Old Guy Drama - where are they now (and who really cares).

Disclaimer: 99.98% of the population will not have one clue about what I am writing about.

Poor crazy, fat, old Yngwie Malmsteen. As brilliant as he is, he sure is silly. A few days ago, he felt the need to diss every singer he ever worked with, and actually says he is comfortable taking on the vocal role himself. He claimed all singers have a certain "ego" he does not want to work with anymore.

For those not in the know, Yngwie has worked with some of the best singers in the industry over his 30+ years as an active artist. From his early days playing with Gram Bonnet's "Alcatraz," into Steeler (Ron Keel), to his plethora of singers for his "Rising Force," including: Doogie White, Joe Lynn Turner, Jeff Scott Soto and Tim Ripper Owens, he has had his pic of the cream.

Yngwie changed the game with his neo-classical guitar playing. Building off of a Ritchie Blackmore foundation, he sparked a generation of admirers, godfathering in a new genre of Progressive Metal along the way. His influence in the Metal genre is massive to this day.

With that in mind, his song infrastructure is equally impressive. Classics in Metal to be sure. "I am a Viking" should be the intro music for the Heavy Metal hall of fame for its epicness. Jeff Scott Soto (the bridge singer of Journey between Perry and Lindell) brought a massive voice to the forefront in Yngwie's band, and really set the tone for what was to follow. It could be argued Soto was never equalled.

Yngwie famously assholes himself into strange situations. I have not followed his career that closely since the late 80's, but when he sticks his head up and opens his mouths, the sparks usually fly. However, to diss the army of amazing singers he worked with is the most egocentric thing he has done in years, and thank goodness, I was starting to think he was cool or something.

Soto responded on Blabbermouth, "Carry on sing-Vay."

Yngwie is the Steven Seagal of Metal. Once great, a bit dellusional, really old and fat. I look forward to his vocal delivery.

Nago

Pendulum swings

Strange days indeed. I purposely haven't blogged about Chester. It's too soon after Cornell, and I have no good Chester Bennington stories. I was not what you could consider a fan of Linkin Park, but I didn't hate them, and I have always thought they changed the game completely with Hybred Theory. My son, Mocha, believes it to be a perfect L.P. I won't argue with that. Commercially, it was.

Death is death. The great unknown. Losing heros we admire is difficult. Suicide is such a strange thing. I could not even begin to imagine the darkness of a mind in that moment, wanting final resolution like that. I've been close to darkness, but life is always worth living. A friend once told me "a year from now, your life will be so much different." This simple truth was enough to make me push through the worst of my depression, because I want to know the guy from a year from now. I want to see what he does and where he has been. I want to hear his songs and read his words.

There are many stories circulating on abuse Chester suffered as a child. This abuse is being blamed for his mental state. To be tortured by the acts of an adult as a child is abusive beyond words. It haunted Chester, and he was honest about it. It's just not fair to snuff out a bright light of innocence. It makes me sick. Abuse comes in many forms: sexual, mental, physical, neglect, etc.. We should always keep that in mind. I have lost my cool in dealing with a stubborn child or two, and I understand that parenting is not perfect, but to be purposefully abusive is more than criminal. It's a mortal sin.

At the pool a few weeks ago, we saw a woman being a complete ass to a child. Yelling at her like she was an adult, demanding trivial things, and at one point, left this child alone in a parking lot while she ran to her car.  You want to be cool and not interject, you also want to snatch a bitch by her nasty ass stringy hair and defend the kid. Stuff like that is hard to watch, and even harder to know how to handle. I, like everyone else, said nothing, and I'm ashamed for it. I have no interest in making a scene, but maybe a scene would have been enough for this child to see an example of kindness?

If there is any justice in the world, the kid is loved and her adult companion from the pool day goes out of her life for now.

I think about my sons, the sacrifices we all made to do what we perceived to be right by them. Nothing was perfect, there were no magic answers. It was hard, but they were loved. Parenting is the hardest job people are willing to do. Its also the most rewarding. Sometimes the hardest choices include laying aside principles for the greater welfare of a child, other times, standing by your principles is the lesson a child needs to see. We protect our children. We keep them safe from harm and teach them. We reward their achievements, and we scold their mistakes. We mold them.

I still miss my almost-step daughter, and the light that shined through her stubbon (as hell) eyes. She too is loved, and she is surrounded by a good family. I wonder if my parachuting into her life for a few years did her harm? I always did the best I could for her. I have faith she will be safe and grow up to have an amazing life. If she sets her mind to it, she absolutely will. Someday maybe she will forgive me for not being able to stay there. With age comes wisdom. I hope she remembers our few years fondly.

Back to Chester. His lyrics haunt his fans, as he made his unease known to the world. The band was his vehicle to get his emotions out. We take our entertainment seriously these days as a society, and Linkin Park, one of the biggest rock bands of the last 20 years, related to many due to its underlying message of loss. We all struggle. For Chester, the struggle is over too soon. I hope that he truly rests in peace. The world moves forward without him today, but the impact will remain for a long time.

Nago

Guns and Redemptions

Let's discuss GnR for a few minutes...

I told a freind yesterday that I hadn't been into GnR this heavy since 1987. She laughed at this silly statement. It sounds funny to me to say it. Unfortunately, I was serious, which is worse than funny. It just may make me a bit old.

I believe GnR creeped back into my subconcense based on 3 recent things:

1. I watched Duff McKagan's strange adaptation of his book "It's so easy, and other lies" on Netflix during a sleepless night.
2. I purchased a GnR t-shirt at Target (based on fit, which is a big deal for me).
3. XM started a Guns n Roses channel.

