Why I Prefer Classic Rock & Why I Want to be a Musical Artist (SZC)

["Nathan Hevensone" <nhevensone@xxxxxxxxx>]

This is something I said in my public speaking class about ten minutes
before the final began. I had brought my guitar to jam with a friend
because we were both early, and we both got into a discussion about
music (he feels much like I do, except his favorite band is The
Beatles). Others got to joining in, and then one person asked me what
I thought about Yngwie Malmsteen. That brought on more questions.
Coincidentally enough, one student, who's always taping her classes,
had her recorder on while we were talking, and she sent me a copy via
email because she loved what I had said quite a bit. So I'm
transcribing it here, minus the questions:

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I hate shredders. Yngwei, Vai, Batio… not to say they don't have
talent, mind you, because they do have talent. But they only have
technique. And while technique is great and important, it's only a
small part of what makes an incredible guitar player incredible. The
larger part? Emotion. Feeling. A sense of… nothing… and everything.
This is why my favorite guitarist is Jimmy Page. Jimmy has the
technique (even if he did throw it out on stage and get sloppy at
times), but he also has the feeling, and uses it more than any other
guitarist out there.

The main thing I look for when I listen to a band is… well… basically…
if I close my eyes, will the music wash over me and take me somewhere
I've never been? If I close my eyes and let the music wash over me,
will I be transported to another place? This is why I enjoy the
classic rock bands. Because back in those days, the technique was only
essential as it gave you the basis for your ability to actually play
your instrument. Emotion was what made you great.

And that's my problem with today's music, in fact. I can't close my
eyes to any of it and be taken somewhere. The songs are too short and
too exact, and they end way too soon and way too suddenly. There's no
more variation. There's no more improvisation. Even live, the artists
don't go off on a tangent. They stick to the album, almost like it's a
comfort blanket. There's no more intimacy. Music is dying.

And you want proof of that? Just look up this new recording computer
technology quickly becoming popular in major recording studios. It
uses mathematical formulas to write hit songs! The music industry no
longer trusts its own ears, nor does it trust its listeners.

And where are the listeners speaking out against this? Where are the
people who should see the crime? Unfortunately, most of today's
generation has been bread to enjoy this, simply because it's all
rushed. The problem with today's music is that nobody will take the
time to simply sit down and listen to it anymore. Nobody will take the
time to sit down, close their eyes, and be taken somewhere. And I
believe if they tried this with the music of today, they would find it
quite impossible. And I believe this rush is both a result and a cause
of today's music. People began to conform to the shortening of and
rise of technicality in music, so music conformed even more to the
rush in life it caused, simply because music got way too short and
technical for people to just really sit back and enjoy.

This is why I choose to listen to Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, Jeff
Beck, Jimi Hendrix, The Allman Brothers, ELP, Pink Floyd, Rush, Randy
Rhoads, Slash, Robert Johnson, Leadbelly, Bukkah White, John Lee
Hooker, Stevie Ray Vaughn… I can travel on the music. I can be taken
places.

And this is why Led Zeppelin is my favorite band. Because Led Zeppelin
takes me places no one else can. I can close my eyes, and drift away
to places I've never seen. And live… when I listen to them live,
it's... well... there's no words for it. I can leave the drugs in
their box at the bottom of the trash. Zoso's bow and guitar, Jonesy's
keyboards and mellotron, Bonzo's mind-blowing, eclectic drumming, and
Percy's other-worldly lyrics, combine to take the listener on to
places they never dared to consider as possible. This is what Zeppelin
does for me.

Hendrix comes really, really damn close, but falls just short. Clapton
and Beck come close, but not quite. ELP comes just a tad closer than
Hendrix. Coming the closest, in fact, but again, falls short. Pink
Floyd comes in, but just can't make it. Rush takes you on wild rides,
but still, nothing like Led Zeppelin. They all take me places, but Led
Zeppelin takes me more places than anyone else.

You know what? Try something one time. Listen to a new-age song. Maybe
something post grunge, or maybe some modern metal, or modern country,
or maybe even some rap or hip-hop. Close your eyes, put your head
back, and turn of your sense of sound. Can you still hear the song? I
can't.

Now do the same thing with a Led Zeppelin or other classic rock song.
Can you still hear the song?

You know the best way to tell when you're listening to something truly
incredible? You know when you don't need your ears to listen to it.
You know when you can hear the music in your mind, your heart, and
your soul. Then you know that the song, the artist, the band… the
music… is good. When you find you want to find time in your day to
just sit back and listen to that music, then you know it's worth it,
and it will become something.

For music to do that, it can't be done to a mold. There can't be
restrictions and "radio-friendly formats and formulas." It can't rely
on some computer program to mathematically calculate what the song
should sound like to be a hit. But today's music does have all of
this. It is restricted to what the radios will play and what will sell
to the MTV- and VH1- drones. This is a problem.

And this is why I want to become a musical artist. I want to try and
change it. Does that mean I have a huge, unattainable dream? Well, I
believe there's no such thing as an unattainable dream, but maybe my
goals are a bit lofty. Regardless, though, I want to try. I want to
try and get rid of the formulas and the formats. I want to try and
give music freedom. Everyone says about music that it's all been done.
Well, with today's restriction, of course it's all been done. Nobody
is allowed to try something new because the money-greedy record
companies have no way to ensure that the new experiment will sell.

But is it because of customer demand? Will customers buy music that
breaks from the radio-friendly, MTV and VH1 norm? I believe they will
if given the choice. Why? Because of the fact that classic rock
artists like Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Lynyrd
Skynyrd, The Grateful Dead, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix,
Pink Floyd, and others still sell more albums than any of today's
current new-age artists. If they had that kind of classic rock emotion
in a band as an option in new-age over what today is called music, I
believe they will flock to it. Am I wrong? It's quite possible that
I'm wrong. Maybe these generations are so brainwashed by MTV and VH1
and the radio-friendly format that they won't take anything else. But
I believe that's not the case. Doesn't mean I know it. But I believe
it strongly enough that I'd like to try and go out there and bring
emotion and feeling back into music, to see how it takes. Because I
believe they will enjoy it. Because I believe that when we stop
listening to music with our ears, and start listening with our minds,
hearts, and souls again, then, and only then, music will truly become
great again.
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Just thought I'd share it... :D










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