Friday, December 25, 2009

Have a "Killer" Christmas Guys !

Here's wishing everyone a Merry Christmas ! Have a great weekend with your loved ones!

*JOY TO ALL*


Here's a nice song by "The Killers":




ENJOY !

Sunday, December 20, 2009

The Technical Magic in Music: The ADSR envelope

Hey guys ! I got my friend vocalist, who had earlier written the post : "Analog and Digital Recordings: Views, Misuses and The Present Context " , to write another one for me. And here it is! It might be a little bit technical stuff, but there's something for everyone to read on.

Rock singer Ian Gillan performing live with De...Image via Wikipedia


"
This content is basically for all the musicians but especially for the vocalists out there. I'm going to discuss about the sound envelope i.e. the modulation and various changes a sound faces while traveling . The sound envelope contains 4 major components, which are-

1. Attack
2. Decay
3. Sustain
4. Release

1. Attack- A Sound starts from attack. The attack time is very quick and It is the time when the amplitude of the sound reaches the peak level.

2. Decay- During decay time, the amplitude of the sound drops quickly.

3. Sustain-Its the time when the amplitude and the harmonics of a sound are maintained. This is the time where you get to hear the actual depth of the sound.

4. Release- During release time, the harmonics and the amplitude gradually decrease and audibility is lost.

Well, now that were just the technical parts.

Now just take out your guitar and play any open string once. You will observe that the note stays for a time and then it gradually decreases. In technical terms, an open string has greater sustain and release time. Similarly if you play a muted guitar you will find that the attack time is greater than the sustain time.

Now its time to give some advice to the vocalists.
Just make your mind clear with the ADSR envelope first. Now when you are singing, just increase your attack time and decrease you sustain time. This is how a vocalist shows his skills !

Let me tell you some songs which have got a high attack time. Listen to "Victim Of Changes" of Judas Priest. In the last part when he screams thrice, in that case the attack time is more than the sustain time and finally when he screams continuously for 5 seconds, in that case it has got high attack and sustain time but a very short release time.

One more song in which you have a similar attack and sustain time and less release time is "Child In Time" of Deep Purple. Basically attack time is more in high pitch screams.


Now its your time to do experiments with ADSR. Try to make various changes with your vocals by increasing or decreasing the time limit of any of these four components. Its really easy ! Just changing a fraction of a second of any of these components will bring out something new and this is how you can show your skills and create your own style of Vocals !

My best wishes to all budding Vocalists! Keep singing guys !
"






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Sunday, December 13, 2009

Stairway To Heaven, but A Highway To Hell !






Guys, Notice the irony here ! Rock gave us just a stairway to reach heaven, and a lot easier and faster highway to reach hell !

Well, that's what's life is about too ! Ending up your life doing miserable, ugly things is a lot easier, but being noble and a nice human being is actually difficult, because you have to bear everything really patiently, and never commit a mistake or else you'll fall down all the stairs that Led Zeppelin gave us to reach heaven, and you would be accelerating on AC/DC's Highway to Hell!. AC/DC= Anti Christ/Devil's Children. The way towards heaven is long but the way towards hell is very easy. Rock music is not all about doing anti social things. Rock is the only genre of music where you get every kind of feel. Rock includes everything, from social issues to antichrist songs, from love to family disputes and inspiring songs which sometimes boosts up your mind so much, encourages you and gives you strength to achieve your hardest dream. Rock influences a lot and makes your mind to work appropriately if you are seriously following it.

Hope you gave out a small little laugh reading another of my rather silly random thoughts, did you ?

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Analog and Digital Recordings: Views, Misuses and The Present Context

Well, guys, I got a really great friend of mine, who's also a vocalist and is pursuing a course in Sound Recording, to write down a short post for my blog, and he very kindly agreed. This is a Must read for anyone who listens to music, or even still, is A Vocalist himself ! The present generation seems to be really scarce of pure talented musicians, most of whom are just there for money and fame, unlike what used to be the Driving force decades ago !

My friend has given some useful information about recordings and has also penned down his really worthy views about this, that I'm presenting to you all. He also agreed to write more about Sound Recordings and related technical stuff too, that may appear in my future posts on this blog ! So, stay tuned !

Here's what he said:


"
During the 70's era there were some of the finest rock bands in action. Bands Like Led Zeppelin, Queen, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath came out with new kind of sounds. The most amazing thing about these bands was they were so skilled in their instruments that during that time we had no advanced technologies for recordings but still their music sounded pleasant to our ears. Well this shows how talented these musicians were. During the 70's era, Analog recording was most prominent. Gradually, digital music came into existence. Albums like 'Appetite for Destruction' of the Guns N' Roses is an example of digital recording.

