As always the views expressed
by the writer do not neccessarily reflect the views of antiMUSIC or the
iconoclast entertainment group .
We Need Riffs
We are drawing nigh on summertime again
here in the U.S. and I find myself in a sentimental mood. It wasn’t
too long ago that I would be cruising my faded late 80’s Toyota Corolla
and wallowing in the sheer delight of what crackled from my cheap factory
speakers. It was during those long summer days and nights that my
confused teenage soul fell in love with the power chord.
The electric guitar is what drew me to
rock music in the first place but it’s the power chord that keeps me coming
back. It is the easiest thing to play on a guitar, every kid with
a beat up Stratocaster is probably in his room right now bashing away at
a power chord. Therein lies the beauty of the power chord and it’s
role in rock and roll music, it doesn’t matter if you are in a garage or
Madison Square Garden, a power chord will ring fiercely and majestically.
Of course once that power chord has been
unleashed it has to go somewhere and that somewhere is the riff.
Lyrics are inconsequential; drums mean nothing to me but a good guitar
riff means everything to a song. It may be a simple pleasure and
a less sophisticated version of music, but if I have a choice between AC/DC
or Beethoven it will be AC/DC every time. Beethoven couldn’t write
a riff like “Highway to Hell”.
I know that I am not alone in my admiration
for the guitar, too many magazines and websites stand committed to sharing
praise and how-to’s for the electric guitar and the noises that iconic
players elicit from its fret boards
One of those iconic players was Dimebag
Darrell. That man played riffs that could break the foundations of
Fort Knox. The title “guitar hero” doesn’t really do justice to the
people that it is given to and it may seem overdramatic to have such a
vested interest in just a musician.
But for most of us music and the people
who make it mean a whole lot more. Guitar players are my superheroes
in the same way people hold on to Superman or Batman. It’s just that
my heroes have names like Dime, Joe, Angus and Malcolm. So this is
why I get excited for new albums or concert tours, hopefully somebody somewhere
will give me the same feeling I had when I heard “Sweet Emotion” for the
first time.
Rock music is currently about as exciting
as a trip to the optometrist’s office (at least dentists have a drill),
which is why I continually look to the past for something new. I
whine and complain about the current state of music like so many other
people do but there is no point in wasting our breath. Until we decide
to pick up guitars and make them scream with aural delights there is no
one else left to be our heroes. Just one more round of overweight
has-beens and annoying English brit-pop.
So here I will wallow in my sentimental
blubbering for all things guitar hoping for the day when an essential rock
and roll riff will tear through my speakers blowing away everything I have
heard before.
Your
turn.
Fan
Speak:
Posted by GTD:
hikingartist, you have earned one of the most mightiest of hails. Hail! FZ was sick on the axe, and funny as hell on the words. Kurt didn't kill himself, Adam, but it's known that he wasn't exactly right in the head. Instead of bashing someone like him, someone who took his limited guitar wank skills and f'ed up life and created damn good tunes from it, just give him a bit of credit.
Posted by MSIorDIE:
i really think the argument is moot. a lot of my favorite bands aren't fretboard fiends. there's a little band called mindless self indulgence that writes some of the most brain-twisting music to come out in a while. and just so you know before you look, it's not music for musicians. it's more akin to early punk asthetics than anything. it's the purity of the delivery that matters, not what they are playing.
Posted by hikingartist:
Since no one mentioned Frank Zappa; if I'm in need of riffage, I can always count on Zappa. Overnight Sensation. Apostrophe. Roxy & Elsewhere. Zoot Allures.The You-Can't Do-That-Onstage-Anymore live series...the solos involving FZ, Steve Vai & Dweezil are mind boggling. Adam N; go easy on Kurt. The guy was clinically depressed.To get as far as he did is a miracle in itself. Study depression, know a depressive, & see if you still think he was a loser. I think he was a winner; the legacy he created speaks for itself.
Posted by GTD:
Damn, Ediie was wrong, Jeremy - I thought you spoke in class again today. Yep, just try to school me about the 70s, my genius friend. I was there long before Aston Kuchner (or Kyle Korver of the 76ers). Zep made crap, Kurt made crap, I make gallons of brown stinking fluids. Lucy, Page didn't take "Dazed..." from the Tardbirds to Zep, he took it from the aforementioned Mr. Holmes. Their first ripoff of the song was called "I'm Confused". Yes, I know, most rock is somehow based in the blues, and with only 12 notes in the musical scale - it's pretty damn hard not to even unconsciously reproduce something from the past. But there is a big difference betwwen writing a song from your own talents that harkens back sort of to a previous song, and purposely stealing a song a changing it a bit to call it your own.
Posted by GREENMUSE:
then color me retarded.led zeppelin made crap,the beatles made crap.the clash made crap.no band is above making at least some crap.if a band doesnt put out crap,it means there is a whole lot of unreleased crap festering in a vault somewhere.