a Metal drummer. I'm pushing 30 and I'll still crank the shit out of some heavy Pantera or something like that and dance around my room like a hyper 16 year old. And yet I've always hated goddamn Iron Maiden and Dio, but I have to keep my mouth shut about it most of the time because it's apparently against the law to not like Iron Maiden and Dio when you're a proud, loyal Metal Head and I'm wrong for not liking them. Sorry, everyone, but I can't stand any of them.

[Sutekh]

Rush & Dream theater are similarly off putting for me... wanky bollocks

it's odd cause I like flord, king crimson, godspeed you black emperor, NON - plenty of stuff that is wanky. But there's something about these bumfluff moustache bedroom fretwankers that really leaves me cold

[Space Suicide]

Rush & Dream theater are similarly off putting for me... wanky bollocks

Dream Theater is absolute shit. I don't get the appeal of them at all. I don't like Rush but I get it.

[Sutekh]

it's people who are sad bastards but get into music because it's cool. Then they realise that all they have to do to get approval from a lot of people is practice away in their bedroom until muscle memory allows them to shred wank. No inspiration required Then they get up on stage and other soulless bedroom wankers live vicariously through them. Music is like a sport to them, they're only really interested in players

[implanted_microchip]

To jump on the Rush bandwagon, I get the appeal and see the talent and all that, but Geddy Lee's voice is like an impenetrable brick wall for me when it comes to liking them.

[Sutekh]

that album where he finds a guitar and tunes it.. and you actually hear it being tuned. ok only about ten people like steve vai or dream theater but TONS of people like rush

[onthewall2983]

I actually love Dream Theater but I get the criticism completely. They have some good to great songs, but they do tend to rely too much on over-playing. Especially now that Mike Portnoy is gone, who besides being a good player thinks as much like a song-writer as he does a drummer. That's what he brought to DT, and is in more full display in his bands Transatlantic and Flying Colors. It's not that he's the sole genius in those bands, but that he's among other guys who feel that same way he does to varying degrees. Both progressive but very much rooted in song-writing.

For what it's worth I think those power metal bands make guys like Rush and DT sound like post-rock.

[Sutekh]

yeah I must say, im talking about wankers rather than all dt fans

some of my best friends are dt fans

[onthewall2983]

A bit related to what you're saying but while I'm an admirer of guys like Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, it's that generation of post-Van Halen guitar players that elevated the instrument to this insane level of playing that also eliminated the character the previous generation's guitarists had. It's no wonder that almost all rock music since grunge that's achieved some measure of pop culture status has been based solely around riffs with no sense of instrumental adventurousness at all. You couldn't just scale the level of playing back, it had to be taken almost to it's minimum capacity in certain cases.

[GulDukat]

A bit related to what you're saying but while I'm an admirer of guys like Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, it's that generation of post-Van Halen guitar players that elevated the instrument to this insane level of playing that also eliminated the character the previous generation's guitarists had. It's no wonder that almost all rock music since grunge that's achieved some measure of pop culture status has been based solely around riffs with no sense of instrumental adventurousness at all. You couldn't just scale the level of playing back, it had to be taken almost to it's minimum capacity in certain cases.

I was never a fan of instrumental guitar rock--just not my thing. The thing about Eddie Van Halen is that he found a true foil with David Lee Roth, and along with Mike Anthony and Alex Van Halen, created a great body of work.

[Joy Prevention Hotline]

I think that LuLu is a cool, misunderstood album.

I certainly didn't understand it.

I was never a fan of instrumental guitar rock--just not my thing. The thing about Eddie Van Halen is that he found a true foil with David Lee Roth, and along with Mike Anthony and Alex Van Halen, created a great body of work.

Whenever anyone mentions EVH, I don't think of Eruption. Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love is the song that gets stuck in my head for days and days.

I'm kinda "meh" on guitar instrumentals in general. It took Chickenfoot to finally gave Joe Satriani a reason to exist.

[Sutekh]

yeah and "album" by pil is the only reason the terminator shouldnt be deployed to kill steve vai as a kid

although i dont mind a bit of yngwie... its so ridiculously ott, it's somehow less pretentious and dull than vai, satch, eklunde et al. john 5 is hit and miss, again while a lot of it is wanky, it has a bit of character

[GulDukat]

I certainly didn't understand it.


Whenever anyone mentions EVH, I don't think of Eruption. Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love is the song that gets stuck in my head for days and days.

I'm kinda "meh" on guitar instrumentals in general. It took Chickenfoot to finally gave Joe Satriani a reason to exist.

Chickenfoot was pretty sweet.

[onthewall2983]

Black Country Communion was way better, imo. It's too bad that neither band really exists anymore. I think Satriani left to do his solo work and Chad left to focus more on RHCP. Hagar and Michael Anthony have a new band in the works with Jason Bonham who was in BCC oddly enough.

[allegro]

I certainly didn't understand it.


Whenever anyone mentions EVH, I don't think of Eruption. Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love is the song that gets stuck in my head for days and days.

I'm kinda "meh" on guitar instrumentals in general. It took Chickenfoot to finally gave Joe Satriani a reason to exist.

Since my husband is a lead guitarist, I've been to a bunch of G3 shows and have seen Malmsteen a few times and I gotta say that Jeff Beck is the only live guitarist whom I truly enjoy. He's not a total wanker. Malmsteen's a total wanker. Live, I prefer Satriani over Vai, but Vai's pedigree includes fucking FRANK ZAPPA. Eddie's legacy is the memorable rock riffs, not the tapping shit.

[Joy Prevention Hotline]

I do have to carve out a gigantic exception for Michael Hedges (talk about your "tapping shit" ), but I think his voice was just as important as his guitar technique.

