A pale, thin man with long black hair stands astride center stage, shrouded in mist. His garb is bestroon with images of dragons and zodiac signs, and around his neck is slung a guitar. He plays his axe not with a pick, but with a viola bow, which conjures eerie sounds out of the electric instrument, sounds that remind you of a dark night, a full moon, faerie forces on the periphery of human knowledge. As this ritual continues, he builds the sound up to a buzzing crescendo, the bow a wizard’s wand and the guitar a conduit for magic. Once the astral sound hits a peak of climax, the man tosses away the shredded bow and launches into the most face-melting guitar solo you will ever hear.
Continue reading The Curious Case of Jimmy PageCategory Archives: Opinion
Chester Bennington, Nu-metal, Poptimism and Human Dignity
On the night of July 19, 2017, Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington committed suicide. One of the first comments I saw online under the announcement was, “Now that we know it was all real and not just teen angst, Linkin Park is a masterpiece.” Many seemed to agree. The emission struck me on two accounts: first, it fed into society’s wont to lionize newly departed musicians; second, it acknowledges the dirty secret that will be buried behind every eulogy published over the next few days – Linkin Park, for most of its existence, wasn’t considered to be very good. Continue reading Chester Bennington, Nu-metal, Poptimism and Human Dignity
Out of Touch and Out of Tune: The Grammys
Hello….it’s me, your face in the crowd music fan. I’m not sure whether the Recording Academy can hear me. As with every year, those like me are confronted with the inevitable Grammy controversy, in which some supposedly deserving artist is snubbed by someone deemed less worthy by the cultural media. It happened in 2015 when Beck upset Beyonce for Album of the Year (neither was the best album of the year) and in 2014 when Macklemore & Ryan Lewis beat Kendrick Lamar for Best Hip-Hop album (a crime that only becomes more unforgivable as time goes on).
This year, of course, Adele’s 25 defeated (can’t really say “upset”) Beyonce’s Lemonade for Album of the Year. The collective internet exploded over this slight to Queen Bey, and immediately accused the Academy of having a race problem. They cited both the 2014 and 2015 incidents as examples. I agree that the Grammys have a race problem, but obviously not because the voters are outright maliciously voting against minority races.
The Academy is actually just out of touch – with the current music scene, with modern music fans, and with current artists. Continue reading Out of Touch and Out of Tune: The Grammys
Rolling Thunder: Top 15 Bassists
Welcome to my first ranked list! I plan to present many such lists in the future, as they are always a fun challenge for me and stir up interesting conversation and debate. Please keep in mind that, as with everything on this site, it is based solely on my opinion and does not reflect some universal mandate.
The inaugural listicle is going to be my top 15 bassists. The topic has been spurred on due to the unfortunate passing of Yes’ Chris Squire, who surely appears here. It got me to thinking about the roll of the bass guitar in rock music. It obviously doesn’t receive the glory of the electric guitar, and bassists are usually relegated to secondary members on stage within the collective cultural consciousness. Of course, this couldn’t be further from the truth – the bass is a vital part of any ensemble. It provides the rhythm, the deep bottom end that gives music its power and inspires people to move. It can serve as a counterpoint to the main melody. Finally, there are lots of bassists that have left their unique mark on the instrument and the world of music. Here are my favorite, ranked from 15 to 1.
Note: As per the main breadth of this blog, I am going to focus only on musicians that can fit primarily into the broad spectrum of “rock” music. As such, there are some fantastic players inherently left off, such as Charles Mingus, James Jamerson, Robbie Shakespeare, Jaco Pastorious, Victor Wooten, and Aston “Family Man” Barrett. Also, this isn’t necessarily saying who is all-around “better;” rather it is my preference ranking based on their style and skill.
Then Play On 