IKILLYA is to the New York City metal scene as Lamb of God is to the Virginia metal scene. With endless grooves, and raw, undeniable emotion in their music, IKILLYA has not just taken a step in the right direction with the release of their debut record Recon, they’ve taken a giant leap forward to make themselves known.
Written from the point of view of a man that has just killed his local Sheriff, but does not admit to killing the Sheriff’s deputy, “I Shot the Sheriff” was an enormous hit for Bob Marley when it was first released in 1973. As well, the song became a massive chart topper for British blues legend Eric Clapton when it was recorded for his 461 Ocean Boulevard album, becoming the only single by Slow Hand to reach number 1 on the Billboard charts during his long and successful career. When Body Count released their song “Cop Killer,” an argument was made that there was no similar uproar over Clapton’s version when it topped the charts in 1974.
Four years ago, ex-Yes singer Jon Anderson needed inspiration. This being the age of information, he figured the Internet was the best way to go about getting the inspiration he needed, so he released this plea on his website: “Musicians Wanted… Send me your music, just one minute of it will do.” The ensuing barrage of musical ideas did exactly what Jon wanted it to. He now had a body of material to write and sing to, along with a great community of musicians willing to work with him.
The line of guitar fanatics waiting to enter The Bitter End on May 11 for the final show of Eric Johnson’s three-night stand stretched two blocks down Bleecker Street. As we filed in to the narrow, wood-paneled room billed as New York’s Oldest Rock Club, flashes popped while fans jostled to snap pics of Eric’s setup – a pair of Fender Vibroverbs, two Marshalls and a simple flat pedal board with a scratched-up Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man, a Boss digital delay, a Crybaby wah and amp switches.
Released on his 1978 album Kaye, “Is This Love” has since become one of Bob Marley’s biggest hits, and one of his most cherished songs by fans across the globe. The song, which was part of the Legend compilation, peaked at number 9 in the U.K., and a live version of the song was also highly popular after it was featured on the 1978 album Babylon by Bus, which was recorded live in Paris. A music video was shot for “Is This Love,” and it featured a then seven year old Naomi Campbell, before she was an international supermodel and phone-throwing celebrity.
Standing front and center of rocker’s Theory of a Deadman is Canadian, Tyler Connolly, armed with a white Gibson, a disarming voice and a range of dark spiked hair. With him are Dave Brenner (rhythm guitar); Dean Back (bass) and more recently, Joey Dandeneau (drums). Together the group has issued three albums with their third outing, Scars & Souvenirs (2008) running up the charts with eight singles including, a number one hit, “Bad Girlfriend” written by Tyler and his wife, Christine. The album claimed gold status in the States and platinum in Canada in 2009.
Not only was “Get Up, Stand Up” the song that Bob Marley used to end most of his concerts, it was also the last song that he ever played live in Pittsburg, 1980. The song was also famous for the many cover versions that have been released over the years, including by each of the three Wailers on their individual, solo albums. As well, a famous version was recorded by Peter Tosh, and one night he took the stage with Marley to sing along with the great Reggae star, and a young Ben Harper was in the crowd, an experience that effected his life greatly.
The Pentatonic Scale is the first scale learnt by virtually every beginner guitar player in rock and metal. It’s a great scale that it is easy to use. It’s ideal to get you started playing simple solos but as you progress you may find it sounds too basic. In this lesson I want to give you some ideas on how use the Pentatonic Scale in a more creative way. I’m going to teach you a hybrid Pentatonic shape that can be used to make some very interesting sounding licks.
As early as 1987, Guns n Roses began playing Bob Dylan’s iconic folk-rock song “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Dorr” in their live shows. The song first appeared as the B-side to the Maxi single of their mega-hit song “Welcome to the Jungle.” They later recorded it for the Days of Thunder soundtrack in 1990, but the version that most fans know is the version from Use Your Illusion II, which was released a year later in 1991. The band performed the song at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992, and it has since become one of their biggest hits, even though it’s a softer song than many of their harder, metal hits.
Although Bob Dylan wrote and originally recorded “Like a Rolling Stone,” for guitarists there is only one recording of this iconic song that by left-handed guitar master Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix choose to record the song not only because he was a fan of Dylan’s writing, but also because he felt that the song made him realize that he wasn’t the only person who had ever felt that low. In Hendrix’s version, he skipped the third verse, jumping from the second to the fourth. This was memorialized during his classic performance at the Monterey Pop Festival where Hendrix announced the lyric change to the audience.
