meandthestereo

My admiration and fascination of guitars and guitar playing goes way back. It was just so cool watching these guys rip through leads, playing ultra-fast or just generally causing mayhem with their guitars. Whether watching a good axe-man live or in a recorded concert, there is nothing more electrifying than watching a great guitar player ply his chosen craft. There are many great guitar players, past and present; I’d like to mention a few of my personal favorites.

For sheer impact on the music community as a whole, I have to go with Jimi Hendrix. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to see Hendrix live, but I have seen many recorded concerts. I also have a very extensive collection of bootleg concerts and interviews. He was one of those musicians who, when he was ripping a solo, would go to another level of being; a whole other place. His impact on music and the guitar-playing community is unmistakable. Virtually every great modern guitar player mentions Hendrix as a major influence on their own playing. His innovation on guitar and in the recording studio will live on forever.

For pure virtuosity of playing, I’ll go with Stevie Ray Vaughan. It was a pleasure to witness this man playing guitar…usually with your jaw on the ground. I was fortunate enough to see SRV a couple of times; both times were absolutely remarkable. When he went into a solo, it was impossible to look away. I found myself fixating on his fingers as he climbed around the neck of 1963 Stratocaster. Pure genius! He too seemed to go to some other place when he was shredding. I once heard Eric Clapton refer to SRV as a channel…music just flowed through him and erupted out of his fingers. At times, I felt sorry for the rest of Double Trouble as they tried to keep time and keep up!

For total innovation on the six string, I’m going with Eddie Van Halen. The first time I saw him play with both hands on the neck, I was completely blown away. What was this dude doing? Where is his pick? I’ve seen VH many times and watching Eddie perform his guitar solo is well worth the price of admission. In my opinion, he brought the use of two hands on the neck to rest of the world and into the mainstream. Many modern guitarists added this style to their repertoire, but nobody perfected it, or plays it better, than Eddie.

I could easily go on and on about great guitar players. After all, there are so many phenomenal ones to talk about. From the likes of Django Reinhardt through Les Paul, great guitar players have spanned the generations. Other modern guitarists who easily deserve mention are guys like Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Tom Morello, Jeff Beck, Randy Rhoads, Yngwie Malmsteen…somebody stop me! Let’s all enjoy these guitar virtuosos as they shred their six string things.

The source for the awesome Eddie Van Halen photo is here!

Can cause Murder?

Many musicians and rock songs have made mention of recreational pharmaceuticals. Whether it be an overt declaration or a discreet revelation, these substances have made their way into the lyrics of songs of most every genre for many, many years. But one recreational substance is mentioned very frequently. Can you guess which one it is? From bammy to zambi and ganja to weed; cannabis by any other name is still cannabis. And it is the old faithful of recreational drugs…at least according to music.

From the time Stephen Tyler declared he’d be “…sleepin’ late and smokin’ tea!”, MJ has been referred to hundreds, if not thousands, of times in musical compositions all around the world. Although, some songs I find more entertaining in their use and description than others. Read the rest of this entry →

As the old saying goes, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery…or something like that. In general, I think this is a true statement, but with one little tweak. If you’re going to do something that someone else has already done, you should do it just as well, or better, than the original artist did it. If you’re a musician and you plan to cover a song that was already recorded, particularly if that song happens to be kick-ass already, you better put some serious effort into it and make it sound great. This brings to my rant for this week:

Cover Songs.

I was on the road the other day, and I heard a cover of ‘Hey Joe’; you know, the Hendrix tune. But, it was Deep Purple actually performing the song…and not incredibly well either. I was a little put out by this because I like Deep Purple and I am a rabid Jimi Hendrix fan, but I consider it blasphemous that anyone would cover a Hendrix tune and do it in such a poor manner. That’s not the worst of it; ‘Hey Joe’ has been recorded over sixty (yes, 60!) times since it was first penned and recorded in 1965 (by a group called The Leaves). Say it ain’t so! I haven’t listened to all sixty versions of the song, but I bet that each cover is at a different level of quality. In recent memory, I think the worst version of a song I have heard is Avenged Sevenfold covering ‘Paranoid’; the old Black Sabbath tune. Have you heard this? I think it was recorded for a sound track. Not only is it a piss-poor version of the song, but who told M. Shadows he could sing in the first place. Read the rest of this entry →

Artist: Queensryche
Album: American Soldier
Label: Atco Records/Rhino Entertainment
Release Date: March 31, 2009
Decision: 4/5 – Must have for Queensryche fans
Favorite Tunes: “If I Were King”, “Sliver”, “At 30,000 Ft”, “Man Down!”

