AA.VV.
Millennium Guitar

Hello, it's Deborah again. Ever since I was little, my father did nothing but tell me I was just a good-for-nothing idiot. He said it so many times that he convinced me, and indeed, I became a perfect idiot, a failure, and I didn't accomplish anything good in life. When my father died, I should have felt relieved perhaps, but instead, I even felt guilty because I hadn't done anything to prove him wrong. But deep down he was right. Even the priest in catechism once let slip “eh, but you're an idiot then” because I couldn't learn, I don't remember which psalm; the others had all memorized it a month ago, but I hadn't. As a child, even my imaginary friend told me I was an idiot, and in fact, after a while he left “I want to be the imaginary friend of someone smarter, I deserve more”, he told me, and he disappeared forever.  His name was Burruchaga.

"Millennium Guitar" is a compilation emi/virgin records published in 2002. Double CD with a total of 43 tracks. It essentially features hard rock, classic rock, and some blues pieces, all from the last century and, as the title suggests, all characterized by memorable guitar parts: historic riffs and legendary solos. From “Sultans of Swing” to “Paranoid”, from “Voodoo Child” to “Smoke On The Water”. But there are also the Cream with “Crossroads”, the very famous “Born to Be Wild” by Steppenwolf, then Dick Dale, Santana, a particular version of “Tie Your Mother Down” by Queen remixed with “We Will Rock You”, and also David Bowie, Jeff Beck, Gary Moore etc. etc.

Surely you can't expect to include all the guitar-centric tracks of the twentieth century in just two CDs, as the absence of illustrious names like Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and many others stands out. But for once I'd prefer to think about what's there and not what’s missing. Don't you think we always think too much about what's missing? If only we valued and used better what we have, maybe we would be a little happier. Everyone except me, because I'm depressed, I disgust myself and the only thing that comforts me in my miserable and useless days is thinking that it could have been even worse, I could have been Sting (quote).

Goodbye.