Digital recordings can give you a much better quality. Through Digital Recording, you can put various sound effects and can increase the loudness of a song, or some parts of it too. The loudness war has become a major reason for the decrease of skilled musicians in the current generation. Nowadays in most of the albums, the Dynamics (i.e., the range from the low sound to the high sound) of a song is controlled and the loudness is increased which means that there is a little difference between the quiet and the louder sections, overall snatching the emotional power of the song. That is the reason why most of today's songs have a rather dominating effect even if a vocalist is hitting an E4 note. This didn't happen in the 70's or 60's as during that time vocalists like Plant, Gillan and Daltrey used to hit really high notes but just because the amplitude was not raised much, youngsters now feel that they are hitting quite normal notes in their songs. During that time, the dynamics were not touched so much and putting in an effect in a song was quite difficult. In the song Bohemian Rhapsody of Queen, there had been about 170 times overdubbing for the intro vocal part! This could have been easily done, with just the click of a button if we had digital recording at that time!

Well, we are misusing digital recording to a large extent today. If the story continues like this, then we may not even be able to make out a talented band as all of the recordings will be done digitally and the musicians would be doing nothing at all ! Anyone with even a croaking voice would be An Idol for musicians yet to come, and this might be the end of a Genuine talented, hard working era of vocalists after all ! And even today, much of it is clearly visible in most of the bands that we hear out, who are just puppets of a Recording Master, who transforms their worthless 'talent' , though unfortunately, into a great voice !

"

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Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Greatest Rock Frontmen

This list has been the toughest one for me to select and sort out the best amongst the best. Me being a vocalist too, feel that without a great frontman in a band a live performance cannot live up to the expectations of the crowd. Though how much good the music is but if the frontman is poor the crowd will hesitate to indulge themselves with the band. The list basically focuses on the stage performances done by these great vocalists and not on their vocal abilities.

I have also attached some of their live performances for all you rock fans to get some glimpses of some of these immortal artists who taught us How To Rock !


6. Roger Daltrey ( The Who) - Till date people want to rush to a concert of The Who not because of their music( no doubt about their music, Its legendary) but because of Daltrey's Stage performance which is still the same as it was during the 60's. He had been an icon for many modern rockstars and classic rockstars like Bono, Steven Tyler etc.













5. Bono (U2), Jimi Hendrix - I am compelled to put these rockers together because it was very difficult for me to exclude one frontman from these 6 sorted out vocalists. Coming to hendrix, he had been an on stage legendary rocker. People preferred to listen his live performances rather than his studio recordings because of his crazy and wild acts of guitaring on stage. When it comes to Bono, there is only one thing that is ignited in a concert of U2 among of all ages and that's: Emotions. Every concert of U2 has got an emotional touch. Bono is the man who can easily bring out tears in eyes of each of his fans.








4. Bruce Springsteen- Well, I earlier had completely forgot "The Boss", but my really kind friends notified me in the "Comments Section" below. Well, any such list without Bruce Springsteen would never be complete and creditable, and I honestly agree to that too. Bruce has been a great entertainer on stage, and he seems to have such ounces of energy , that its really difficult to get your eyes off him for even a moment. He bangs on his guitar so hard, and the audience is simply dancing to his tunes all the time ! The guy is simply a GOD on stage. What a pity I forgot to mention him !









3. Jim Morrison ( The Dorrs)- The poet, the legend, the icon and the greatest star. I think this man was the most weird performer and it was his weirdness only that became an acclaimed style. Girls were fond of his doped behavior and his hairstyle and his high IQ level. He was a versatile man and every kind of person adored him. Some liked him for his intelligence, some for his high doping attitude and some for his weird and censored acts on stage.











2. Freddie Mercury ( Queen) - What more a crowd would want if the vocalist himself is singing " we will rock you" for them. He had a unique quality of charging up the crowd and compelling them to sing with him. Definitely there had been a huge loss in the entire rock history by losing a man who had so much of versatility in music and frontmenship.










1. Elvis Presley / Mick Jagger (The Rolling Stones
)- No comparisons with any other frontmen for these two rockers! They deserve this position For sure.

About Mick Jagger, I know he is not a great vocalist like Freddie Mercury and Roger Daltrey but when it comes to performance, then he is a God. The toughest job in a concert of The rolling Stones to handle the crowd. The crowd in their concert has always been huge and each person in the crowd had only one desire : to jump onto the stage and hug Mick Jagger!!






