So, I was thinking to myself the other day: “What could I possibly write about that would enrapture the senses and entreat the soul?” I pondered upon this for a long while, but could not actually come up with anything. So, instead of something engaging and relevant, you get this.
I’ve never really understood why it is that in modern music, there is an absence of ball-busting guitar solos. I think everyone, in the back of their mind, knows what made music great back in the day: Kick ass instrumental solos. And effective use of heroin. You can’t really beat the effective utilization of heroin when writing songs. But that’s not the point. Everytime I turn on the radio, and am not listening to classic rock (i.e., someone forcefully turns on an alt rock station), I’m utterly disgusted by the crappy lyrics in a vocally dominated artform. These modern bands, they overwhelm the senses with shitty, depressing lyrics, bland and uniform voices that you can barely tell from one band to another, uninspired instrumental backing, and, overall, a severe lack of guitar solos. Now, they try to fool ya’. The singer stops, you know, tossing shit out of his mouth, and there’s a slight break in the monotony, where you think they’re just gonna’ break off and go Eruption on your ass. How fuckin’ wrong are you? No, they start a subtly differing guitar riff, which they then decide needs words. I’ve never heard of a guitar solo with words. Sort of defeats the purpose, doesn’t it? For some reason, people have forgotten that sometimes, words aren’t important. Just, go listen to some Pink Floyd (specifically Comfortably Numb), or perhaps the Rain Song by Led Zeppelin. The words there are important, yet, they aren’t the main attraction. They strike a balance between the vocal portion, and the instruments. That’s what we need. I want some more God damned rock on the air, not this pussy ass shit they try to pass off as the “next generation of music”. Music doesn’t need a damned next generation, especially when this generation is fading, and fading fast. Honestly, can you name a recent band that’s really pushed the envelope? That’s made a lasting impression on you? That’s changed the face of music? I can’t. It’s sickening, really. But rock has yet to be written off as dead. It will rise, rise from the ashes, like the phoenix of legend. It shall be reborn, and cleanse the earth with its holy sound. To quote AC/DC: “Rock n’ roll ain’t noise pollution/ Rock n’ roll ain’t gonna’ die.
Brendan Madden.