Jack Flash Jr wrote:
I guess the issue for me is why should a shred fan look down on a blues fan when being exceptional in any genre is difficult. 3 notes or 300, sounding perfect can be harder than getting to the moon. At our level it is easier to impress with more notes than with fewer and more difficult rhythms IMHO.
Well I think that this whole mentality kinda started when shred players kept receiving flak from blues players about the whole excess of notes thing. The problem is somehow someone threw the first insult many years ago and now it's just become a free for all. I have no issues with blues, I hate rehashed boring crap that's obviously just borderline plagerism but I hate that in every genre. I myself am quite a fan of Richie Kotzen's blues playing and a few others, I think the classic players like Buddy Guy, BB King etc are cool - even if I don't listen to them that often if ever, I definitly think those guys have some amazing stage persona ? I'm even okay with Clapton, albeit everything from Cream up to his heroin days - I don't think anything that came out after he cleaned up should have happened though ? I really can't stand John Mayer, personal preference, he's a good player but my dear lord IMHO his music is whiny and gay...it's a shame because he started off showing so much potential before just becoming a commercial pop star...
I suppose at the end of the day it's what floats your boat ? Shawn Lane's Powers of 10 and the work he did with Jonas Hellborg float mine, I don't know why my brain is hardwired to like lots of notes and can make sense of warp speed passages, it just happens like that ??? There are lots of people in the world that probably feel the same way, and lots who don't, I think the disrespect kinda happens when people have become very defensive owing to years of ridicule of their favourite music. Dealing with yet another person giving you the regular talk down about speed and complexity just gets infuriating and the quickest way to get them to shove off is generally just to insult whatever it is that they're trying to compare your favourite music to ?
It's just opinion at the end of the day, in my opinion Planet-X are the greatest thing since sliced bread - in yours it's probably all just a painful noise ? So long as people state their opinion as opinion and not fact I believe shredders and blues players can all get along.
If you ever want to see/hear something that pretty much covers this check out Bumblefoot's "I can't play the blues" it's one of the most cynical and hilarious songs ever and pretty much insults both shredders and blues players at the same time ?
In fact here are the lyrics - Go find the song ?
"I play as fast as I can - I'm the Gingerbread Man
With a fast hand - won't ya kick me outta your band
I only play for me - I'm the king of Unity
I'm a team of one - a defective hired gun
I play like a ham, well that makes me Spam
And then I wonder why nobody ever wants to jam
Cause ya feel like a pawn in a volume war
And I'm the only one who bothers keeping score
Because I got no feel - I got no emotion
My riffs aren't real - I just go through the motions
I'm fulla tricks and trinkets that I always use
I aint got much choice - I can't play the blues
And just in case I'm in a finger race
I keep it up and I keep pretending that I win the chase
But if ya play faster than the speed of light (according to Einstein)
Ya go back in time - and end up in the 80's
With our big hair
Jackets with fringes
Stretch pants
Mascara
Choreographed kicking
You got a big laugh outta 70's disco
But you became the same by a different name
Ya forgot to change your calendar 10 years in a row
Now ya can't find the pace of the new game
I play it like a ham, yeah with lots of spice
I'm the Son Of Spam in a block of ice
Yeah, I can't lay back - I get all confused
And if I slow it down you'll see the riffs I already used
Yeah I actually believe that if I wail up and down a scale
Then the world is gonna get up on their feet and yell...
"Hail Ronald! Hail Ronald!
Take your big head and go to Hail, Ronald!"
Yeah, I can't lay back - I get all confused
And if I slow it down you'll see the riffs I already used
I play like a ham, well that makes me Spam
And then I wonder why nobody ever wants to jam"
The great thing about this song is that the solos pretty much complete dominate and show that he is capable of some scary shredding and some tasteful blues playing all at once ?