And Finally, about Elvis Presley : The King of Rock n Roll ! The man who started it all ! He had a really versatile voice and left his mark on almost all genres known, notably Rock n Roll, Blues, Pop, Country and Ballads. Right from his start, He has created innumerable records in terms of Concert Audience, Album Sales and Ratings. Not only as a Rock n Roll frontman, He is also known for his enchanting personality and has been honored with various Lifetime Achievement Awards too. He Set The Trend That Others Now Follow !
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Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Born To .... ? A New " Random Musings" Section On My Blog!

Born To ...... ??

Well, Its been quite sometime since I've been writing about rock music, and so, I thought of writing a much lighter, 'Random' post !
I've also added the category 'Random Musings' on the left in the "BeArockr Contents" Section, so as to express some of my rather silly jokes, and a bit of everything too in this blog !

**P.S. : Nothing in this section is intended to hurt the sentiments of anyone !

Lets Begin the first one:
I was thinking that what would happen if Bruce Springsteen had an encounter with the "World's Fastest Athlete" : Usain Bolt ... Eventually Usain would get frightened seeing Bruce, since he would be bound to lose if he was competing in a race against him... You know why ??







B'coz Bruce Springsteen is "Born To RUN " !!

Still, what more can you think of to complete this sentence : "Born To ....." ??

It can be 'Born To Fly' , or 'Born to Cry' or whatever !

So, come on guys, Lets check your Innovation in the sentence above !

Friday, November 20, 2009

Wolfmother: A Potential Rock Act


I was wondering about which all bands of recent times have been the most influencing Rock n Roll acts, and eventually came up to Wolfmother, an Australian hard rock band that formed in Erskineville, Sydney in 2000. Originally, tha band is a trio comprising vocalist and guitarist Andrew Stockdale, bassist and keyboardist Chris Ross and drummer Myles Heskett .

The band lists its influences as Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Pink Floyd, and relatively new bands like The White Stripes too. While most critics have compared the band's sound to resemble Led Zeppelin, and Black Sabbath , I myself would agree that Wolfmother's, though original, sound does resemble Led Zeppelin , and bit of Deep Purple too ( Eg: Space truckin )

But, History has been full of varied sounds and acts , and it does seem very much possible that if you make out a riff or some lyrics today, they might be traced back easily ! Nevertheless, Wolfmother has been a really great Hard Rock act, and they have done some really sensible, amazing compositions that I very much liked.

Their hit single, "Woman" , a quite grunge, blues-inspired awesome Guitar riff by Andrew Stockdale, and an equally brilliant vibrant synthesizer by Chris Ross ( he is also the bassist of the band, and as per me, He has done a great job in both sections. His synth in Woman reminded me of Deep Purple's early keyboard sound, as in songs like 'Child in Time' too ! ) , and a nice hard beat by Myles Heskett. Woman was also included on video games as Guitar Hero II, MotorStorm, Pure, Saints Row 2, Tony Hawk's Project 8 and NHL 07 .

Another of their wonderful hits, "Joker & the Thief", with again a 'Nut-Cracking' work by Andrew Stockdale, appeared in films Jackass Number Two, Shoot 'Em Up, Shrek the Third and The Hangover (2009 film) and video games Need for Speed: Carbon, Rock Band, and MLB 07: The Show, as well as commercials for both Mitsubishi and Peugeot cars.

'Woman' also won the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 2007 ceremony . The band has also been nominated for various awards , and they did definitely deserve all the nominations .

The band's guitarist Andrew Stockdale has been the Star in most of their songs, as I feel . The band's Hard Rock, Distorted riffs coupled with some whacking vocals by Stockdale have definitely been the best part of the band for me.

Here are some of their live performances to watch out :




Friday, November 13, 2009

Meat Loaf: Bat Out of Hell The Original Tour Released!


Great News for all Meat Loaf fans ! Their live DVD is out now !

Filmed at the Stadthalle Offenbach, Bat Out of Hell: The Original Tour captures the raw excitement of Meat Loaf’s epic stage show. Larger-than-life songs like “You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)” and “Paradise By The Dashboard Light” sounded absolutely extravagant performed live. Not only does Meat Loaf dominate the stage, but he also captivates audiences with the riveting nature of his songs, with the help of the album’s songwriter Jim Steinman and female vocalist Karla DeVito. Its visual proof of the power of Bat Out Of Hell, which certified 10x Platinum and sold over 40 million copies. Also included is a bonus interview from 1978 with Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman.



Track Listing:

1.) Great Boleros Of Fire

2.) Bat Out Of Hell

3.) You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)

4.) All Revved Up With No Place To Go

5.) Paradise By The Dashboard Light

6.) Introducing The Band

7.) Johnny B Goode

8.) River Deep, Mountain High

9.) Johnny B Goode (reprise)

10.) Two Out Of Three Ain¹t Bad

11.) All Revved Up With No Place To Go (reprise)



Here's a video from the DVD :

“You Took The Words”

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Aerosmith Guitarist Joe Perry Dismissed Break-Up Rumors !


