South Carolina hard-rockers Crossfade have just released their third studio album, We All Bleed, after three years in the making. The record delves into lyrical themes of betrayal and isolation—a Crossfade trademark—but there’s also more than a hint of renewal and resolution. It’s the voice we remember with the dark songs brought by the arrival of co-writer and co-producer, guitarist Les Hall to the core.
“Barracuda” is hard rock band, Heart’s signature song. The galloping intro riff, often compared to “Achilles’ Last Stand” by Led Zeppelin, is punctuated by natural 12th fret harmonics, which guitarist Nancy Wilson bends with a tremolo bar. As the band’s second million-selling single, the success of “Barracuda” led to a Rolling Stone front page appearance in the July issue of 1977. A favorite of many hard rock fans, “Barracuda” is a classic rock radio staple, and is 34th on VH1’s list of best hard rock songs.
Released on both Green Day’s Dookie and Kerplunk!, “Welcome to Paradise” is one of their most recognizable songs, which is saying something for a band who has had as many hits as this threesome of punks. “Welcome to Paradise” was written by all three Green Day members, Billy Joe Armstrong, Tre Cool, and Mike Dirnt, and is about their experience moving out of their parents’ houses and into an abandoned warehouse.
Green Day’s second single to reach the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 was 2005’s “Wake Me Up When September Ends.” It was the fourth single off of Green Day’s seventh album and first concept album, American Idiot. While it appears as part of a concept album, the song is not about a character like most of the album. It is actually an homage to his late father, a jazz musician who died on September 10th, 1982. The song heavily features Green Day’s backup guitarist, Jason White, as it requires more than Green Day’s usual one guitar, bass and drums.
With its iconic five descending power chords, “Brain Stew” is one of the simplest and catchiest songs by punk rockers Green Day. The chords are the same five as the famous intro chords of “25 or 6 to 4” by Chicago, but in “Brain Stew,” those five chords make up the music for the entire song. Because of its simplicity, many garage bands play this song as one of their first covers. Released in 1996 as a single for Green Day’s fourth album, Insomniac, and was originally a medley, with their “Jaded” beginning right at the end of “Brain Stew” with no break in the music.
“Basket Case” was Green Day’s third single off their breakout album, Dookie. Released in 1994, the song was the most popular single from that album, topping “Longview” and “Welcome to Paradise.” The lyrics, written by singer/guitarist Billy Joe Armstrong, deal with his panic disorder. Before he was diagnosed, he thought he was going crazy, and the only way to deal with it was to write a song about it. The music, loosely based on Pachelbel’s Canon, feature driving palm-muted power chords that give way into full-blown typical Green Day chordage after the first chorus.
Nothing like some down home on the bajou rock to keep things cooking on a hot swampy night at Northern Virginia’s open air venue, the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts in Vienna where Creedence Clearwater Revisited played hit after hit of their former self, Creedence Clearwater Revival. The Revisited cast of performers includes two of the original CCR members, Doug “Cosmo” Clifford (drums) and bassist, Stuart Cook. So, you got the beat and the bass backbone from the ‘60s and ‘70s harnessed to Kurt Griffey on lead guitar, Steve Gunner stationed at his Korg Triton keyboard and the CCR lead vocals by John Tristao, who’s got the grit and the timbre to make the rafters shake.
“Iris” is the best-known song by Buffalo, New York band Goo Goo Dolls. It appeared in the movie City of Angels, and the music video features clips of the film throughout. A very heartfelt recording, “Iris” features ringing guitars, mandolin, and a string section that highlight the emotions conveyed. Receiving three Grammy nominations, the single was certified Platinum in the United States in 2008.
There are few genres of jazz that are more imposing and intimidating to guitarists than Bebop. It is fast, full of intensity, requires a thorough knowledge of one’s instrument and a deep understanding of the vocabulary used by the great Bebopers, both past and present. While many Bebop learning methods tend to uphold the genre’s complicated reputation, there are others that do a great job of breaking down this amazing music. Making it easy to understand and learn for players of all experience levels, tastes and backgrounds.
Jazz, like many genres of music, is defined by its classifications. Is this artist a Beboper? Is this artist a Modern Jazz performer? Do they play Modal Jazz, or Latin Jazz, or Fusion? It seems that everyone from record companies to festivals to radio stations to fans are constantly trying to figure out how to categorize artists and their musical output. This is a great way to help fans figure out if they will like a new artist, being able to compare them to an artist they already know, but it also leads to problems because some artists just don’t seem to fit into any one category of classification with their music.
