Peter Gabriel was the founder and lead singer of Genesis, until 1975 when he left the band to pursue a solo career. Gabriel is known more recently for producing and promoting world music.
From Slash to Jimmy Page to David Gilmour to Hendrix to Mark Knopfler to Clapton to BB King, how can I pick one guitar solo which kicks arse over all others?
Hendrix stands out as the greatest guitarist to ever grace this planet, but like many other virtuosos he was a one man show, with a band built around him to show off his talents. His songs were emphatic and his solos even more so, the guy was on another level and an early death to drugs secured his immortality.
Mesmerising solos are all good and well but they are always best served on a platter of equally exuberant musical talent.
Remember the songs that bring back amazing memories? Maybe when you met your first love …. when you bought your first car … ok I know they’re a bit cliched but Pearl Jam’s Better Man does that for me. Being a babe of the 80s and a child of the 90s with a fairly influential older brother – Pearl Jam, Live, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rage Against the Machine were my lullabies.
Guitar solos are like burnouts and circle work in utes: something socially awkward men do to impress eachother and the very few women who take notice. They’re a big wank.
I wasn’t around in 1986 so I’m living vicariously with the power of the internet – here’s my top 10.
If I had to pick one song that made the top 100 in 1986 and still gets played constantly at full volume on my CD player, it would be ‘Walk of Life’ by Dire Straits.
In 1986:
- Black Flag and the Dead Kennedys broke up, but on the bright side Dolly Parton finally opened Dollywood… Read the rest of this entry »
Metal is a rare point of convergence in music – where the alternative and underground music worlds nod approvingly at the same time as the suburbanest bevans of all.
Metal derived from rock music and started off back in the 70s with bands like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. (God how I wish I’d been a teenager in the 70s. I dream about riding around in a green Triumph Spitfire and listening to Stairway to Heaven).