Gosh! It was really hard to digest that one the best hard rock bands and equally great hard rock duos Joe Perry and Steven Tyler had decided to part ways ! After quite a string of injuries and poor ticket sales in Aerosmith's Recent Concert, Guitarist Joe Perry was quoted saying That Tyler Had Quit. It was a severe blow to all fans of the band.

But, now the air of rumors has been cleared off by Perry himself. No Break-Up is Going to Happen ! Well, How on earth could anyone imagine Aerosmith without Steven Tyler ? They are definitely an inseparable band, and any change In the Beautiful Line-Up would surely be a disaster!

You can Read about Perry's initial statement over here about the break up:

Rolling Stones Magazine

Here's the link to the article where he dismissed the rumors :

Boston Herald


Long Live Aerosmith ! They still have a lot of energy in them left, and Hope they Never spread such threatening Rumors Again !

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Clarence "Big Man" Clemens Launches His New Book!





Clarence "Big Man" Clemens, A Renowned saxophonist in Bruce Springsteen's legendary
E Street band, has launched his Auto-Biography in a new book titled "Big Man: Real Life & Tall Tales" . Clarence's stories about this exceptional group of musicians are genuine and truly hilarious, and his larger than life personality shines in this atypical memoir.




Below are some of his interviews, following the release of his book, where he talks about his association with Bruce Springsteen , and some of his personal experiences too. These videos delve into Clarence's musical past and tell the mythical stories that have helped to shape his career. Have A Look :






Coming Soon On This Blog:

A Special Review Of The Book Done By Myself !!

Monday, November 2, 2009

Livin On A Prayer- Bon Jovi's Greatest Hard Rock Achievement



This song was recorded in 1986 and came with a bang at the mainstream. The song spent 4 weeks at no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1987 and two weeks on the Mainstream Rock Tracks. This song has been rated no. 1 in the list of greatest rock songs of the 80's by VH1's online voting.
It made a new image of the band in the Mainstream Rock.

The song is basically about a fictional working class couple. The song was written by Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora and Desmond Child, a professional songwriter who has also written hits for Kiss, Aerosmith, Michael Bolton etc. Jon wanted to skip this song from Slippery When Wet Album but Richie convinced him, and Jon after having a conversation with a group of teenagers changed his mind and decided to add this song in their album and now this album is the best selling rock album of Bon Jovi with an estimated selling of 12 million copies worldwide.

The arrangements in this song was unique. Richie used a talkbox which gave the song a very distinctive sound. The use of synthesizer has been extensively done. In the list of 100 greatest rock anthems it has been rated at no. 25. The song has become a necessity for their live acts.

I Recommend It To All Bon Jovi Fans !


Friday, October 30, 2009

I Can See For Miles- The Greatest Hit Single Of The Who



Well, this song has been one of the most appreciating one in The Who's entire career. It was released on 14th october 1967. It was written by guitarist Pete Townshend. The song sounds very simple and relaxing but the efforts made in it are exemplary. This was the first song of the 60's where sophisticated studio techniques were used during recording. The song was recorded in several studio sessions across two continents. During that era, a critic claimed in a review of this song to be the most heaviest rock song ever heard. This song was rarely performed by The Who in their live acts as it was very difficult for Daltrey to sing exactly the complex vocal harmonies of this song and also the percussion style by the instrumentalists. The song reached no. 10 in U.K. and 9 in U.S. but still Townshend was disappointed as for him it was the best work done by The Who.



Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Eric Clapton : The Most Exquisite Rock Legend Ever!


OH Guys ! I really dont have words to describe Mr. Eric Clapton... He has been my greatest inspiration and for the rest of the world too ! A really down to earth , simple person with such an immense understanding and extraordinarily unique and skillful guitar playing and really amazing vocals at the same time !

Well, just see Eric Clapton playing live and you'll feel that you ain't seeing a full-to-attitude Rocker playing, rather you feel an intensely pure performer playing so naturally that he has always brought tears in my eyes, because seeing a great old man playing so wonderfully, I feel I could go up and say : "Sir, Hope You Live Forever" ( same was for another great legend : Michael Jackson)

well... I will definitely not comment on the technical aspects of his songs and riffs, since I dont consider myself big enough to do so ...

But, let me tell you all another tale of his wonderful nature :
His Son 'Conor' Died , having fallen off the 53rd floor of his bedroom window and in memory of him, Mr. Clapton had written his famous song "Tears In Heaven" , which is now one of his best performances till date...

