Thank God; Guitar Hero is Dead!!!!

Young people all around the globe have
 been playing Guitar Hero since its debut in 2005.

Hey there everyone welcome back to my blog Music Reviews by a Musician. Today I found out something very interesting that has just made my day awesome. Apparently Activision, makers of the game series "Guitar Hero", have announced that they are done making the product due to declining sales in the music industry.

First off THANK GOD!!!!

I absolutely hate "Guitar Hero" and what it has done to the music industry. This game is a giant joke in my opinion. It gives thousands of kids the opportunity to "play guitar" without putting a lot of effort into it. Well here's my advice all along; go out and learn the real thing! You would be much better off if you did that than sitting on your couch playing a mindless video game. It will get you nowhere.

I have spent almost 8 hard years learning to play guitar and I can say that I'm happy with where that has taken me and the hard work I have put into something meaningful. For those people who sit around and play "Guitar Hero" all day, what are you getting out of it. Good hand eye coordination? Seriously why don't you challenge yourself to the real thing.

I am so happy that this game is dying. Maybe now it will force young kids to get off the couch, get out of the house, and maybe enjoy music for real if that's what they are looking for. Screw the video game, hand a kid a Fender, Gibson, or Ibanez and get him some lessons. At least it is a worthwhile activity and a few lessons would probably equal out to buying the game equipment and gaming system anyway.

Plus by pushing kids into playing an instrument, we help create a new generation of musicians to keep bringing music to the ears of the world. Who knows where the next great natural guitarist will come from. Maybe with some encouragement and a real instrument, instead of a plastic guitar controller, we might find the next Eddie Van Halen or Jimi Hendrix. If anything kids may enjoy the music they tried to play on "Guitar Hero" by actually learning it on a real guitar.

Until next time keep on rocking away music lovers,
JAS

Photo used from Creative Commons/Flickr, Max Strzelecki

Who Is the Greatest Guitarist To Date

Rolling Stone's article on the 100 Greatest Guitarists is widely looked at as one of the best, comprehensive lists of the world's greatest guitar players to date. However as much as many people tend to agree with this list, I have some minor discrepancies with it. So for my first blog post I would like to look at Rolling Stone's top 10 guitarists on their list and explain how I think the top 5 should look.

For starters here is the top ten from Rolling Stone:

10) Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones

9) Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin

8) Ry Cooder

7) Stevie Ray Vaughan

6) Chuck Berry
5) Robert Johnson

4) Eric Clapton

3) BB King

2) Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band

1) Jimi Hendrix

Now this list is very good. All of these men have provided something significant to the guitar world throughout their careers. However I believe that the greatest guitarists list should have some basis for technicality of playing, contributions to the instrument, body of works, and overall influence. In that case my top 5 would look something like this.

5) Eric Clapton- Clapton is a very great guitar player. From his early days with Cream to his solo stuff today he continues to unleash that wonderful tone and sound that keeps people coming back for more. The one thing that I think keeps Clapton lower is because although he has influenced many, some of his music is not what people like to hear out of him. I think Clapton would be higher if he would let that blues flag fly and show off that vocabulary much more than he does with his solo recordings.

4) Duane Allman- Two words, slide guitar! Duane Allman was a slide master and he helped bring the Allman Brothers Band to fame. Had his career not been cut short like many other great guitarists I can only imagine what he would have accomplished.

3) Stevie Ray Vaughan- Now I am a huge Stevie Ray fan and nut. The first blues/rock guitar experience I had was listening to his debut album Texas Flood. Some say that he was a Hendrix clone but to that I say not entirely. People copy other people's licks all the time in the guitar world. SRV was an amazingly technical guitarist and he provide tons of great music in such a short time period. Had he been around longer I think he could have easily been the best guitarist in the world. This was just another career cut short by an untimely death.

2) Eddie Van Halen- Rolling Stone shocked me with this. Eddie Van Halen is nowhere near the top 10, in fact he is at number 70 on their list. Are you kidding me! Eddie Van Halen, love him or hate him, is one of the world's supreme guitar players. There are some that question whether or not he came up with the tapping concept on guitar but either way his mastery and use of it influenced so many young guitarists in the 1980's and it helped Van Halen sell millions of records. The man is a guitar genius and he deserves to be recognized as one. That definitely means he is not the 70th best guitarist out of 100 all time!

1) Jimi Hendrix- You cannot argue with this one very much. Jimi Hendrix is arguably the most innovative, most influential guitarist to this date. The body of works that he compiled in a short time span are some of the most influential works on the guitar. Countless guitarists young and old study his works to better understand his techniques and ideas. Had Hendrix lived longer than he did there is no telling what he would have accomplished. The man was one of a kind and I do not think there will ever be another like him.

So that is my top 5 guitarists of all time. Granted I will probably never be able to play like any of these guys or any of the guys off Rolling Stone's top 10 I still am influenced by many of them and their work on the guitar has helped make it what it is today. If you would like to share your thoughts on my top 5 feel free to comment as I will always accept feedback and discussion.

Until next time keep on rocking away music lovers,

JAS

Photo courtesy of Flickr, tuppus (tup wanders)