1. The Background

This is the tenth studio album from Queensryche; technically the twelfth if you include Operation: Mindcrime II and Take Cover. The album centers around the trials, stresses, general torment and complicated decisions that a combat soldier is faced with on a daily basis. Geoff Tate, the singer and songwriter for Queensryche, wanted to musically chronicle the war and expose the feelings of guilt, hate and loss of innocence these men and women experience, from the time they enlist in the forces, through the nightmare of fighting and killing, enduring, until they return home to their family and friends. The war seems even more chilling (and meaningless) from these soldiers’ perspectives. Read the rest of this entry →

A few years ago, there was a local radio station that had a nightly feature called ‘The Desert Island’. The idea behind this segment of the show was this: if you were trapped on a desert island and you could only bring five songs with you; what songs would you bring? I always enjoyed this segment of the show and listened to it often. I even sent in my five songs, but unfortunately, my entry was never chosen. But I enjoyed listening to it nonetheless. With this thought in mind, I have proposed the following five songs as my choices of music to be marooned with.

Life by the Drop by Stevie Ray Vaughan. This song is from the album entitled ‘The Sky is Crying’. It is the last track on the album. It’s a very simple song, seemingly sung from the heart. It is just Stevie Ray and a twelve string acoustic guitar. I have to guess that it’s a song that reflects his struggle with substance abuse and how he finally overcame all the addictions and realized what was really important in life. Put this song on, turn it up, close your eyes and lean back and enjoy. I get goose bumps every time I hear this song…no lie. Read the rest of this entry →

“Sing me a song, you’re a singer…”; the opening line from Black Sabbath’s song ‘Heaven and Hell’. I remember seeing Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio doing the vocal duties. He was impressive, but pretty far down on the list of what I would consider great singers. I’ve always thought that singing for a band is one of the most difficult jobs because unlike other instruments in the band, it doesn’t require physical dexterity to execute it well. It requires very strong vocal chords…just two little strands of muscle to either sound great or just be another average singer. So, who are the best singers in rock today? Read on and allow me to award medals to the best of the best!

Gold Medal: Geoff Tate. For those of you who may not recognize the name, Geoff Tate is the amazing voice, and backbone, of the group Queensryche. The first time I heard this guy sing, I was blown away. His range is absolutely astounding. And he sounds just as good in concert as he does on the recordings. I was lucky enough to catch Queensryche on the Operation Mindcrime tour. Are you freaking kidding me?!?! My jaw was on the floor the whole show. For some classic Geoff Tate high notes, check out the early stuff like ‘The Warning’ and ‘Rage for Order’. The newest release, entitled ‘American Soldier’, is very good stuff also (and will be a future album review). If you have ever wondered how high the male vocal range can get and still sound as powerful as ever; listen to some Queensryche! Read the rest of this entry →

Since 1981, Mötley Crüe has been cranking out hard rock and metal music to rabid fans around the world. Now, twenty-eight years later, the Crüe is still banging heads with the best of them. They released a new album and have put together a music festival, modestly named after themselves, with a lineup of some of today’s best and brightest rock musicians. I was lucky enough to catch Crüefest 2 last week and I was not disappointed. Let me take you on a tour of the White Trash Circus:

Crüefest 2 consisted of five bands on the main stage: Charm City Devils, Drowning Pool, Theory of a Deadman, Godsmack and, of course, Mötley Crüe headlining the event. There was also a second stage featuring some good, up-and-coming bands. I checked out a band called Schram, out of Detroit. These guys put on a good show. They had a ton of energy and seemed genuinely happy to get out on stage and play. I also caught a band called Silver Stone, out of Arkansas. They also put on a really good show. The singer was good and the guitar player shredded some pretty killer riffs. They also had a third band on the second stage, but I only caught a few of their tunes. Okay, okay, so I was waiting in the beer line and didn’t get over there in time. What? I was thirsty! Thankfully, the second stage was jamming while the main stage was setting up for the next band. I made my way back and forth from one stage to another all night long…with an occasional stop at the concessions. Read the rest of this entry →

About a week ago, a legendary music figure passed away. I’m slightly embarrassed to admit this, but it was many years before I realized that Les Paul was a real person and not just a conceived name for a particular model of electric guitar. I remember the first time I laid eyes on a Gibson Les Paul guitar; it was the classic sunburst coloring with the inlaid mother-of-pearl on the frets. Oh yeah, and it was being shredded by none other than Jimmy Page. One of my favorite pictures of this Page-guitar tandem is when Page breaks out the violin bow and works his Les Paul sunburst like a mad scientist! I came to realize that Les Paul, the man, was also a heck of a musician and an even more impressive innovator of style, recording and instruments. Many people may never realize the impact this guy had on music and the force he was in influencing future guitar players.