Then, another of his songs I like is "Layla" ... A beautiful riff, A very emotional guitar solo And wonderful vocals : A great song by the greatest artist altogether !

Here is a video of his song "Tears In Heaven" that is my favorite live video . Just feel his emotions while you watch it ... A man crying it out through his guitar and voice ( May his son Rest in Peace...)




Well, another mention to John Mayer, who got what may be the biggest chance of his lifetime to play with sir Eric Clapton at the Crossroads Fest ! Well, definitely he deserved it, but still wish I could be there too ! Here's A Clip Of Both Of Them Together :-







Well, here's another video of 2 Rock Legends : Eric Clapton And Carlos Santana Live Onstage:





Eric Clapton and Mark Knopfler Live!




Thats It Guys .... If Mr. Eric Clapton ever reads this post, please accept my heart-felt greetings Sir, for you have always been an idol to me and will remain so in the years to come !!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Top 5 powerful Hard Rock vocalists

The list is based on the voice power that they had during their active years. I'm not bothered about their vocal abilities/techniques. Here I'm just focusing on their vocal power (including their low notes too). The list also based on voice power showed in their respective live performances.








5. Eddie Vedder- Well obviously this man is highly notable only for his dominating powerful voice. He showed his power in many of his songs like Resolve, Jeremy. After covering The Who's song "Love Reign O'er me" Vedder showed the whole world his damn wide vocal range with a commanding high pitch voice.










4. Roger Daltrey- The first rock vocalist to scream so high without using the falsetto technique. When his song Love Reign O'er me was released the whole rock society was shocked to listen such kind of a powerful vocal performance. Daltrey was basically notable for his relaxing voice but by this song he showed that he is truly hard with his voice and a high pitch singer like no other.











3. Robert Plant- Best to hear Plant is in his live performances. He struggled a lot to reach his high notes but he did managed to do it. In some of his studio recordings it sounds very interesting to hear his voice and we can learn a lot. his low notes were pretty dominating and in high notes, well he is the king of G.











2. Ian Gillian- Joe Satriani commented "He can scream like no other". Its 100% justified. Yes, he is the man who never gets tired while screaming. His voice is so strong that even in his live performances he used to hit the high notes till the end of the show with the same perfection that he had during the beginning of the concert. Well nothing more to write about this man, everyone's knows him.










1. Freddie Mercury- When it comes to vocals no matter what the category is, Freddie is always seen topping the charts. The strongest vocal power that a vocalist had in the entire rock history is this man. Never used to struggle his high notes on live performances and never made a mistake while hitting a note. He had a very good control on his voice and that's why he is the best.







An honorable mention, that was recommended to me by a really kind friend blogger in the "Comments Section" below : Jimmy Barnes ( From the COLD CHISELS )

Saturday, October 24, 2009

All-Star Rockers make FREE Christmas Music !

Well, I Recently Came Across This Huge Northern Light Orchestra, Which Includes A Huge-Up OF Some OF The Biggest Names In The Rock Scenario, And Is A Total Non-Profit , And Most OF Their Members Are Doing IT For Free !! Now That's Called Sheer Love For Music !

Classic rock, Christmas orchestra? The two terms don’t usually go together. But Northern Light Orchestra is a unique project bringing together some of the biggest rock stars of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s for an incomparable celebration of the Christmas story.

Following the launch of the CD, Northern Light Orchestra kicks off it’s official annual Christmas touring season in October, establishing what many expect to quickly become a new Christmas tradition.

Artists featured as part of the project include*:
Phil Bardowell (Beach Boy, Magdalen), Bob Carlisle (”Butterfly Kisses”), Eddie James (Gospel singer), Jon Gibson (Jon Gibson), Robin McAuley (Survivor), Debbie Sledge (Sister Sledge), Rose Stone (Sly and the Family Stone), Doug Aldrich (Whitesnake), Kendall Bechtel (Fifth Angel), Lanny Cordola (House Of Lords), Jason Hook (Alice Cooper, Mandy Moore), Bruce Kulick (KISS, Grandfunk Railroad), Bill Leverty (Firehouse), George Lynch (Dokken, Lynchmob), Elliot Randell (Steeley Dan), David Ellefson (Megadeth, F5), Chuck Wright (Quiet Riot, Vanilla Fudge), Ken Mary (Alice Cooper, House of Lords), Kip Winger (Winger, Alice Cooper), Dizzy Reed (Guns-n-Roses), Brian Stewart (Backstreet Boys, Poe).

