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Date: Wed, 7 Apr 2004 13:55:30 -0700 (PDT)
From: Tom <_@_.com> Subject: Top 10 Best Guitar Solos To: curt@lab404.com Hey, Did you write this? If so, I believe you haven't heard some of the best out there. You should get: Eruption - Van Halen Machine Gun - Jimi Hendrix The National Anthem - Jimi Hendrix All of those songs are pure guitar, there is not a single lyric to any of them. Could Lou Reed play for 12 minutes straight, like Hendrix does in Machine Gun? And could he do it live? Or could he play as mind bendingly fast as Eddie Van Halen does in Eruption? I highly doubt it. These are the untouchables of rock and roll. You can't get near them. Tom +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ To: Tom <_@_.com> From: Curt Cloninger Subject: Re: Top 10 Best Guitar Solos Dear Tom Too Cool 2065, Eruption is every geeky technical guitar student's wet dream solo. It's as contrived and tired as they come. You will have to do better than that. Speed does not equal rock. If it did, Yngwei J. Malmstein would rock. Joe Satriani would rock. (You may even think they do rock. I'm sorry.) Longevity and endurance do not equal rock. If they did, Rush would rock. Lou reed for 12 minutes? He rocks "Sister Ray" for 20+ minutes. Guitar-only does not equal rock. If it did, Bob Dylan would rock. You are mistaking pompousness and pretension for rock. Hendrix's national anthem is an interesting gimick at best. Who can actually rock that corny tune? Not even Hendrix. Exploding bomb special effects. Whatever. Machine Gun admittedly rocks, but not as hard as Voodoo Childe, which is already on the list. Thanks for sharing. Class dismissed. curt +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Date: Thu, 8 Apr 2004 13:14:58 -0700 (PDT) From: Tom <_@_.com> Subject: Re: Top 10 Best Guitar Solos To: curt@lab404.com Hey, So you're telling me that a song that is simply mind bendingly quick guitar solo by one of the gods of guitar, Eddie Van Halen, is more geeky than the guitar in some song by a guy with the name of Brian Emo? And if speed isn't everthing, then wheres Old Slowhands, Eric Clapton? Wheres Stevie Ray Vaughan? Wheres Kurt Cobain, B.B. King, Angus Young, Carlos Santana, or George Harrison? Wheres "Free bird" by Lynard Skynard on your list? Me and all my buds think you've got a really screwed up list. You've got songs nobodys ever heard of instead of the known legends such as Hotel California, Stairway to Heaven, etc. Rolling Stone magazine had an article a while ago about the top 100 guitarists of all time. Your hero Lou Reed scores 52nd, behind even Frank Zappa. I recommend you read as to realize who the true guitar greats are. Tom +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ To: Tom <_@_.com> From: Curt Cloninger Subject: Re: Top 10 Best Guitar Solos Back for more, eh Tom? I thought you might be. Brian Eno is his name. Not Emo. He is the godfather of ambient music, produced a lot of early U2. Ring a bell? No, I guess not. Anway, it's not even his solo. It's a Robert Fripp solo. Eric Clapton's nickname is slowhand, not old slowhands. What does popularity have to do with rock? Do Britney Spears and Madonna rock? What does Rolling Stone magazine have to do with rock? Britney Spears and Madonna are always on the cover. Many would argue that popularity and rock are diametrically opposed. Anyway, my list is not the 100 best guitarists, it's the 10 best guitar solos. I'm not interested in the musicians, I'm interested in their output, solo by solo. Lou Reed is not my hero. He's a shitty guitarist, but the guitar solo that he accidentally came up with on "I Heard Her Call My Name" will peel the walls off your paint. Do you get it yet? Rock has little to do with technical musicianship. Study up. I've heard all your music. Have you even checked out any of the songs on my list? You are talking off the top of your head.