[allegro]

I do have to carve out a gigantic exception for Michael Hedges (talk about your "tapping shit" ), but I think his voice was just as important as his guitar technique.

I saw "Michael Hedges" and thought, "wait, is that the Wyndham Hill guy?" so I Googled him. YES, Wyndham Hill guy.

Edit: I didn't know he died in a car crash, ugh.

[Joy Prevention Hotline]

If he were still alive, I think people would have seen past "Wyndham Hill guy" by now. Is New Age even a thing anymore?

To me this is one of the most amazing songs ever, and not just because it's a brilliant arrangement of a poem (speaking as someone who isn't into poetry at all):



No fancy guitar work here, but listen to the vocals! If you make it to the 1:45 mark and your jaw doesn't drop — and stay dropped — you're probably dead.

[onthewall2983]

FWIW it's Windham Hill. Speaking of which, I was surprised that Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater keyboard guy and basically the equivalent of Malmsteen, Vai, etc.) put out an album last year of mellow piano pieces that wouldn't have been out of place on that label.

[GulDukat]

Eddie's legacy is the memorable rock riffs, not the tapping shit.

I'd argue it's both.

[allegro]

FWIW it's Windham Hill. Speaking of which, I was surprised that Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater keyboard guy and basically the equivalent of Malmsteen, Vai, etc.) put out an album last year of mellow piano pieces that wouldn't have been out of place on that label.

Yeah, you're right, Windham Hill. I still listen to that type of stuff sometimes, heh! Spa music soooooo mellowwwwwww.

I'd argue it's both.

Yeah, but that ain't a good thing, and Eddie had better tricks in his bag. But, he WAS that pioneer, so ... bleh, yeah, you're right.

Once you've seen Malmsteen doing that shit, you wanna break the fingers off of every fucking tapping guitarist and shove them down their respective throats, then give them a guitar pick enema.

Eddie was so cute tapping in the Hot For Teacher video, though, so he's okay. He's not a wanker like Malmsteen.

[GulDukat]

Yeah, you're right, Windham Hill. I still listen to that type of stuff sometimes, heh! Spa music soooooo mellowwwwwww.


Yeah, but that ain't a good thing, and Eddie had better tricks in his bag. But, he was that pioneer, so ... bleh.

Once you've seen Malmsteen doing that shit, you wanna break the fingers off of every fucking tapping guitarist and shove them down their respective throats, then give them a guitar pick enema.

Tapping is a spice for the stew, but by itself (without a memorable riff or hook) isn't very interesting.

[allegro]

True. But those guys live, ugh, UGH.

First, it's a total sausage fest. Guys kept trying to pick me up, even though I was with G, probably because they were all drunk, there were only 5 women in the venue and the upcoming tapfest was giving them all boners.

Then, Malmsteen has this singer whose other job is to call Malmsteen "Maestro," and to whip the crowd into a frenzy, "come on, give it up for the Maestro!" in between each song. Malmsteen is constantly spinning and throwing guitar picks to his adoring fans, except sometimes he ends up whipping picks at his drummer. He likes to stand there and pause for a while between songs, feigning humbleness while his circus master gets the crowd to worship the Maestro. Malmsteen also likes to do that thing where he throws the guitar backward and it spins around him on its strap, except sometimes it gets caught in his hair. And the "Maestro" has put on about 50 pounds and has aged, so this isn't a flattering picture.

Yeah, it's totally Spinal Tap.

[Sutekh]

"maestro" hahahaha... I had a mate who was an arch fretwanker (cut him loose in the end, lol), he used to say stuff like "ah I'll think I'll listen to a bit of trilogy suite opus 15" ... and seemed to be really pleased with himself that he was saying something that to him sounded sophisticated. Oh dear

I read from a band that opened for Yngwie that he wouldn't let them soundcheck because he had to practice kicking picks into the audience. Which is funny enough by itself, but even funnier when you start to wonder why he needs silence to do that

and lol... yep drunken clueless boytards are as par for the course at those cockforest shows as seeing a few rubbish fights at a hatebreed show

[WorzelG]

True. But those guys live, ugh, UGH.

First, it's a total sausage fest. Guys kept trying to pick me up, even though I was with G, probably because they were all drunk, there were only 5 women in the venue and the upcoming tapfest was giving them all boners.

Then, Malmsteen has this singer whose other job is to call Malmsteen "Maestro," and to whip the crowd into a frenzy, "come on, give it up for the Maestro!" in between each song. Malmsteen is constantly spinning and throwing guitar picks to his adoring fans, except sometimes he ends up whipping picks at his drummer. He likes to stand there and pause for a while between songs, feigning humbleness while his circus master gets the crowd to worship the Maestro. Malmsteen also likes to do that thing where he throws the guitar backward and it spins around him on its strap, except sometimes it gets caught in his hair. And the "Maestro" has put on about 50 pounds and has aged, so this isn't a flattering picture.

Yeah, it's totally Spinal Tap.

You've made that sound hilarious, and something it would be good to attend at least once

[allegro]

He still tours, you should go! But drink lots of coffee, first, otherwise you might lapse into a coma.

He plays the Chicago House of Blues a lot, that's where we saw him last. We also saw him at this club in a strip mall in the D.C. area (wtf).

He usually opens with this video backdrop of these chicks in period attire walking through a castle holding candelabras. Because, like, HE'S FUCKING MOZART, GET IT?

[Space Suicide]

I don't care for him but Malmsteen is one of the few less douchey "guitar gurus" there are.

[allegro]

Of all of the live guitarists I've seen (and I've seen A LOT), I'd argue he's the most douchey guitar guru I've ever seen live.