With a lineup like that, Northern Light Orchestra, has lived up to it’s claim to provide “majestic, orchestrated rock music featuring soaring vocals, incredible guitar solos worthy of true ‘Guitar Hero’ status, and pounding rhythms sure to impress and invigorate the baby boomer generation that grew up on what is today classic rock.”

Here Is Their Link To Know More About This Group:-

Free Christmas Music

Upcoming Shows
Dec 12 2009 8:00P Orpheum Theatre MESA, Arizona
Dec 22 2009 8:00P Orpheum Theatre DVD release Phoenix, Arizona

With Such A Wonderful Line-up OF Members Of Bands Like Guns n Roses, Alice Cooper and Megadeath, This Orchestra Is A Must-To-Watch For All!!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

David Gilmour(Pink Floyd)- A Great Multi-Talented Musician





David Jon GilmourCBE (born 6 March 1946) is an English musician, best known as the guitarist, lead singer, and one of the songwriters in the rock band Pink Floyd


Well, David Gilmour for me has always been an inspiration , which is clearly justified by his amazing solos, and exquisite vocals , both at the same time ! A Mind-Boggling combination of Extreme Versatile Talent !

I would specially like to talk about his solos in "Comfortably Numb". Oh ! that song is so magical . Whenever I listen to his first really sweet solo in it, I am transported to a different world full of thoughts and beauty. The whole feeling is just wonderful ! Then when he plays the second one, I feel he's trying to tell something to me. There's speed, anger, melody and all his emotions are displayed via his Guitar !

Then that wonderful plucking on the acoustic guitar in "Wish You Were Here" is just as great Too ! ... There's a certain beauty in his voice too, Its so much loving and full of expressions , that I would say that Pink Floyd may not have been so without this kind of vocals, and also the amazing synthesizer compositions they have ! ...

Gilmour's Solo in "Comfortably Numb " has been The 2nd Best Solo after "Stairway To Heaven" ( though there has always been much debate on which should come first ! ) , and Gilmour's style has been rightly described as "blues-influenced phrasing, expressive note bends and sustain".

Here Are Some Videos To Watch Out :





Saturday, October 17, 2009

Joe Satriani- A Great Instrumental Multi-Genre Guitarist




Joseph "Satch" Satriani (born July 15, 1956 in Westbury, New York) is an American multi-instrumentalist, known as an instrumental rock guitarist... His students included Kirk Hammett of Metallica, David Bryson of Counting Crows, Kevin Cadogan from Third Eye Blind, Larry LaLonde of Primus / Possessed, Alex Skolnick of Testament, Rick Hunolt (ex-Exodus), Phil Kettner of Lääz Rockit, Geoff Tyson of T-Ride, and Charlie Hunter , And a special mention to the amazing Steve Vai, a solo guitarist ...

Well,, when for the first time I saw the G3 Concert on a CD, ofcourse ( Live in Denver and Live in Tokyo ), I was like "Wow"!! How did he do that ! .. Joe Satriani does so much of guitar tricks and takes out sounds from his guitar that its actually really difficult to figure out where that sound comes from ! I always used to play the CD on my computer and then take out my guitar and try to imitate the various sounds Satriani used to play , and with so much of effort and time , was able to figure out only a bit of his exceptional abilities !...,

I have 3 albums of Satriani- "Surfing With The Alien", "The Extremist", and "Not Of This Earth "... and every song of his albums is different and very unique ! From such a melodious solo in "Always With Me ,Always With You" to A nice heavy riff in "The Extremist" and then from a very different tone in "lords of karma" to the wonderful use of harmonics in "The Summer Song" , he has done it all ! You can never get bored listening to his Tracks , because each one is different , has completely different styles to offer !

Well, it has always been a dream of mine to go up the stage and perform with him in the G3 concert , but for the time being , I rejoice by jamming with him digitally !( through his CD and My Guitar at my home !! ) ...

Well, Here Are Some Great Videos Of The Distinguished Guitar Player --




Monday, October 12, 2009

Jimmy Page : The Most Versatile Guitarist Ever !



Definitely one of the Greatest Guitarist ever , Jimmy Page ( from the band Led Zeppelin ), Page has been described as "unquestionably one of the all-time most influential, important, and versatile guitarists and songwriters in rock history" ...

So to say, I, myself as a guitar player, am hugely influenced by him and I also treat him as my own Idol !...

Well, if you ask Why is he the Most Versatile , The reason is simple : his Riffs and Solos are a Perfect Blend of Hard Rock to Heavy Metal to Blues and Folk Rock ! With such a Beautiful Riff in " Stairway to Heaven " to a nice Heavy Metal kind of riff in 'Black-Dog' and ' Kashmir ' , and a Fascinating , highly acclaimed guitar solo In " Stairway To Heaven " , He has done it all!! ..


