the greatest shredder that ever lived...and died RIP

[rupe]

I'm usually a shred fanboi, but not in this case. Oh well, others seem to really enjoy it so sorry to be a buzzkill. Maybe I just need more exposure, but my limited listening experiences turn into a blur when I listen to his work

Agreed... kind of jazz fusionish in a lot of senses to... I know Paul Gilbert raved about Lane BUT to me, Paul Gilbert is one of the best shredders of all time and I don't find Lane on the same level. Yes Lane had some cool stretches and licks but overall from a phrasing perspective, I gotta go with Gilbert. If I want blues and shred, I'll go with Kotzen!

How absoluely absurd. You're naming a few guys from different genres and in end Lane not only smoked them, he existed on a plane those guy will never attain in their lifetimes.

I agree w Ralph. You either get it or you don't

More meaningless competitive comparisons

A person can "get it" without liking it. I think Lane was an amazing player but I can only take it in small doses...its not "background" music, it demands a bit more attention than more standard fare IMO. His melodic sensabilities are such that few will truly grasp a lot what he's doing.

A perfect example of that for me is Holdsworth...I get what he's about and I appreciate his skills but I hate about 75% of what I hear from him. I don't know that Lane is any more accessable to the masses but his playing resonates with me much more so than Allan's. It's all about personal tastes...blanket statements like "player x smokes player y" are juvenile and meaningless.

 

[Shatter_The_Silence]

10 seconds of SLane puts me in awe
60 seconds of SLane makes me want to turn it off in boredom

SRV is to human emotion as SLane is to Robot

Calling Lane's playing "robotic" speaks more of your ear than anything else.
"Human emotion"? Are you serious? SRV had a stock set of licks he repeated in every song.

I'm usually a shred fanboi, but not in this case. Oh well, others seem to really enjoy it so sorry to be a buzzkill. Maybe I just need more exposure, but my limited listening experiences turn into a blur when I listen to his work

Greatest shredder? IDK, I think something with more rock/metal vibe when I think shred, not smooth pop jazz. I'll take Al Dimeola for that nomination.

This...
I will listen to Beckers library before i could start and stop a whole SL song front to back.
He was unreal though, there is no doubt about it. RIP

 

[mentoneman]

we interrupt this controversial topic for something truly insane:
http://www.angelfire.com/ak2/intelligencerreport/bike_race.html

if shawn lane plays video game licks, this is the footage for it!!!!

 

[Ayrton]

That was awesome!

 

[Fred the Shred]

What I seriously can't get is how quick the destructive mentality reaches any topic regarding [insert random guitarist here]. It's not like his fans are forcing people to listen to the man's music at insane volumes while they're tied to chairs to prevent escape. Seriously, guys... My usual solution, when a player doesn't speak to me musically, is to simply respect what he does and keep my mouth shut while admitting not to like his work - can I say any bad things about, say, Marshall Harrison's technique or his approach? I may not have liked his original work, but he is an amazing musician, period.

What on Earth is "SRV smokes Shawn Lane" or vice-versa? Oh, I can almost bet that doubt consumed them to their dying breaths - I mean, how stupid could it be that, you know, musicians just respect one another and let go of absolutely silly competitive games and just express themselves through music? I'm sorry about the rant, but while I can totally relate to how musicians like Shawn have an approach that is often far from accessible and to everyone's taste (is there something that is to everyone's taste, after all?), what need do we have to contribute to a thread via pointless arguing about apples and oranges, or just dismissing what someone has accomplished as "soulless"? We're not in anyone's brain to know whether a man has true feelings behind what he plays, we can just attest whether what he plays stirs our own.

/rant

Having said this, and since people were curious, what eventually killed Shawn was pulmonary collapse, which derived from a fatal combination of heavy anti-inflamatory therapy against an auto-immune condition (arthritic psoriasis), the inherent vulnerability to pneumonia and weight gain, and his very heavy smoking habits. RIP Shawn.

 

[chunktone]

His bio on wiki said he was a heavy smoker, that's what killed him in 2003.

Cigarettes? I thought he was a junkie? He was rumored to have some demons...

No mention of what he was smoking so heavily.

 

[rupe]

What I seriously can't get is how quick the destructive mentality reaches any topic regarding [insert random guitarist here]. It's not like his fans are forcing people to listen to the man's music at insane volumes while they're tied to chairs to prevent escape. Seriously, guys... My usual solution, when a player doesn't speak to me musically, is to simply respect what he does and keep my mouth shut while admitting not to like his work - can I say any bad things about, say, Marshall Harrison's technique or his approach? I may not have liked his original work, but he is an amazing musician, period.

What on Earth is "SRV smokes Shawn Lane" or vice-versa? Oh, I can almost bet that doubt consumed them to their dying breaths - I mean, how stupid could it be that, you know, musicians just respect one another and let go of absolutely silly competitive games and just express themselves through music? I'm sorry about the rant, but while I can totally relate to how musicians like Shawn have an approach that is often far from accessible and to everyone's taste (is there something that is to everyone's taste, after all?), what need do we have to contribute to a thread via pointless arguing about apples and oranges, or just dismissing what someone has accomplished as "soulless"? We're not in anyone's brain to know whether a man has true feelings behind what he plays, we can just attest whether what he plays stirs our own.

/rant

Having said this, and since people were curious, what eventually killed Shawn was pulmonary collapse, which derived from a fatal combination of heavy anti-inflamatory therapy against an auto-immune condition (arthritic psoriasis), the inherent vulnerability to pneumonia and weight gain, and his very heavy smoking habits. RIP Shawn.

 

[marshall]

What I seriously can't get is how quick the destructive mentality reaches any topic regarding [insert random guitarist here]. It's not like his fans are forcing people to listen to the man's music at insane volumes while they're tied to chairs to prevent escape. Seriously, guys... My usual solution, when a player doesn't speak to me musically, is to simply respect what he does and keep my mouth shut while admitting not to like his work - can I say any bad things about, say, Marshall Harrison's technique or his approach? I may not have liked his original work, but he is an amazing musician, period.

What on Earth is "SRV smokes Shawn Lane" or vice-versa? Oh, I can almost bet that doubt consumed them to their dying breaths - I mean, how stupid could it be that, you know, musicians just respect one another and let go of absolutely silly competitive games and just express themselves through music? I'm sorry about the rant, but while I can totally relate to how musicians like Shawn have an approach that is often far from accessible and to everyone's taste (is there something that is to everyone's taste, after all?), what need do we have to contribute to a thread via pointless arguing about apples and oranges, or just dismissing what someone has accomplished as "soulless"? We're not in anyone's brain to know whether a man has true feelings behind what he plays, we can just attest whether what he plays stirs our own.

Agree, it's pointless bringing SRV into a Shawn Lane thread.

 

[Atropos_Project]

Music isn't a competition. Jesus, this entire thread is sad.