Stoney

But am I the only one who thinks Mr. Big SUCKS???? Are we serious! They're the Spice Girls with an electric guitar! Holy shit, some of those melodies are an offense to music and human dignity. A shitty band like so many from the '80s that turned rock into crap, crap, crap, pure crap.

I almost forgot: Hollow Years, the melody would fit well on a Ricky Martin track. Or Avril Lavigne. And lux was right to say that New Millennium is the same as Discipline by King Crimson. I'm really incredulous, even though with these sacred monsters of plagiarism I should expect anything by now.

New Millennium. That is: today we don't feel like playing, let's sit down and do the equations, whatever comes out we'll record it. A piece in 4+6+5+7+11+9+7... take out 1 add 2 carry 3 divided by 12 then put the accent back on the 3 instead of the 1... That riff that sometimes loses an eighth, sometimes finds it again and actually has one more. Hmm! The question is always the same: what is it for? Songs like You Not Me and Just Let Me Breathe, truly horrifying... and melodies straight out of TRL for everything else. But since they are Dream Theater, they can do it. And everyone applauds like lobotomized, clueless kids.

Well, I don’t believe at all that the musician is all heart and no technique; that’s a contradiction in terms. Unfortunately, the same goes for the DT as it does for Steve Vai. To play an instrument, it’s obvious that some technique is required. There are those who have both heart and technique, some who have only heart, and others who have only technique. In short, you can put it however you like, but there must always be heart; one must have something to say, otherwise, they risk playing notes that might be beautiful but lack meaning, which only resolve into a formal perfection that supports nothing concrete. I hope I’ve been clear.

But since it's never enough, I raise the stakes. Bands that you hold dear like Metallica, Megadeth, Testament, Anthrax, and many more have always completely disregarded showing technique, mixing genres, and various nonsense. I believe they all agree in attributing poor technical skills to people like Hammett and Mustaine, yet they belong to the same generation as Steve Vai. You see, the discussion is different: it’s not a matter of genre or generations of guitarists, it involves a certain type of attitude that has spread recently (let's say since the existence of people like Malmsteen) which crosses genres and regardless of what you play "imposes" a setup geared towards speed, acrobatics, and the immediacy of the impact of what you present, which if you think about it remains at a fairly accessible level anyway. It doesn't matter if you play progressive, metal, jazz... what’s important is the technique, so much so that it becomes empty, sterile, and self-serving technique.

Just to give some examples of "other possibilities". Take a group like Kyuss and the whole stoner scene, it doesn’t seem to me that they belong to a past generation (we're talking about 1990). Take punk, take bands like Pere Ubu, Jesus Lizard (I’m just citing, I don’t expect to necessarily follow a logical thread), but also take a band like Soundgarden (late '80s), and I’ve only made a small example. So, now I expect you to say that all this stuff is crap, so I’ll finally have demonstrated your ignorance in music.

Ahhh...how difficult it is to make oneself understood. I’m trying to say that the parameters by which you judge Steve Vai, and music in general, are misleading. Reread the comments I made earlier replying to VodooAcid where I say that I can't stand people prostrating themselves before those who consider themselves "sacred monsters." It’s true that the guitar has evolved, but it hasn’t evolved only in the way that prog-metal (and similar genres) would like. Someone playing the guitar today has so many influences around that even if they choose to play with tapping and sweep picking, they would only be selecting one possibility out of 10 billion. There isn’t just THIS way of playing, nor is it the most correct of all, thankfully. And to conclude, I would like to ask a question: if Steve Vai really is that versatile and mixes so many genres, why is he idolized ONLY by metalheads? Answer me.

And what wisdom, what musical knowledge it takes for someone who DESPITE listening to Steve Vai can admit that EVEN Brian May, Eric Clapton, and BB King are great guitarists EVEN IF they aren't technical, EVEN IF they aren't fast, EVEN IF they aren't show-offs. Wow, what an open mind, I envy you!

VodooAcid, what kind of comments are you giving me in response? Did you read and understand my last two interventions? And anyway... are you still here dividing genres among themselves, distinguishing between "slow" and "fast" tracks? Because Vai is not just technical; he can ALSO make slow pieces. A true alternative, in fact, a genius! Damn, I would have never gotten there; if I were as good as him, I would have only made fast tracks. And if I were a no-good, only the slow ones, because I wouldn't be able to go fast. Clearly. Music is easy in your wonderful enchanted world.

Indeed, the problem in rock is exactly this: that everyone wants to learn to play like Steve Vai, like Petrucci, like Malmsteen, and no one cares to take that damn guitar and ask themselves, "But what do I want to say? Do I have something to say? Okay, now I think about how to do it." Expanding feelings, creating a personal relationship with the instrument, developing a unique style by integrating and learning the techniques that are deemed necessary only when they are truly needed. No one does this! Here, everyone is concerned with learning as much technique as possible and then finds a way to use it in music as an excuse. This is what makes me sick, and a lot too.