Posted July 11, 2011 at 11:02 am | One comment
Like a mixture of dangerous chemicals, equal parts guitarist extraordinaire (Phil Collen – Def Leppard), rudeboy rock drummer (Paul Cook – Sex Pistols), and the righteous rhythms of a badass bass player (Simon Laffy – Girl), all together you have one hell of an explosive combination. Add to this concoction the experience of selling 75 million records and the attitude that comes from being at the top of your game and you’ve got MANRAZE. The long awaited and highly anticipated sophomore album, titled punkfunkrootsrock, will be unleashed upon the masses on August 2nd.
Posted in: Interviews, Rock Interviews
Posted July 11, 2011 at 7:51 am | No comments
“Pardon Me” is a hit in typical Incubus fashion. The song, which was the first single released from their February 2000 album Make Yourself, features uniquely funky verses that move into a huge overdriven chorus where singer Brandon Boyd morbidly sings, “Pardon me while I burst into flames.” Mike Einziger’s guitar work in “Pardon Me” is interesting. In the verses, while the drums are frenetically driving alongside Boyd’s rapid-fire lyrics, he plays relaxed swelling chords, punctuated by an occasional staccato chord with heavy delay.
Posted in: Guitar Tab
Posted July 10, 2011 at 11:33 am | No comments
Jam sessions can be a guitarists best friend or their worst nightmare. I’m sure many of have stories of nights when a big-name musician was traveling through town and decided to sit in with us at the corner bar, making for an unforgettable night of music. But, there are also those jam sessions where the participants have spent too much time with a bottle of scotch or not enough time in the practice room, or both, and their 12 minute version of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” almost made us want to quit music.
Posted in: Guitar News, Guitars and Guitarists
Posted July 10, 2011 at 5:58 am | No comments
“Drive” is the most famous song by modern rock band Incubus, a group that has a long history of hits. Guitarist Mike Einziger’s catchy acoustic chord action provides the perfect background for vocalist Brandon Boyd’s clear tenor. The song also features a melodic guitar solo by Einziger, who can rip with the best of ’em but chooses to play a beautifully simple melody instead. Although Boyd sings “Drive” over Einziger’s guitar, this is another great song to learn how to play and sing together. Take that one to Potbelly!
Posted in: Guitar Tab
Posted July 9, 2011 at 9:57 am | No comments
“Lips of an Angel” is a power ballad by Hinder. As their breakout hit, the song was the second single from their 2006 album Extreme Behavior. Beginning with a tenderly picked acoustic guitar, “Lips of an Angel” quickly builds into a huge overdriven chorus as a power ballad should. Vocalist Austin Winkler sings about an ex-girlfriend calling him in the night, causing repressed feelings to come hurtling back. The song builds to a simple but effective guitar solo into the last chorus, and of course the obligatory soft coda reiterating the theme of her call being too late at night and in life.
Posted in: Guitar Tab
Posted July 8, 2011 at 2:09 pm | 4 comments
This third installment in the multi-billion dollar Transformers franchise is definitely the charm. Leaving behind the convoluted storyline that derailed the series’ second film, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Director Michael Bay and Executive Producer Steven Spielberg are once again at the helm of this third film. Only now, they pull out all the stops with a mind-blowing, thrill-ride of a film.
Posted in: DVD Reviews, Reviews
Posted July 8, 2011 at 5:57 am | No comments
In 1970, legendary roots rock band Credence Clearwater Revival released Pendulum and shortly thereafter released “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” as a single. The single went Gold in the U.S and has since been a staple of rock radio stations. “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” has that CCR unstoppable freight train rhythm section drive that fans had come to expect, but it is the instantly singable chorus that has made this song a classic. Like usual, the chords are simple, but the melody captivates. This is one to learn how to sing along as you play for sure.
Posted in: Guitar Tab
Posted July 7, 2011 at 5:57 am | No comments
“Sambe Pa Ti,” which translates to “Samba For You,” is an instrumental song from Santana’s second album, Abraxas. On this tune, Carlos Santana plays smoothly but with an aggressive tone over the laid-back samba groove, playing the melody and soloing for almost the entire song.
Jose Feliciano covered “Samba Pa Ti” on his 1982 album Escenas de Amor, adding lyrics that Santana wrote for him specifically to sing, but Santana’s version remains the definitive one. Learn this while listening to the original to get schooled on how to play melody on guitar.
Posted in: Guitar Tab
Posted July 6, 2011 at 5:57 am | No comments
“Pretty On The Outside” is an emotionally charged driving metal song by Welsh heavy metal outfit Bullet For My Valentine. The song, which features guitarists Matt Tuck and Michael Paget playing lightning fast palm muted riffage that builds up to a huge melodic chorus, is the album closer from the band’s latest effort Fever, which has sold over 250,000 copies in the US since its release in April of 2010.
Posted in: Guitar Tab
Posted July 5, 2011 at 2:08 pm | No comments
Blink 182’s smash hit “What’s My Age Again?” was many a teenager’s theme song from late 1999 into 2000. The boisterous pop punk tune, written by bassist/singer Mark Hoppus, tells a story of a young adult (“Nobody likes you when you’re twenty-three”) who can’t seem to act his age. The song begins with a tender-sounding guitar pattern, but quickly jumps into hard-rocking power chords. The song employs a couple of often-used pop punk chord progressions, so if you learn this one, you can play a host of other songs in the genre.
Posted in: Guitar Tab