Freebird, Hotel California, and Stairway to Heaven are the utmost in quintessential cliche pap. They are embarrassing for you to even mention. You're making this way too easy for me. At least you could make a case for some early ZZ Top or CCR. Anything but the usual tired suspects. Sadly, Frank Zappa rocks harder than most of the people you've mentioned. It's all part of your classic rock & roll fantasy, curt +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Date: Thu, 8 Apr 2004 18:19:41 -0700 (PDT) From: Tom <_@_.com> Subject: Re: Top 10 Best Guitar Solos To: Curt Cloninger OK. Sure. Go ahead and say songs nobodys heard of are better than the known immortals. Everybody knows you couldn't get close to hendrix. For god sakes, the man has played with his teeth. You can go around worshipping solos that have no real heart to them. Just listen to any deep Stevie Ray or Jimmy Page solo. Why do you think they're famous? Because when they were starting out, DJ's heard them and thought they had talent and soul, listeners agreed. DJ's see some album that reads "Dinosaur Jr." on it and think the name suggests it belongs on radio disney. And I see that the public voted on the top 100 guitar solos. Not from rolling stone magazine, but from a magazine with readers who have a bit better of an ear for music - "Guitar World" magazine. Fripp makes it in there...barely. He's in the 82 slot. Seems like most of the guitar fans know their real music, don't they. Maybe, just maybe, those songs are known for their greatness because everyone realizes they're great? Wouldn't you think so? Wouldn't you think if the songs on your list were REALLY great, the public would have realized that? And I think the editors of Guitar World would know best. They seem like they know a good solo when they hear one. Tom +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ To: Tom <_@_.com> From: Curt Cloninger Subject: Re: Top 10 Best Guitar Solos Dear Dear Tom, The people who read guitar world magazine are the very technical guitar wank geeks that I'm talking about. They are more interested in their DiMarzio pickups and memorizing other people's solos note for note than they are in anything remotely resembling rock. Who topped their list? Randy Rhoads? Django Rhinehart? James Hetfield? Give me a freaking break. |
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Oh my heavenly stars. I just found the guitar world top 100 list online and I am right! It's tragic. This list is even more derailed than the Rolling Stone list. What an all star glam pop metal wankfest. Dokken, Venom, Poison, Ratt, the Crue -- all my favorites are there. Truly Scary. What's up with your faith in the masses, Tom? The masses pick music that sucks. The masses followed Hitler. The masses made New Kids on the Block into a household word. The masses wept when they discovered Milli Vanilli weren't really singing. The masses think Barney the Dinosaur is cute. If you need popular magazines and the masses to tell you what you should like and why, then why am I talking to you? I'll tell you why, Tom. Because I care. I hope and pray you are under 30 years old. If so, there may still be hope for you. But you're going to have to turn off the classic rock stations and dig a little deeper. I looked up the Rolling Stone top 100 list at your request. It was all wack, as I suspected, but I did notice that your precious Eddie Van Halen was parked way back at #70, just two ahead of Joni Mitchell, and well behind Lou Reed. So how is that list evidence of anything? The most sane thing about that list was its inclusion of Kevin Shields. Why are you wasting time convincing me that Jimmy Page and Hendrix rock? They're already on my list. How can you slag a Dinosaur Jr. solo you've never heard? What does the name of a band have to do with how they rock? Jorma Kaukonen plays lead guitar for Hot Tuna, and he's like some sort of religious figure to the geeks who read Guitar World Magazine. And his name is "Jorma" (pronounced "yorma"). And the name of his band is "Hot Tuna." The music. It's all about the music. There are more things in heaven and earth, Tom, than are dreamt of in your philosophy, curt +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Date: Fri, 9 Apr 2004 07:57:39 -0700 (PDT) From: Tom <_@_.com> Subject: Re: Top 10 Best Guitar Solos To: Curt Cloninger Hey How come you say everything is wank? I've downloaded quite a bit of the songs on your list and they're really quite strange. I really find it hard to believe you get sick when you hear the solo on 'i heard her call my name'. Maybe its that you fancy choppy random notes or maybe you're getting sick because the lead singer is just terrible. The solos on your list really don't sound difficult, especially in baby's on fire. That solo wouldn't crack my top 100. Maybe you're just being different for the sake of being different. I think thats it, because most of the very die hard classic rock fans I know that I've sent 'I heard her call my name' and 'Baby's on fire' to say they suck. How can you think Freebird doesn't rock? Freebird is a song that will actually 'make me physically sick'. It's rocking so hard my brain gets numb trying to keep