why do 80s heroes forget how to solo

[mentoneman]

Fun post Pat and dug your Lane improv clip! I wouldn't really put Uli in the 80's catagory for starters, he was playing Brahms and Beethoven lines weaved in with tasty blues back in the 70's. But I have an interesting perspective on the topic because I got to see Warren D ( probably my fav 80's rock guitarist) do an improv jam with uli on All along the watchtower and it was like the protege following the mentor. After about 4 minutes of trading off solos warren was repeating licks while Uli was telling stories and ceating paeks and valleys, melodies harmonies and didnt repeat one note..the longer the jam went the more expressive Uli got and Warren just stepped back and shook his head. Uli hasnt lost it, but I wish he would go back to playing a strat because im not a fam of tha shy guitar tone. Also, as Greazyeo said, his last two releases are nothing less than brilliant composition and performance wise. Yngwie hasnt put anything out thats creative since 97, he doesnt care anymore, has his own label, wife runs the show, but IMO nobody on the planet can play a stratocaster with so much conviction, precision and intensity as YJM to this day, he's still a tremendous force...in that heavy rock context. Your comments are fricken hilarious though! lol

it is pretty evident when a guitar player reaches a certain level of competency he or she becomes a musician. the language becomes fluent and the ability to communicate a complete thought or emotion is achieved.

my 12 year old daughter plays guitar. terribly i might add. but she's a guitar player. i kinda cringe when i get called a musician because i know i don't deserve that based on what i know a real musician to be. but i play my guitar alongside some monsters who humble me each time i attempt to share the stage with them and it's a joy for me.

the uli/warren story you shared makes sense. i listened to samples of the latest uli cd he has on itunes but it lost me quick with the overdramatic woodwinds and kettle drums and bone chilling vocals. admirable he's trying to drive complex music with the electric guitar as the lead instrument, and he still sounds viable as a player, but for me it comes across as so fruity. and i have halloween ghost sound effects records that blow uli's vocals out of the water. how can he still be so into music and believe he is capable of singing at all?

but for sure uli has a bigger musical vocabulary than warren playing with traditional musicians, and not "writing" with blues rockers, and reminded me of that EVH/holdsworth jam story at the roxy, which would be like einstein trying to discuss quantum physics with gary coleman.

ed= pentatonic with 1&1/2 step bends and major scale trills, followed by horse harmonic dive bomb. lick bin empty.
allan = plutonian data dump which makes tides rise an extra 3 inches off of newfoundland and a pig spontaneously combust in a cleveland zoo, and evh shrinkage.

yngwie still has the hands to pull off exciting music on the guitar but the "brewing eyes of newt and gargoyle feet in the cauldron whilst shackled in a dungeon" mentality is ridiculous, and i cannot take what he does, injecting rock with classical music, seriously anymore, when framed with that nonsense.

he used to think like a classical musician and could improvise with such technical precision when he was young and hungry. i believed what he was laying down. it just sounds like he got lazier and sloppier over time. stopped progressing. guthrie or gambale or the late great shawn lane could have pulled off the play with the orchestra trick but i really don't think yngwie pulled it off well with either the prague or the japanese deal.

 

[Anonymous]

Fun post Pat and dug your Lane improv clip! I wouldn't really put Uli in the 80's catagory for starters, he was playing Brahms and Beethoven lines weaved in with tasty blues back in the 70's. But I have an interesting perspective on the topic because I got to see Warren D ( probably my fav 80's rock guitarist) do an improv jam with uli on All along the watchtower and it was like the protege following the mentor. After about 4 minutes of trading off solos warren was repeating licks while Uli was telling stories and ceating paeks and valleys, melodies harmonies and didnt repeat one note..the longer the jam went the more expressive Uli got and Warren just stepped back and shook his head. Uli hasnt lost it, but I wish he would go back to playing a strat because im not a fam of tha shy guitar tone. Also, as Greazyeo said, his last two releases are nothing less than brilliant composition and performance wise. Yngwie hasnt put anything out thats creative since 97, he doesnt care anymore, has his own label, wife runs the show, but IMO nobody on the planet can play a stratocaster with so much conviction, precision and intensity as YJM to this day, he's still a tremendous force...in that heavy rock context. Your comments are fricken hilarious though! lol

it is pretty evident when a guitar player reaches a certain level of competency he or she becomes a musician. the language becomes fluent and the ability to communicate a complete thought or emotion is achieved.

