Posted September 7, 2011 at 2:27 pm | One comment
Take a dive bomb into the world of insane metal tapping with Eddie Van Halen’s instrumental track “Eruption” from Van Halen’s 1978 debut album, Van Halen. “Eruption,” the second track on the album, leads right into VH’s cover of the Kinks’ “You Really Got Me,” and it works so well that the band often does the same thing live. A heavy dose of tight guitar technique is needed to pull this one off, especially during the climax of the almost two-minute guitar solo when Eddie goes off with some double-handed tapping. Eddie’s guitar work on this short interlude have earned him accolades from multiple journalistic sources, having the song’s guitar solo included in all sorts of “Best of” lists of rock solos.
Posted in: Guitar Tab
Posted September 6, 2011 at 2:27 pm | No comments
Oh, “Hot For Teacher,” you were so controversial back in the day, but now with songs like Buckcherry’s “Crazy Bitch” and all manner of sexually-charged Top 40 pop songs your risque-ness almost seems quaint. That really is no matter, though, because what really matters is the music, not the gimmick, and “Hot For Teacher” delivers on all counts. Alex Van Halen’s drum intro is a maddening barrage of machine gun fire that gives way to the furious guitar tapping the Eddie Van Halen popularized. The juice really gets flowing when the main riff kicks in, its grinding syncopation providing the backdrop for David Lee Roth to wail about wanting to get intimate with an authority figure (no pun intended, but we’ll take what we can get).
Posted in: Guitar Tab
Posted September 6, 2011 at 9:00 am | 5 comments
In 2007, a Jason Hook-less Five Finger Death Punch released their debut album, The Way of the Fist, and immediately won recognition from the metal community. When gearing up to write and record their follow-up, co-founder and guitarist Zoltan Bathory finally got the chance to bring in guitarist Jason Hook, who took over the majority of lead duties.
Posted in: Interviews, Metal Interviews, Shred Interviews
Posted September 5, 2011 at 8:17 pm | 3 comments
In this article: Golden section and golden rectangles, the harmonic series and the model of its ideal behavior simplified, equal temperament and just intonation and a description of the beat frequency conflict produced by the deviations between simultaneous sounding of harmonic partials and prime frequencies and how it affects the tone and timbre of the guitar.
Posted in: Classical, Guitar News, Guitars and Gear
Posted September 5, 2011 at 2:37 pm | No comments
When “Slither” was released in May of 2004 as the first single for Velvet Revolver’s debut album, Contraband, its immediate success marked the triumphant return of ex-Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland and former Guns N’ Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum. The brash, energetic opening riff, which becomes the basis for much of the song, is a huge part of why “Slither” was such a hit, topping both the Billboard Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock charts in the United States. It became a live staple for the band, closing shows out with a bang until they went on indefinite hiatus in 2008/2009. If finding a new singer and ending their hiatus means more badass rock songs like “Slither,” let’s all hope Slash and company find a suitable voice that is worthy of Velvet Revolver!
Posted in: Guitar Tab
Posted September 4, 2011 at 2:27 pm | No comments
Even for a band with so many iconic songs released to radio like Weezer, it is odd that one of their most enduring fan favorites, “My Name Is Jonas,” was only an accidental single in Canada and nowhere else in the world. The debut song from The Blue Album, Weezer’s studio debut, “My Name Is Jonas” features an incredible introduction on acoustic guitar, written by founding guitarist Jason Cropper, who shares writing credit with guitarist singer Rivers Cuomo and drummer Patrick Wilson. Cropper left the band while recording the album, however, and was replaced by Brian Bell, who remains a part of Weezer to this day.
Posted in: Guitar Tab
Posted September 3, 2011 at 8:05 am | No comments
Weezer’s 2008 effort, known to many as “The Red Album,” confounded many fans with its decidedly un-Weezeresque musical material, save for one big, fat hit: “Pork and Beans.” It has a great chugging Weezer riff, the clever lyrics that Rivers Cuomo has become known for, and one of his best, catchiest choruses in a long time. Rivers wrote the song after a particularly angering meeting with Geffen label executives, where he was told that the new album needed more commercial songs. This pissed Cuomo off, inspiring him to write “Pork and Beans,” which ironically became Weezer’s most successful single to date, topping the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart for 11 straight weeks.
Posted in: Guitar Tab
Posted September 2, 2011 at 7:03 pm | 6 comments
This has been a momentous and fortuitous year for Ryan Rabin. The amazingly gifted co-founder, drummer, percussionist, songwriter, and producer, of indie rock band, Grouplove is poised for the September 13, 2011 international release of Grouplove’s stellar eponymous debut album, Never Trust A Happy Song.
In barely a year’s time, Ryan and his Grouplove band mates, Christian Zucconi, (lead vocals, guitars), Andrew Wessen, (lead guitar), Hannah Hooper, (vocals, keyboards), and Sean Gadd, (bass guitar), have released a critically acclaimed EP last January, they’ve been heralded by NME Magazine as one of the “Best New Bands of 2010.”
Posted in: Indie Rock Interviews, Interviews, Rock Interviews
Posted September 2, 2011 at 2:54 pm | No comments
Guitar International magazine has assigned our past Western Illinois University (WIU) summer intern, Brady Lavin, as its new Managing Editor. He is finishing up degrees in Music Business and Accountancy at WIU. His past experience has included running Rock N Rolla, a music newsletter and entertainment guide. All advertising proceeds from the newsletter were used to promote music and education.
Posted in: GI News, Guitar News
Posted September 2, 2011 at 8:05 am | No comments
“Pinball Wizard,” along with “See Me, Feel Me,” is the most famous and enduring songs from The Who’s infamous “rock opera” Tommy. The song tells the story of the deaf, dumb and blind Tommy winning a pinball competition by feeling the vibrations of the machine from the perspective of the champion who he unseats. Despite being a rock ‘n’ roll classic and a staple of countless classic rock stations, composer Pete Townshend at first hated “Pinball Wizard,” thinking it was clumsily written. The rest of the band disagreed immediately upon hearing the song; they could tell it would be a hit.
Posted in: Guitar Tab
