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

New Music (Thursday) Friday

Hey there everyone welcome to my last blog post of the week. As you may know if you regularly follow me on here I usually do New Music Thursday's but in my absent mindedness I forgot that yesterday was The Day The Music Died so I had to blog about that. Therefore today's post will be New Music Thursday on Friday.

For this round of new music I would like to take us to Texas which has bred many fine musicians and groups from Stevie Ray Vaughan to ZZ Top and countless others. Well the next guitar slinger/musician to come from Texas is a good one and he is only 19 years old! That man ladies and gentleman is Tyler Bryant.

Now Tyler Bryant is not a household name yet but I feel that he will be sooner rather than later. He was one of the featured artists in the movie Rock Prophecies that came out last year and he is a rising star in the world of blues and rock.

What makes Bryant so special. Is it the fact that he can shred on a guitar like some of the greats. Or is the fact that girls love him for his model like looks and boyish charm. Either way I think the combination of this could be deadly in today's music world because a record company can actually have a musician that has the looks that are "oh so important" and on top of it guess what, he's actually good at what he does! Wow shocker right?

Listen to some examples of Bryant's work. From his roaring cover of Jimi Hendrix's Foxy Lady to his originals such as Lipstick Wonder Woman, You Make Me, and Two Hearts Collide, there are many great songs out there by this young artist that have great appeal not on just a blues/rock level but on the mainstream as well.

I think it is only a matter of time before Tyler Bryant is a household name and the next guitar icon. If he keep on the path he is currently on it will happen. Mark my words, Tyler Bryant is the next big thing in the long line of Texas guitar slingers.

Until next time keep on rocking away music lovers,
JAS

Stevie Ray Vaughan: Never Another Like Him

Hey everybody I'm back for my third week of blogging on Music Reviews by a Musician and I've decided to start off the week with something special to me.



Stevie Ray Vaughan

Last Friday I talked about what makes a guitarist special and I mentioned one in particular; Stevie Ray Vaughan. The reason I focused on SRV for Friday's blog is because he is my first and truly number one inspiration for my guitar playing. Stevie Ray Vaughan is a very special guitarist in many, many ways. His tone, phrasing, stage presence, soul, and heart poured through every song he played and made him the soul reason in my opinion that blues music became popular again in the 1980's.

From his debut album "Texas Flood" until his untimely death in a helicopter crash on August 27, 1990 in Alpine Valley, Wisconsin; SRV completely turned the world of guitar and blues music on its ear and made people stop and listen to his music when they heard it.

His fiery Texas style guitar playing combined with elements of R&B, jazz, early blues pioneers, and influence from other artists like T-Bone Walker, Otis Rush, Lightning Hopkins, and most notably Jimi Hendrix on top of countless others became a centerpiece for a remarkable career.

From early hits on songs like Pride and Joy, Texas Flood, Voodoo Chile, and Love Struck Baby to later hits such as Couldn't Stand the Weather, Crossfire, Tightrope, and The House is Rockin, SRV turned on a whole new generation of guitar players to the blues. And his effect is still being felt today some 20 years after his death.

Countless young artists are doing their best to pick up where SRV left off after his passing and keep the blues alive. Guys like Joe Bonamassa, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Tyler Bryant, Jonny Lang, and even John Mayer all have elements of SRV's playing infused into their playing styles and they are all doing their part to keep alive a type of music that is slowly dying away amidst the mainstream music today.

But even then no matter how hard these guys try there is no way to duplicate or match what SRV did and still does today. He was a phenomenal talent that will never, ever be matched in my opinion. He is simply an amazing talent and the odds of someone like him coming along in the future are very small. If I were a betting man I would not put money on that. That is why I feel that there will never be another like him.

Until next time keep on rocking away music lovers,

JAS

Image coutesy of Joe Bielawa, Creative Commons/Flickr

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)