Posted August 12, 2011 at 6:27 am | No comments
“Cyanide” was the third single from Metallica’s 2008 album Death Magnetic, which was seen as a return to form and their early thrash metal roots. The song kicks off with a high energy, wah-fueled introduction that quickly gives way to a surprisingly grooving series of hard rock-inspired riffs under lyrics about suicide and death. About halfway through, the heavy metal riffage gives way to a key change, moving to a softer, yet ominous bridge with Hetfield playing clean guitar chords. This calmer section is short-lived, however, as Kirk Hammett rips a disgusting solo over a series of changing keys, which leads back to the previous verse and chorus, closing with the opening section that introduced the song.
Posted in: Guitar Tab
Posted August 11, 2011 at 6:27 am | No comments
“Blackened” is the first song on Metallica’s iconic album, …And Justice For All. It features a minute long intro that gives way to a much heavier rest of the song, as Metallica so often does, but the band must play a prerecorded intro when playing “Blackened” live. This is necessary because the introduction part on the recording is actually a layered chorus of harmonized guitars played backwards, which would be impractical, although not impossible, to pull off live. The song describes the end of days from some sort of worldwide catastrophe, which reflected fears at the time of nuclear winter from hostile relations between the nuclear powerhouses USSR and the USA.
Posted in: Guitar Tab
Posted August 10, 2011 at 2:33 pm | No comments
Matt Palmer’s The Virtuoso Guitarist Volume 1: A New Approach to Fast Scales just came out a few months ago and it’s already on its 2nd printing! I’ve had the great opportunity to preview it and give feedback, and review it and do the same.
Matt does an excellent job of explaining his technique throughout the book, first giving a brief history of how he developed his technique, and then a complete run down between the approaches to both hands.
Posted in: Classical Reviews, Reviews
Posted August 10, 2011 at 9:03 am | No comments
In May 2002 I was honored to interview a true musical legend, as an artist and as a guitarist, the Kinks’ incomparable Dave Davies. At the time, the six string virtuoso and innovator of the infamously raunchy “You Really Got Me” guitar riff had just released, and was touring the U.S. in support of, his first studio album in nearly twenty years, the imaginative, socially conscious, and critically acclaimed Bug.
Posted in: Interviews, Rock Interviews
Posted August 10, 2011 at 6:27 am | No comments
Metallica’s “Battery,” from their 1986 album Master of Puppets is one of their fastest songs, tearing through five minutes of lightning-fast riff-based thrash metal. Like many Metallica songs, however, it starts with a calm acoustic guitar intro by James Hetfield (who is classically trained). More layers are added on one by one until the rest of the band comes in with much heavier parts. Once they hit the speed metal riff, they do not return to the calmness of the intro, favoring the power and speed of their signature thrash metal. The title “Battery” doesn’t refer to any electricity or Duracell-related themes, although it might seem like it would from other Metallica material (Ride the Lightning comes to mind). Instead, the lyrics refer to “battery” as in “assault and battery,” or the criminal offense for physically attacking someone.
Posted in: Guitar Tab
Posted August 9, 2011 at 10:42 am | 5 comments
The Motor City Mad Man is on the loose and touring the US for his summer I Still Believe tour. While most people are more familiar with Ted for his political candor, music fans know Ted from where it all began, back in 1975 on his first solo CD Ted Nugent.
Posted in: Guitar Hero Interviews, Interviews, Rock Interviews
Posted August 9, 2011 at 6:27 am | No comments
“Am I Evil?” is a song originally by Diamond Head, a heavily influential heavy metal band from Britain, generally regarded as one of the key groups of the new wave of British heavy metal. The song was made famous by metal giants Metallica through their cover, which appeared on the 1988 reissue of their iconic album Kill ‘Em All and plenty of live shows over the years. Metallica has also covered many other Diamond Head songs in concert, including “Sucking My Love” and “The Prince.” Of the Diamond Head version, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich has said it is “the heaviest song that’s ever been recorded.”
Posted in: Guitar Tab
Posted August 8, 2011 at 3:33 pm | No comments
The Arc Angels, their sole 1992 self-titled international release on Geffen Records, and the epic, incendiary musical maelstrom that they divined in their short lived body of work, ignited fireworks of accolades from both the public and the music industry, further propelling Sexton’s career and renown into the stratosphere to this very day. But personal problems and creative differences among the band’s members forced The Arc Angels’ dissolution in 1994, just as they were only beginning to fulfill their promise.
Posted in: Blues Interviews, Interviews, Rock Interviews
Posted August 8, 2011 at 3:33 pm | 3 comments
In October 2002, I was honored to interview Texas singer, songwriter, guitar virtuoso extraordinaire, the incomparable Charlie Sexton. Sexton was, at the time, taking a few hours break from his extensive and very esteemed gig as Bob Dylan’s tour guitarist, which after some three very high profile, prestigious years’ tenure from 1999 to 2002, was coming to an end, due to Charlie’s stellar and in demand forays as a producer. Also getting in the way was writing and crafting his fourth solo album, 2005’s Cruel And Gentle Things.
Posted in: Blues Interviews, Interviews, Rock Interviews
Posted August 8, 2011 at 3:33 pm | No comments
Charlie Sexton is an extraordinary gifted artist, whose lifetime musical odyssey has profoundly touched, as well as likewise been charted, by the extraordinary circumstances, fate, and people of music legend, legend of which the revered Sexton has often arguably been a part of himself.
Posted in: Blues Interviews, Interviews, Rock Interviews
