Larrok

Hi supervai, thank you very much.. I think Pain of Salvation are one of the most original bands in the prog-metal scene, which itself isn’t a genre that pushes for originality. Remedy Lane and the live 12:5 are very good.

one of the best and most engaging action movies featuring an iconic actor of the genre... it would be 4 stars, but the Christmas song at the end and the credits "Let It Snow, let it snow" is just too spectacular: 5!!

Madonna, two of the most tacky bands around, the first one makes Christmas songs with distorted guitars and sounds ultra-cheap, the second is the usual insignificant power group.

Armored Saint and Skid Row?? Then I think it's still too early for you to listen to Slint, you're still in the Hard Rock-Heavy Metal phase. Anyway, if you want to give it a shot, go ahead, but I'm afraid that given your music tastes, you might end up disgusted.

Armored Saint and Skid Row?? Then I think it's still too early for you to listen to Slint, you're still in the Hard Rock-Heavy Metal phase. Anyway, if you want to give it a shot, go ahead, but I'm afraid that given your music tastes, you might end up disgusted.

I also play the guitar, and I've realized that music is not just a schematic division between solo parts and rhythmic parts; it's much more than that... if someone thinks they can create art by only worrying about how to line up the notes of a minor, major, or pentatonic scale, or what chord progression to use, they're seriously mistaken, because this isn't art; it's merely craftsmanship... Sure, many are happy to limit themselves to this kind of craftsmanship, but it's important to understand that this is the antithesis of the expressiveness and originality that define art. And this applies to all instruments. To give you an example, listen to the album Spiderland by Slint carefully, and you will see how it is a work structured around content (I’m not talking about lyrics, but about music) rather than the antiseptic aesthetics you might get from a classic Satriani tune. And then another thing: let's not hide behind the phrase "taste is taste" because otherwise, even Britney Spears becomes a respectable artist, which seems absurd to me; there are objective criteria for evaluating artistic works, and those are originality, expressiveness, and in the rarest cases, innovation. Certain criteria can only be applied thoughtfully after many, MANY, many listens, through which one can make a comparison.

But please, come on... so, in the meantime, I have a ton of albums by "solo" guitarists, as you define them (Vai, Satriani, Timmons, Gilbert, etc...), because in the past I had, like you, an obsession with virtuosos, a fixation that fortunately faded over time, so I know very well what you're talking about. These albums are 90% pure self-indulgent exhibitionism, with a few rare exceptions in some early Vai pieces; they are collections of songs assembled specifically to exalt the virtuosic skills of the current guy, pursuing exclusively formal and aesthetic objectives, akin to a cold, essay-like execution. And I’m not referring to a lack of "feeling"; they certainly have technique, but the problem is that having a good touch, even if personal, is not enough to consider oneself an artist; even session players have great technique... here we are talking about art, communication through music, EXPRESSIVENESS, knowing how to impart to what one plays that necessary sense to ensure that a piece is not just an exteriorization of stylistic elements, but true, expressive, and original art, not in the languages used (I don’t expect that much), but at least in the contents that emerge from the compositional fabric. One more thing: don’t think that the guitarists I mentioned in the previous post feel in any way limited or constrained in their respective bands; they play exactly what they desire because they couldn’t care less about playing legato scales, string-skipping, eight-finger tapping, etc... their goal isn’t to showcase what they’ve learned in the academy, but they focus on the CONTENTS of their music, and this makes them perfectly free.

The names you mentioned make technique for its own sake their only reason for existence; great guitarists, for me, are those who put technique at the service of artistic composition: see Robert Fripp (KC), Dave Pajo (Slint), Jeff Parker (Tortoise), Josh Homme (Kyuss), Ian Williams (Don Caballero), Kim Thayil (Soundgarden), Adam Jones (Tool), Mike Gallagher (Isis), Greg Massi (Kayo Dot), John Engle (Codeine), J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.), Craig B (Ganger), Steve Hackett (Genesis), Mark Nelson (Labradford), King Buzzo (Melvins), Taka Goto (Mono), Josh Graham (Red Sparowes), Franz Prichard (Yume Bitsu), etc... and I could go on for a long time; these are expressive geniuses, not walking compendiums of fossilized guitar techniques. The difference between the artist and the craftsman.

this is not a great guitarist, he's a big show-off, like so many I've heard in my life, they don't say anything to me anymore, listen to the Melvins, they truly deserve attention and great respect

Crazy disc!!!!!