Then , again when I heard songs like "When The Levee Breaks" and "Since I've Been Loving You", I wondered if he was a Guitar God ! .. and he definitely is , guys , a Foremost Inspiration for all the guitar players of today ! ...

Page is also credited for beginning The Metal Era , with his Heavy Guitar Driven Distorted Sound in the band Led Zeppelin , and he is also featured in The Rolling Stones' Magazine for "The Best Guitarists of all Time " ...

His solos seem to convey his anguish , his emotions and joys too and the way he has done the solos in "Stairway to Heaven " is commendable ... Such a solo is quite impossible to Re-invent by any guitar player , anytime ! ...

Well, for those not familiar with this great guitarist , I am also posting some of his videos for you to have a taste of something you would have regretted if missed in your lifetime !!





Sunday, October 11, 2009

Dedicated To A Selfless Blogger , Full Of Life !

>Guys, this post has nothing to do with rock , but still I wanted to mention someone very special ... A Lady whose Blog was an Inspiration for me and whose whole view of life will definitely Inspire you all ! ...


Her Name Is Jayne , Her Blog Is ShoppingKharma : What Goes Around Comes Around And She is a very Gorgeous and Charming Lady for sure..

When I had just started this Blog, I didnt know anything how to go about publishing this blog and advertising and all that stuff and so, I sent Jayne a mail if she could help me out ...
Unexpectedly, she did reply , and with a full page of tips and experiences of her own ... I was like Amazed Totally ! A complete stranger , who took out time just to help someone in need and without asking any return favors for it , wrote so much for me ! ....

Well, I just love reading her blogs , and then when I am reminded of the fact that she is a cancer survivor , My heart starts crying and I feel really hard to read on further ( she mostly never writes of her pain and sufferings , but I know its definitely there ) ...
She has a really pure and simple way of life ,, Giving Each Other Happiness and Having a Sense of Brotherhood in Society ...

There's one page in her blog that I just cant forget anytime :-
"About Me"
Thats the "About-Me" section of her blog , and its so Beautifully Written and Honest as well... She writes very elaborately and you would really enjoy reading her Blogs , I Promise !

She says that it is her dream to help other cancer patients by Giving Them a Different Definition of Life And making them Enjoy Every Moment of it !

I Would now like to conclude this post by quoting some lines for all those who are reading ! :-

"Dont Count How Many Minutes Are There In Life , But Rather Count How Much Life Can Be there In Those Moments ! "

" Life Makes Us Cry,
Life Makes US Happy,
Life Makes Us Sad,
Life Makes Us Mad ,
But Above All ...
It Makes Us Live !!"

Friday, October 9, 2009

Some Misconceptiopns About Led Zeppelin's Genre

Led Zeppelin


Recently I came across many people who said that Led Zeppelin is a metal band .. Actually, they are not completely wrong , But Not Completely Right either..!!

At the time of the 70's , Led Zeppelin's sound was quite very hard and heavy for people at that time and so they called Led Zeppelin as a Heavy Metal Band and thats also the reason why Led Zeppelin was a pioneer of the Metal Genre that we are familiar with Today ... But Later on, other still heavier bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Slayer came forth and so, Led zeppelin then lost the ' Metal Tag' and was classified into the Hard Rock genre ...

Basically, Led zeppelin did not claim any genre ... they were just an experimental type of band which people at that time classified as Metal ( owing to the great heavy sound of Jimmy Page's Heavy Guitar Distortion ) and now are considered as a Hard Rock Band by many ...



References :- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Led_Zeppelin

Friday, October 2, 2009

Greatest Metal Bands

I Found It Relatively Easy To Choose The Best Metal Bands Of All Time ... Though , Most Bands Today Claim That They Are Metal by their Genre , But Only Some Bands Have Been Able To Prove That They Definitely Are Worthy Bands Of This Genre ...

So , Here Are Some Of The Greatest Metal Bands ( In No Particular Oder):


Black Sabbath :-

Without any doubts , they have been the best and still are the foremost inspiration for all bands of today . Ozzy Osbourne , the Well Accomplished Vocalist of this band is also one of my favorite vocalists and what I find the most amazing feature of this band is the vocal-guitar Duo ... The riffs are just perfect and also , the bass is just as Fabulous... A perfect, and most importantly, a Unique Band of their Time and Now too!



