Worst solo ever.

[recon6]

And there was me thinking he just copied the Pixies and got lucky

I was thinking the same thing and the Pixies were what '85ish.


:edit: oh, yeah that Fred Durst thing was freaking awful.

 

[GoldFalcon]

Weeelll, Frank Black didn't have Cobain's qualities. He lacked the magnetism and Cobain's vocal flair. Say what you wan't about Kurt's skills as an axeman, but the guy had a very distinctive and appealing voice. The case could be made that Nirvana was just rippin' off the Pixies, but the fact is that "Wave of Mutilation" was the closest the Pixies ever got to a crossover hit and --while it is a dead cool tune-- it's no "Smells Like Teen Spirit".

As a guy who went through the whole shift in that time period from classic rock to heavy metal to punk to alternative to grunge I think it is a bit myopic to say that the Pixies influenced Nirvana more than, say, the Misfits, Jesus and Mary Chain, Black Flag, R.E.M., the Sex Pistols, JFA, DK, or any other number of punk/alternative/college rockers of the day might have.

None of those bands pulled it off either. The reason "Bleach" made such a splash and "Nevermind" such an explosion is because they were so consistantly good throughout --something that couldn't be said of the Pixies, or XTC, or early Soundgarden whose records were hit and miss affairs. "Nevermind" was huge because it was a damned good record that sounded like nothing else out at the time.

The Pixies weren't the first to use the soft/loud/soft model and Nirvana wasn't the only band using that model at the time. Kurt was a package that was unique: good looks, hip style, oozing cool, helluva good songwriter, and a creative guitarist who made the most of his talent in unique and creative ways.

*Full Disclosure: Yes. I have been to "Kurt's Bench" and was a fan, though not rabid about it (never saw 'em play live).

 

[thediscoking]

This is my common complaint with so many guitarists (I was in this category too)... They see [insert jazz-great soloist name here] with these amazing chops, playing in strange time signatures and blazing through every scale this side of the Prime Meridian. So, they learn the chops, the time signatures, etc. They don't realize that before Miles/Bird/Hendrix even played a note, there was so much thought and philosophy behind what they were doing; the theory and chops were a tool that they used to express themselves.... theory/chop virtuosity was icing, not cake.

(I'll take this chance to say that bassists, key players, drummers, etc. are guilty of this too, but guitarists seem to be the worst.... Sorry )

Satriani/Vai syle solos are just plain painful to me. A friend of mine showed me the G3 DVD with, (in order from best to worst), Satriani, Vai and Malmsteen... a two hour pissing contest of absolute musical hell. Sure, they can play every note on the guitar eight times in 1.6 seconds... is that supposed to be cool? It's impressive, but it doesn't stick, at least, not to me. Listen to Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond Part I".... when David Gilmour hits that first note, DAMN! That note shoots right through you! For my taste, he accomplishes more in one note than Steve Vai accomplishes with an album.

Give me Harrison's three note lick in "Dear Prudence". That's the cake, baby!

Not that there isn't a time to show instrument virtuosity, but can the G3 guys learn to shut the hell up when they butcher "Voodoo Chili (Slight Return)" and maybe listen to each other?

I used to be the chop guy, learning Dream Theater and all that and writing the most technically progressive music that I could muster. Then, I discovered The Velvet Underground.

The Velvets ruined everything..... in a good way