Mix that all up, and here we are, in fan mode, for the first time in many, many, many, years. I am pleasantly surprised how good the band sounds, save Axl Rose, who is aging pretty badly vocally, but only in his middle voice. His highs are schreechy, and his lows are as deep and campy as ever. This is a critique based on the live broadcast from NYC on 07/20, replayed all last weekend on XM.

I have spent many years bashing Axl. The rock community at large did the same. We all had reason. From weird dreadlocks, scattered asshole appearances, guitar player change-ups, 17 year L.P. cycles, fat Axl, and so on, he did nothing to swing public opinion to his favor.

I have decided to give Axl an overdue pass. I am man enough to admit when I was wrong. Axl's biggest problem is also a huge asset. He refuses to do press. I can now see that with no press exposure, we have no idea of his day to day, week to week, or year to year. He became something of a parachute rock star of sorts. He wore whatever he was into on his sleeve, unapologetically, and kept on trucking. Most importantly, he did not give up on GnR.

We have seen the tales of how Axl is perceived to be the bad guy. It's documented how he forced control of the band into his own hands away from the other members, which sounds dirty, but maybe, just maybe, it was a move that was absolutely needed at the time.

Slash: An alcoholic drug addict.
Duff: Drug addict.
Adler: Drug addict
Izzy: recluse and possible addict?

Axl saw the band (and his mates) falling apart, forcing him to take control. He needed to save the legacy, his job, and quite frankly, an enterprise, from failing. And he did. Was it greed driven? Sure, but smart business. Why should GnR fail because of the excesses of rock stardom consuming his bandmates? I remember reading Slash saying he did not care for the "Spaghetti Incident" line-up. Complaining about chemistry, and how it was the.lasr straw, but was he in a place to have a say in picking a permanent replacement for Izzy? No. Hell no, but he felt shunned and quit. I am sure Axl did not want that, but relationships suck, and sometimes moving on is all you can do.

Remember the story of Slash going to Axls house after Velvet Revolver was formed? Axl turned him away, and made some press release statement about Slash bashing Scott Weiland. Slash was trying to get GnR back together at the time. I am sure that is a true story. However, Axl had every right to be bitter. Slash was sober at the time, and that's awesome, but penance is paid for with hard work, which Slash had not completed. From that point forward, you can see Slash's rise to good graces. The book, the solo L.P., The Conspirators,  the RnRHOF, large solo tours, and mostly, the respect shown toward his former band and it's leader, W. Axl Rose in the press.

Which leads me to say some nice things about Slash. Axl probably understands how important Slash is. With Axl being such a recluse, the contrast of Slash being one of the most recognizable musicians on the planet is good for his business. Aside from that, he is a great guitar player. One of the best rock guitar players of all time. His tone is instantly recognizable, and his feel is beautiful. I know the guitar players coming after Slash were technical masters, and some of the best in the business, but none will ever be as epic as Slash.

As far as Duff goes, I think his redemption was equally needed, and as equally cool. His stock rose in the years away also. He carries himself and his brand with dignity. His success away from GnR came from the financial world, and a second life is a great story in itself.

Adler is a work in progress. I think they would be more willing to give him a larger stake if he keeps upward mobility in life. Again, penance is hard work. Make yourself invaluable, and the phone will ring. I enjoyed his caveman drum style. He may not be ready for prime time again, it's Peter Chris over again in a way, but he is a good guy with a child like presence.

Izzy. Where's Izzy? Come home Izzy, but only if you are still Izzy. The boys, and the world, could use some cool.

Until then, Richard and Frank deserve the spotlight. They absolutely earned it. As do Dizzy and the new girl. GnR sounds like GnR again. What a good thing.

Lastly, the band sounds good. Like, really good. It's raw, yet professionally so. Velvet Revolver never sounded that good. Neither did Slash solo, Duff solo or GnR post Slash. It's strange to think of GnR as a nostalgic act, but they are, and that's ok. They earned their place through years of sweat. Even Axl's star has risen. So after 2 decades of hatin' on you, today, I say: Axl, thank you for keeping the ship floating. Good job, man.

Nago.

The reason...

Lately, I have been slacking on writing. The reason? I am taking a course on American Popular Music, and it fills my music writing void for the time being. It's been really fun, and I have learned a few new tidbits...

There are, however, some ingrained opinions no higher learning course can change. My dislike of a certain few acts worshipped by others always turn some heads, but I am unyielding. I have no issue throwing caution to the wind. Hate away if you must:

1. Grateful Dead: I just don't get it, and no amount of explaining will make me understand. They blow. BLOW.

2. Bob Dylan:
A great poet and lyricist, I'll admit that, but his music annoys the Jesus out of me. I suck bad too, so I hope that I can amass a cult same as Bobby.

3. Aerosmith:
Maybe 2 good albums worth of material. Maybe... That includes "Pump" and the first Joe Perry Project. I change the channel if anything but "Toys in the Attic" comes on. It's a hard truth.

4. Type O Negative:
RIP and all of that, but good lord, I don't get it. Loving this band is like loving the suck. Why was it ever vogue to think them amazballs is beyond me. A channel change happens no faster than when Type O finds its way onto my radio. Word.

I have one more beef to piss off the masses. How in the hell people still let the Roth era Van Halen off the hook for the shite they spewed between VH1 and 1984 is ludicrous. They ripped off the fans. The 4 L.P.s between 1978 and 1984 are so bad, it would be hard to amass enough good material for 1 SOLID album. Your argument about shit like "Take your whisky home" is nonsense. Covers don't count either.

I was 9 when 1984 came out. I am an expert study on many things rock (in my own head) and I believe 1984, as a work of pop art, is amazing, but 5150 is better. 

This rant is brought to you by my 7 hours in a car today listening to the radio. Top moments:

DRE : 2001
Body Count: Bloodlust
Nailbomb: Point Blank
Baroness: Purple
Dying Fetus: WOTFW

Nago