Lester William Polsfuss was born in June of 1915. You may know him better as Les Paul. He apparently had an uneventful childhood in Wisconsin until around age 8. He then discovered music by way of the harmonica. He moved on to the banjo and eventually settled in to play the guitar. By the age of seventeen, Les Paul was a professional musician who had played guitar and harmonica on many recordings and radio shows under several different pseudonyms. As successful as he was, he was unsatisfied with the limited sounds that he could create on a ‘traditional’, acoustic hollow body guitar and set out to produce the first solid body, electric guitar. It was dubbed ‘The Log’ because that’s basically what it was; a regular old 4-by-4 piece of lumber with a bridge, neck and self-invented pickup attached. I don’t want to muddy the waters (no pun intended), but Leo Fender was working on a solid body guitar around the same time (so was a fellow named Adolph Rickenbacker). I mention this fact because the folks at Gibson were not interested in Les Paul’s ideas regarding solid body electric guitars until Fender put out an instrument that was well-received…Gibson didn’t want to take the chance. Eventually though, the Gibson folks relented and in the early fifties, Gibson and Les Paul struck a deal and designed the first Gibson Les Paul guitar. And the rest is history, as they say! Read the rest of this entry →

Artist: Chickenfoot
Album: Chickenfoot
Label: Redline Entertainment
Release Date: June 5, 2009
Decision: 4/5 – Good Rock!
Favorite Tunes: “Soap on a Rope”, “My Kinda Girl”, “Oh Yeah”

1. The Background

This is the first album from the “super group” Chickenfoot. The group has been dubbed a super group because all four members have been successful either on their own, or with another group that has garnered accolades from the music industry and fans. Joe Satriani, the guitar virtuoso, fits into the former category and Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony and Chad Smith are recognizable names from former mega-bands. At first listen, this album is pretty much what you would expect from a talent-laden foursome like C-Foot. There is a lot of screaming from Hagar and a ton of kick-ass guitar playing from Satriani. Chad Smith provides a very solid back beat and Michael Anthony provides the same unexciting and completely non-innovative bass playing for which he is famous. Read the rest of this entry →

What image comes to mind when someone mentions Van Halen? Don’t be afraid; close your eyes and just let the thoughts and pictures flow freely. Is that a guitar you see? Is it the red and white striped one? Who is the singer? Is the bass guitar shaped like a Jack Daniels bottle? For me, Van Halen was one of those revolutionary bands that comes along every few years and raises the bar on rock music. The four original members, Eddie and Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony and David Lee Roth combined to create a synergy that was unrivaled at the time and some would still argue, has not been equaled since. I like all the incarnations of Van Halen. I refuse to pick a favorite. There has been heated debate in recent years regarding which Van Halen was the best Van Halen. Let’s travel back in time to 1978 and have a little look-see; shall we?

Jimmy Carter jogging is sooo 1978.

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Van Halen, released 1978

In February of 1978, Van Halen took the country by storm with its self-titled, debut release: Van Halen. You have to remember that one. The cover featured a long-haired David Lee Roth, Alex and Eddie slightly blurred and Michael Anthony banging on the four-string. This album contained arguably one of the greatest, single guitar tracks of all time: Eruption. My God, man! Who is this guy? How did he play that? How many guitars are on that track? This instrumental, along with several other radio-friendly tracks like Jamie’s Cryin’ and Ain’t Talkin ‘bout Love, catapulted Van Halen into the national limelight. And the four original members would become rock icons before the decade was out. They went on to record five more albums; their last being 1984. I was lucky enough to see the original Van Halen in 1984 and I have to say, they kicked ass! The guitar solo, in and of itself, was worth the price of the ticket. David Lee Roth was a master showman and an unbelievable front man. They were so tight and well-rehearsed; I hated to see the show end. But, as we all know, egos got the best of the band and the original Van Halen was history…or so we thought. Read the rest of this entry →