Iron Maiden :-
The Big Daddys of Metal as I like to refer them ... Exquisite vocals by Bruce Dickinson also make him One of the Greatest vocalists of all time ... Such wonderful compositions like "Dance Of Death ", "Hallowed Be Thy Name ", "Tears Of The Dragon " are so much versatile that you just find it hard to miss any part of the song ...They put a lot of contrasting variations in their Songs too , like - 'Dance Of Death' and 'Tears OF The Dragon' ... Overall , a very tight and definitely The Most Versatile Metal Band !




Metallica :-
The most wonderful part of this Band is that it has just 4 members and still you dont feel something's missing !! ... Kirk Hamett has pulled it off with some great riffs like 'Master Of Puppets' And 'Seek And Destroy' , and the Drummer Lars Ulrich has been very much energetic too( Listen to St. Anger , for example! ) ... James Hetfield too has shown some great variation in his vocals in songs like 'Master Of Puppets' and then with a soothing heavy voice in 'Nothing Else Matters' ...





Judas Priest :-

Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band Whose Members Are bass player Ian Hill, vocalist Rob Halford and guitarists Glenn Tipton and K. K. Downing , But their drummer had been changing throughout the years ... Well , their songs have excellent heavy vocals backed by really wonderful riffs like that of 'painkiller' or 'Victim Of Changes' ... I really admire the tone of the guitar in the band too ... They have also been rightly called "Metal Gods" ( from a songs of theirs by the same name ) !



Slayer :-
Really heavy vocals and sound Too ... I would say that they are My Favorite if you consider other bands of their genre like Lamb Of God and the likes ... They have some really Awesome Drum techniques, with the Double Bass Been played really well . Then, the guitar riffs are also Exceptional too ...




Pantera :-
Definitely Really Good Riffs And Solos ... Their compositions are also interesting, As in, they were really very Heavy in Songs like "25 Years" Or "Shedding Skin" and then so much melody in "Planet Caravan " ... Also, the drums jell really well with the guitar...





Megadeath :-
Megadeth is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1983, by Dave Mustaine following his departure from Metallica... The Band Is Really Very Original and have a distinctive guitar style, often involving complex, intricate musical passages, and Really Unique And Experimental Vocals Of Dave Mustaine



Dream Theater :-


They are a really sensible band with some actually very pure kind of sound ... and their line-up is also great ... With some exceptional drums, Exquisite Guitar, and really varied vocals ... The thing I like the most Is that the band is a Mix of a Very Melodious Synthesiser by Kevin Moore and the fast guitar playing of John Petrucci(also played In The G3)... The band was influenced by Rush and Iron Maiden ...




Motorhead :-

Well, Some Real Fast And Heavy Songs Define This Band .. They Are Also Famous For Giving various WWE Themes For The Wrestlers Too ...

Thursday, October 1, 2009

What's Your Favourite Guitar Model ?

Hey guys... I Was Just Wondering About Your Own Views On Guitars ... Please Comment On Your Favorite Guitar Model That You Have Played And Were Blown Up By Its Sound And Its Style !!...

Lets See Which One Gets The Most Votes ...

Monday, September 28, 2009

The Gibson Les Paul Guitar - a Magnificent Masterpiece





What Can I Say About This One !! Every Rocker's Kinda Dream!!

This guitar is so much simple and Elegant looking and gives you that kind of a " grunge " sound that I just love in bands like Guns n Roses and Led Zeppelin ( These 2 bands are notable les paul users )

When I had started playing the guitar , I always used to try getting that grunge sound in my quite very cheap "Aria " guitar , using all sorts of Combinations in my also very cheap guitar processor !, but always used to cry to my dad that nothing works ! All of it sucks ! But then I came to Know of this Magnificent Guitar -The Les Paul model, which was the result of a design collaboration between Gibson Guitar Corp. and the late popstar , electronics inventor, and accomplished jazz guitarist Les Paul, who just amazed the world with his so much Innovative mind and designs , which were intended to be for his personal use, but later on became established in the market.




In 1951, a design collaboration between the Gibson Guitar Corporation and Les Paul had took place, and It was agreed that the new Les Paul guitar was to be an expensive, well-made instrument in Gibson's tradition.


Since then, The Magical , too much awesome sound of this guitar has been liked by most of the great guitarists, like Paul McCartney, Slash, Jimmy Page ( Gibson Also Launched A Jimmy Page Signature Model), Joe
Perry, Buckethead, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and many more !




This Guitar has the looks, its sound is amazing - a very rich tone and each note is very crystal clear , but the most disappointing thing is - "All Good Things Come at a Price !" , and so is this ,, Priced at about 2700 U.S.D. ( Rs. 1.5 Lacs approx ) !! , but its definitely worth it !


Definitely , its My Dream Guitar and I am surely going to purchase this one once I get the required money , because its really expensive !!

The Zakk Wylde Signature Model