Angel Dust on 24/11/2008 at 23:44
Quote Posted by PigLick
You gotta remember that the rhythm guitar work was Izzy Stradlin, and that gave Slash a solid base to wail over.
Slash actually did a hell of a lot of rhythm work. Izzy would just play the bare bones chord changes most of the time and the riffs and layers is all Slash. I'm not saying Izzy was useless, because his loose jangly feel is important and he was a big part of the writing process, but I would just like it clear that Slash did a hell of a lot more than just wail. It's also interesting that people measure a bassists input by their bass riffs alone and if they aren't different form the guitar part then they didn't write anything when it's quite possible that the bass player wrote the riff and the guitarist followed that. In my experience the bass player usually has a big hand in song construction and arranging side of things. Most of them, of course, can play guitar and Duff can play drums also. I believe Duff was actually responsible for the Paradise City chorus melody and progression too.
On Chinese Democracy: The problem is that it's just a collection of meticulously arranged and produced turds and that's it.
And yeah fett, Living Colour was(is?) awesome although I don't share your appreciation of Traci Guns. He always struck me as another one of those mediocre lead players off the 80's production line who were constantly over-playing which is fine as long as you've got the licks to back it up and keep it interesting eg Nuno
PigLick on 25/11/2008 at 01:14
actually if you listen carefully to Appetite, all Stradlins guitar is panned hard right?(maybe left) he has a nice Keith Richards thing going on.
Generally it tends to be the best songwriters in a group who end up writing songs, regardless of what instrument they play (who would have thought)
Any decent musician should be able to play at least 2 instruments(bass and guitar dont count).
The thing I liked about Slash's playing is that there was a real 'scale-centric' mindset at the time, like 'ok heres a really fast phrygian-dominant run, and now some diminished arps, then look how clever I am - string skipping!", whereas Slash really had hold of that minor/major pentatonic blues combination, and would use passing tones and chromaticism for extra tastiness, just really solid melodic playing.
Scots Taffer on 25/11/2008 at 01:20
oh yeah, totally
what the fuck are they talking about
PigLick on 25/11/2008 at 01:21
you have to be a guitar nerd, dude
like a regular nerd, only worse
Stitch on 25/11/2008 at 01:36
Yeah, Slash's signature sound was unstoppable, its welcome return was one of the first things that struck me with Velvet Revolver. "Oh yeah, that's fucking Slash playing."
Plus he pulled off the shirtless-with-top-hat look in a decidedly non-gay manner, just fucking stop to think on that for a second.
And this thread needs more Izzy love, some of G n R's best songs have that guy's name on them. His departure was pretty much the beginning of the end, really.
PigLick on 25/11/2008 at 01:40
hehe you're right, a guy with no shirt and a top hat could only really be in the Scissor Sisters these days, but hey you gotta put it in perspective, look at what some other bands were wearing back then.
ercles on 25/11/2008 at 01:41
On the topic of bands backing up from huge albums, Pink Floyd went on a pretty epic run of albums after Dark Side of the Moon... Although none were as good, they certainly don't suck like Use Your Illusion. Alternately look at Tool, who are obviously far less mainstream, but still a huge band in their own respect. Before they released 10,000 days, their other three albums were all of a very high calibre. Also, Radiohead followed up OK Computer with Kid A. It seems that it is almost impossible for these bands to match the huge influence that turned these albums into classics, but they certainly managed to avoid turning into a train wreck. Must've been the drugs, because Tool are hard to match on the ego side of things
Angel Dust on 25/11/2008 at 02:09
Quote Posted by Scots Taffer
oh yeah, totally
what the fuck are they talking aboutBasically Slash is a goddamn natural and as cheesy as it sounds he doesn't think about what he's playing, like 95% of guitar players, he just
feels it. He plays with his ear not his brain which you would already know of course but that's the translation. :thumb:
Regarding Izzy, I was merely summing up several interviews from the G'n'R boys. He was absolutely invaluable to songwriting process but not so much during the recording. Basically Izzy would lay down the rhythm with the band and that would be it, as he wasn't really into multiple takes etc. Note this is not out of laziness but just due to the fact that recording multiple takes and layers isn't his thing. I'm not trying to belittle his contributions, as I said his jangly rough style is important, but just trying to correct the misconception that Slash's contributions started and ended with wailing.
Gingerbread Man on 25/11/2008 at 02:38
Quote Posted by ercles
On the topic of bands backing up from huge albums, Pink Floyd went on a pretty epic run of albums after Dark Side of the Moon... Although none were as good, they certainly don't suck like Use Your Illusion.
Man what are you even saying? Wish You Were Here, Animals, and The Wall come right after Dark Side. All massively awesome albums. Then what? Fuck all. I mean, I really like Final Cut and about 1/5 of Delicate Sound, but honestly what are you asserting here?
I'm happy to agree that Dark Side is a huge album, but either you forgot the next three entirely (A Nice Pair certainly doesn't count as an intervening album) or you're of the opinion that they weren't that important.
And, by extension of the conclusion, that Division Bell, Pulse, and the EIGHT POST-WALL COMPILATION ALBUMS THAT CONTINUE TO DRAG DAVE GILMOUR'S BOOZE-SOAKED ASS THROUGH THE WORLD LIKE A HIDEOUS BALDHEAD FAT ZOMBIE UNABLE TO REST OR LET US REST EITHER, are on a par with Wish You Were Here, Animals, and The Wall.
wow I think I just started channeling waters there for a sec :wot:
ercles on 25/11/2008 at 03:45
No I love the three albums that come after Darkside, and if you count meddle they include probably the best run of albums I can name from any band. Animals is one of my favourite albums of all time.
But they just can't match dark side for sheer consistency, and popularity. There are no dud tracks on Dark Side. Meddle (Seamus?), Wish You Were Here (welcome to the machine), Animals (dogs really drags in parts) all have there down sides. The Wall I loved for a long time as a concept album, but musically it is a bit absurd.
Dark Side was just so influential, and so perfect, both in the production value and the sheer quality of the music. Although it certainly has been tainted by so many fratboys yelling about how deep it is, the sheer magnitude of what they achieved with it fucking epic.
