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The GUITAR in rock peaked in the 90s
reversedarwinism
Posts: 1,151
with grunge rock. Never has the guitar sounded better or got a bigger cut in the over all sound. Not saying they were the best guitar players, just that the guitar was more obvious then. There was plenty of "guitar rock" before, but the sound wasn't as developed or loud. And I must say since then the guitar's place in rock music has decreased. More often, I now hear just a distorted wall of guitar, no distinction in the riff. That kind of guitar playing sounds even worse live. I like Korn, but may be they started it - idk. From new alternative to nu metal the guitar has just become another back up instrument to the vocals. It certainly wasn't like that in the grunge era, definately a reason why I like that music the most.
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and I'm not even a big fan. I just don't think it can really be disputed.
Now, there are STILL a lot of good, young players today. Derek Trucks, Davey Knowles, John Mayer, etc...
claiming that it's the peak of guitar playing is like saying the rotary telephone is the peak of communication.
Get your heads out of your asses, plenty has been done with guitar since then, from artistry to technicality to quality to recording techniques to effects to etc....etc....etc....
Saying Jimi is the peak is disgracing every single person that came after him that took what he did and EXPANDED and IMPROVED it FOR YOUR LISTENING PLEASURE
And if you want to argue, then just for the sake of argument pretend we could stick 1980s Eddie Van Halen in a time machine and put him onstage at Woodstock. You think people would still be talking about Jimi Hendrix right now?
Eddie Van Halen happened. People still talk about Jimi as the better guitarist.
OBVIOUSLY technique improves over time, but is the quality of the music any better? The guys from dragonforce can play at a million miles an hour, but it sounds like shit.
And I don't think Eddie had any soul. I don't feel anything when I hear his playing other than 'wow, that was cool'. Eruption is a cool solo, BUT it's not within the context of a song. It's one thing to just 'go off' but its another thing to do so WELL within the context of a song, and that was Jimis true genious. Like I said, playing fast isnt the be all and end all of guitar playing, you have to feeeeeeeeeeel something, and that's what jimi did.
The difference being that the "alternative" was pushed into the mainstream back then. Now you gotta dig a little deeper - but it's out there.:)
Yeah, but I'd still say that alternative is pretty popular today. It's just that there's traditional pop music that's considered the absolute mainstream, just like there was in the early 90's, which I think is always just a little more popular than alt. But their popularity mixes all the time I guess.
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10/21/06 Bridge 1
I don't understand this volume thing you are talking about. Firstly, it doesn't matter at all, I don't equate volume with quality of guitar sound or development but besides that, I'm pretty sure Voodoo Child (Slight Return) has one of the most massive guitar sounds on any record ever. Listen to Ten, the guitars sound horribly distant and drenched in massive 80s reverb. That's why for the Rearviewmirror album PJ got Brendan O'Brien to remaster them. The early grunge era had some pretty dire guitar sounds when I think about it.
Just listen to any Nirvana album
1990 was a great year for bands starting:
Bands formed
* Anathema
* At the Gates
* Carpathian Forest
* Green Carnation
* In Flames
* Marduk
* Opeth
* Pearl Jam
* Stone Temple Pilots
* Tool
From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_in_music
Some pretty rockin albums released that year too!
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SMELL YER MA!
may be not simply volume of the instrument, but a bigger cut in the mix of the songs. It's way more obvious in "grunge" rock. Before grunge it was definately there, but it doesn't sound as developped (including hendrix and zeppelin and sabbath - all of which I love) and the development, in that direction, seems to have stopped afterwards.
And someone said that alternative bands now still have that, I'm just not hearing that. I'm sure there is some out there, but for the most part new alternative and nu metal bands seem to adopt the "just strum chord and let it ring" approach.
Listen to Focus III and At The Rainbow for proof
"Call me Ishmael. Some years ago- never mind how long precisely- having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world." Herman Melville : Moby Dick
My personal favourite would also be the 90s, however. Distortion!
So are a lot of words in the english language. Sorry, Mr. Anti-Grunge Police.
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SMELL YER MA!
Oh yes, the best distortion ever sounded. I'm sure that I'm over generalizing, but I just don't hear a better or bigger guitar sound than in GRUNGE. Which band is credited with influencing the distorted guitar sound of AIC, SG and Nirvana???? Is it the Melvins???? I remember Kim Thail saying something about a seatle band with a crazy sound influencing the whole scene.
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You could actually HEAR the "rhythm" guitar in the 90s, as oppossed to most of new alternative and nu metal. You can't fucking dance to PJ or most rock for that matter.
I gave a fella three blank cd with one of his choices being the Libertines. Anyway one that I did was a mixture on my computer and the other had mostly rory material from his first three solo albums. He is liking it already.
What great guitar players are there now in comparsion to Clapton, Gallagher, Page and Hendrix?
Jack White, Derek Trucks, John Mayer... there are plenty more I'm sure.
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