up with it. [insert witty remark here], Tom P.S.: What the heck is lab404 anyway? +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ To: Tom <_@_.com> From: Curt Cloninger Subject: Re: Top 10 Best Guitar Solos Hi Tom, I don't say everything is wank. Just wanky things are wank. Why are you harping on the lead vocal in "I Heard Her Call My Name." I am saying it contains a great rock guitar solo. We all know the vocals suck. Why are you talking about how difficult the solos are? My article was not "the 10 most difficult guitar solos." What does difficulty have to do with rock? The "eleventh and final state" is "easy" yet brilliant. This is "difficult" yet sucky. What do "most of the die hard classic rock fans you know" have to do with my article? I'm not talking about "the 10 best classic rock guitar solos." I'm talking about the 10 best rock solos. "Classic" is a relative term. These days, "classic rock" is presided over by 45 year old DJs sporting long gray pony tails, balding on top, still taking bong tokes and bragging about the glory days when they caught Keith Richard's guitar pick at a Stones concert on their "Undercover" tour back in '83. We can do better than that. If Schlitz-chugging, V8 camaro-cruising rednecks can learn to love Tool, surely you can get something out of the songs on my list? There's a fine line between Southern Rock and country. The solo in Freebird crosses that line. It's way, way safe. I'm sorry to burst your bubble. Freebird is the "classic" stadium rock anthem, but the solo just ain't happening. hip hop don't stop, curt +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Date: Fri, 9 Apr 2004 18:39:11 -0700 (PDT) From: Tom <_@_.com> Subject: Re: Top 10 Best Guitar Solos To: Curt Cloninger Hey, I'm saying most people I know who have good ears for music don't really think your favorites are better than some other songs. And I'm sick of people calling Skynard and Freebird redneck music. That solo is incredible. The song is incredible. Theres a lot of people out there that have some reason to hate it, "they're hicks", "solo is too long", "redneck national anthem" is what everyone says. I don't give a crap if they're rednecks. I don't give a crap if the lead singer is the pope. The solo is incredible. If the exact song was played by Zeppelin or AC/DC or something, I think the song would be a lot more recognized and appreciated than it is. What do you think of the solo in the Zep song 'black dog'? I think that song rules. It doesn't really have one solo, theres like 4 of them. The whole song is pretty much solo. In my opinion, that is Jimmy Page at his best. Sorry for being a bit critical on your opinions. I just think the songs are a bit strange compared to what I am used to hearing. I admit the solo on I heard her call my name is good. Actually It would probably crack my top 10 solos. So thanks I guess for getting me to hear it. But for the rest of the list besides the Zep song and the Hendrix song I would have to say is not really my type. I still don't think anything can touch Freebird, Tom +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ To: Tom <_@_.com> From: Curt Cloninger Subject: Re: Top 10 Best Guitar Solos Hi Tom, You're rhetorical strategies are improving. You're right, it doesn't matter that millions of rednecks love Freebird. The question is, does the solo rock? Let's get into detail, beyond just "incredible" or "wanky." It has a bit too much twang for me to call it rock. At best, I'd have to call it "rockin'" or "boss." When I go to imitate it with my mouth, I wind up having to use way to many douwn-douwn-douwns and de-diddle-a-de-diddle-as. The part where the drums drop out and he really starts going fast, he just plays the same fast riff over and over again, then he takes it up an octave, then when he comes out of it, it's like he's catching his breath. Actually, a bunch of the licks in the solo are repeated. This is why I call it safe. Every now and then he's really improvising and going for it, but in between, it's like he's playing the same thing over and over again, trying to think of what he's going to play next. It sounds like he's already come up with a lot of those licks beforehand, and he's just replaying what he's already rehearsed. When he plays it on the live album, the solo is not much different. That's a classical music approach, not a rock & roll solo approach. It's a safe approach, not a "balls out" approach. To hear a totally balls out solo, listen to that Meat Puppets solo on the list. To hear some really "balls out" soloing, listen to anything John Coltrane recorded between 1965-57. But then that's Jazz, not rock. Otherwise, Coltrane would dominate my list. Black Dog just has a riff, what's known is pop circles as a "musical hook." And the Black Dog riff is way cool. My favorite of Page's riffs is that 15/16th tempo riff in "The Ocean." Unbelievable. If I had a list of 10 best rock and roll riffs, Page and Jack White would dominate. Guess what else would be in there? The riff at the beginning of "ain't talking bout love" by your man Edward. Woo hoo! http://playdamage.org/agn/ Rock on, curt +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ |
