And in this corner, weighing in at 850 pounds...

When I first started typing this post it was going to be about Guns N' Roses' most recent album, Chinese Democracy, but I decided to just make this an all-encompassing GNR post- what I like about them, what you should like about them, and maybe some info for people who don't know much about this awesome band.





Those of my followers who are Guns N' Roses fans may have already noticed that the name of my blog is taken from a song from their second (technically third) studio album, Use Your Illusion I (released in 1991). I make it no secret that I love Guns N' Roses, which always gets me flak from various groups of people. In a way I can understand where they are coming from. I used to dislike Guns as well...before I listened to them. Actually listened to them, I mean. Everyone has heard "Sweet Child o' Mine" and "Welcome to the Jungle," but how many people have heard "Mr. Brownstone" or "Locomotive?"

I've found on multiple occasions that if you really explore a band's catalog you discover that their best songs are almost never the most well-known. It's tough to get over the stigma of listening to such a massively popular band as Guns N' Roses, though. Hipsters and other people who hate anything that is popular will certainly tell you that you have shit musical taste, but that's fine, they will just never appreciate the majestic masterpiece that is "Estranged."



The song was popular at the time of its release, mainly due to this video (the most expensive music video ever at the time), but is certainly not one of their most well-known songs now. It's a shame, because in my opinion it is the greatest song of all time and embodies everything that is great about Guns N' Roses that people fail to recognize. It's not a mindless hard rock song, it's an intricate and complex musical journey through the entire spectrum of human emotion over an epic 9 and a half minutes.

There was a thread recently on a forum I post on that said Slash was overrated. I'm not sure what to think of that. Certainly he's not the greatest guitarist of all time, but in my opinion he is easily in the top 10 (possibly the top 5, it depends on how I'm feeling). "Estranged" demonstrates exactly why: he's tasteful. Taste is one of the most important qualities a guitarist can have, and Slash has it in spades. He rarely overplays. He can play fast, obviously, and does (when the song calls for it), but he also comes up with incredible melodic ideas. Slash's melodic sense is his greatest strength. The guitar melodies in "Estranged" are fantastic.

Slash's tone is legendary, as well. People have been trying for almost 25 years to replicate the tone he got on Appetite For Destruction, GNR's debut (and also the best-selling debut album of all time). It had a crazy amount of distortion but was never muddy like a lot of metal guitar players.

Songs like "Sweet Child o' Mine" show just how easily Slash could switch from a tasteful, melodic, beautiful solo to a heavy, fast, hard rock solo and they show just how easily Guns N' Roses could switch from tasteful, melodic, beautiful ballads to heavy, fast, hard rock songs. It baffles me that so many people think of Guns as a one-dimensional rock band, judging them on songs like "Welcome to the Jungle" instead of songs like "Estranged."

I often run into people that say they don't like the band because of Axl Rose's voice, to which I reply, "Which voice?" Axl is one of the most dynamic vocalists in the history of humanity. Look no further than GNR Lies (their actual second album, made up of three new songs and a bunch of old songs re-released) for the perfect example. Anyone unfamiliar with the band would have no idea that Axl Rose sings "Patience" (trust me, I had no idea myself when I first heard it). It sounds nothing like the gravelly, howling Axl Rose that we all know, and that's the genius of him. He uses his voice like a guitar in a way- just as a guitarist can play clean and distorted, Axl Rose can sing clean or distorted. Just as a guitarist can use a wah-wah pedal, Axl Rose can make his voice sound like a wah-wah pedal. Compare his voice on "Reckless Life" to "Patience." It sounds like two completely different singers.

People love to hate on Axl though. He's made it quite easy through many of his actions, like appearing on stage late on a regular basis, using racial and homophobic slurs in a song, and firing various band members and driving the rest to quit. As a result of this, even people who like Guns N' Roses hate Axl and his new version of the band. Many of them hate the newest album, Chinese Democracy, on principle, without even listening to it.

The truth is, Chinese Democracy is a good album, with many songs that are pretty good and a few songs that are truly great. No, it's not Appetite, but why would it be? What is the point in releasing the same album over and over again? You can listen to Nickelback and the like if you are into bands with no musical development.

I, on the other hand, will be enjoying great songs like "I.R.S.," "Street of Dreams" and "Chinese Democracy," and watching the new band tear through the old stuff perfectly:



I've seen Slash's band live, but nothing beats the original singer shredding on the songs he wrote himself. Here's a video from 2010:



Whatever it was that Axl Rose had, he's still got it.

Plinkett Reviews

This isn't really music related but I wanted to share it anyway. Over at Red Letter Media you will find the "Plinkett Reviews," a collection of video reviews of (mostly) science fiction movies that are both hilarious and insightful. The main draw here are the reviews of the Star Wars prequel trilogy. He has a review of each film, each one nearly as long as the films themselves. If you like Star Wars and have a few hours of free time, check these out. You will not regret it.

Van Halen Recording New Album

After reuniting with original vocalist David Lee Roth, hard rock band Van Halen will be going into the studio to record their first studio album in 13 years, and the first album with Diamond Dave since 1984. Roth rejoined the band in 2007 for a tour that included Eddie Van Halen's son, Wolfgang, on bass guitar (pictured above on the far right).

With Roth the band recorded a streak of classic albums in the late 70's-early 80's. Their debut album, Van Halen, was a magical miraculous masterpiece of rock and roll with such classic hits as "Jamie's Crying," "You Really Got Me," "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love," "Runnin' with the Devil" and everyone's favorite guitar instrumental:



I listened to Van Halen II for the first time recently, and although it isn't as good as the debut, it's very similar, with plenty of guitar and vocal theatrics. The thing I love about Van Halen is that although they were a hard rock band that used a hell of a lot of distortion, their songs are essentially pop songs, with conventional pop structures and plenty of great hooks and harmonized backing vocals, demonstrated perfectly in songs like "I'm The One."



Source: http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/upcoming_releases/right_now_van_halen_to_record_new_studio_album.html

Canada Bans "Money For Nothing"

Dire Straits' 1985 hit "Money for Nothing" has been banned from public radio and television in Canada 26 years after its release due to singer/guitarist Mark Knopfler's use of the word "faggot" in the song:

It was No. 1 in 1985, but it's unacceptable for Canadian eyes and ears today.

The Dire Straits song "Money for Nothing" was ruled by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council to be "extremely offensive" and thus inappropriate for airing on radio or television because it uses an anti-gay slur.

The decision against St. John's radio station CHOZ-FM in Newfoundland was released Wednesday. In it, the panel ruled that the word "faggot" "contravened the Human Rights Clauses" and its ethics code and is "no longer" permitted "even if entirely or marginally acceptable in earlier days."

Ron Cohen, the CBSC's national chairman, told The Washington Times on Thursday that the decision effectively sets a "nationwide" precedent binding on all private license holders for TV, cable-TV and radio broadcasting. It does not cover the state-run Canadian Broadcasting Corp. or "community and university" stations.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jan/13/dire-straits-song-banned-canada-anti-gay-slur/



The song features the singer/bass player from the Police, Sting, on vocals, parodying the Police's hit "Don't Stand So Close to Me" in the intro as Sting sings the lines "I want my/I want my/I want my MTV." Incidentally, the animated music video for the song (which Mark Knopfler was against) was a huge hit on MTV and the first video to be aired on MTV Europe.

The song reached number one in the Billboard charts at the time of its release, with the single version of the song being edited down from its original 8-minute length, cutting out Sting's intro and the verse with the word "faggot."

Mark Knopfler on his use of the word:

I got an objection from the editor of a gay newspaper in London - he actually said it was below the belt. Apart from the fact that there are stupid gay people as well as stupid other people, it suggests that maybe you can't let it have so many meanings - you have to be direct. In fact, I'm still in two minds as to whether it's a good idea to write songs that aren't in the first person, to take on other characters. The singer in "Money for Nothing" is a real ignoramus, hard hat mentality - somebody who sees everything in financial terms. I mean, this guy has a grudging respect for rock stars. He sees it in terms of, well, that's not working and yet the guy's rich: that's a good scam. He isn't sneering.

Led Zeppelin Song of the Week: Communication Breakdown

This song, the seventh track on their debut album Led Zeppelin, was an archetype for punk music that emerged in the late 70's. Although most punk bands claimed to have hated Led Zeppelin, it's easy to see that they were hugely influenced by the hyper-speed power chord riff of this song and its chugging groove was an influence on both heavy metal and punk.

The song features an incredible wah-wah solo by guitarist Jimmy Page, who achieved his signature tone on this song by using the wah pedal rocked all the way forward.



The song has been covered by quite a few great artists (Soundgarden, Iron Maiden to name a few), but this is my favorite:



Vocalist Myles Kennedy shreds on this track even more than Slash does.

Learning guitar?

If you are, this is by far the best resource I've found:

http://www.justinguitar.com/index.php

His name is Justin Sandercoe and he has hundreds of video lessons available for free on Youtube, including full song lessons. He has an entire comprehensive free beginners course and lessons ranging from metal to jazz to folk fingerstyle. The site works on an honor basis, he doesn't charge money for anything other than a few products, most of which are already available for free, and the site runs entirely on donations. So pay for what you use!

He also released an album last year called Small Town Eyes, available on iTunes. It's a very folky Neil Young-inspired album with plenty of great guitar playing. Justin also sings and plays harmonica, but the best track is probably "From Katie's Window," which is an amazing pastoral folk instrumental piece with a great bluesy solo in the middle. Here's a performance and complete lesson taught by Justin:









And for the record, I have no affiliation with Justin or his site, I'm simply a fan that has learned a lot from him and I want to spread the word.

Soundgarden Reunion

I went through a big Soundgarden phase recently, right around the time they announced they were reuniting after 13 years apart. They played a show under the name Nudedragons (anagram for Soundgarden) in April,



and headlined the 2010 Lollapalooza but haven't done much since. The reunion was of course an excuse to re-release their music, which they did in the form of the Telephantasm compilation album. The record featured a "new" song (written during the Badmotorfinger sessions)  called "Black Rain," but other than that, no new music has been released and they haven't played any more shows. They did play on the second episode of Conan O'brien's new show, though, which can be seen here.

Chris Cornell has certainly proved that he can still sing. Now they just need to record an album so they can prove that this reunion was not just a cash grab.