my 12 year old daughter plays guitar. terribly i might add. but she's a guitar player. i kinda cringe when i get called a musician because i know i don't deserve that based on what i know a real musician to be. but i play my guitar alongside some monsters who humble me each time i attempt to share the stage with them and it's a joy for me.

the uli/warren story you shared makes sense. i listened to samples of the latest uli cd he has on itunes but it lost me quick with the overdramatic woodwinds and kettle drums and bone chilling vocals. admirable he's trying to drive complex music with the electric guitar as the lead instrument, and he still sounds viable as a player, but for me it comes across as so fruity. and i have halloween ghost sound effects records that blow uli's vocals out of the water. how can he still be so into music and believe he is capable of singing at all?

but for sure uli has a bigger musical vocabulary than warren playing with traditional musicians, and not "writing" with blues rockers, and reminded me of that EVH/holdsworth jam story at the roxy, which would be like einstein trying to discuss quantum physics with gary coleman.

ed= pentatonic with 1&1/2 step bends and major scale trills, followed by horse harmonic dive bomb. lick bin empty.
allan = plutonian data dump which makes tides rise an extra 3 inches off of newfoundland and a pig spontaneously combust in a cleveland zoo, and evh shrinkage.

yngwie still has the hands to pull off exciting music on the guitar but the "brewing eyes of newt and gargoyle feet in the cauldron whilst shackled in a dungeon" mentality is ridiculous, and i cannot take what he does, injecting rock with classical music, seriously anymore, when framed with that nonsense.

he used to think like a classical musician and could improvise with such technical precision when he was young and hungry. i believed what he was laying down. it just sounds like he got lazier and sloppier over time. stopped progressing. guthrie or gambale or the late great shawn lane could have pulled off the play with the orchestra trick but i really don't think yngwie pulled it off well with either the prague or the japanese deal.

Couldn't have said it better...

 

[mentoneman]

ultimately if i could pull eddie aside this is what i'd say:

or maybe it'd go like this

 

[Zachman]

Watso....

Just for you--

Uli Vocal's to the MAX

The guitar work is SO cool......

O M G....

Vocals are ummm....

I think I peed a little, hunched over in hysterical laughter--

 

[70strathead]

Fun post Pat and dug your Lane improv clip! I wouldn't really put Uli in the 80's catagory for starters, he was playing Brahms and Beethoven lines weaved in with tasty blues back in the 70's. But I have an interesting perspective on the topic because I got to see Warren D ( probably my fav 80's rock guitarist) do an improv jam with uli on All along the watchtower and it was like the protege following the mentor. After about 4 minutes of trading off solos warren was repeating licks while Uli was telling stories and ceating paeks and valleys, melodies harmonies and didnt repeat one note..the longer the jam went the more expressive Uli got and Warren just stepped back and shook his head. Uli hasnt lost it, but I wish he would go back to playing a strat because im not a fam of tha shy guitar tone. Also, as Greazyeo said, his last two releases are nothing less than brilliant composition and performance wise. Yngwie hasnt put anything out thats creative since 97, he doesnt care anymore, has his own label, wife runs the show, but IMO nobody on the planet can play a stratocaster with so much conviction, precision and intensity as YJM to this day, he's still a tremendous force...in that heavy rock context. Your comments are fricken hilarious though! lol

it is pretty evident when a guitar player reaches a certain level of competency he or she becomes a musician. the language becomes fluent and the ability to communicate a complete thought or emotion is achieved.

my 12 year old daughter plays guitar. terribly i might add. but she's a guitar player. i kinda cringe when i get called a musician because i know i don't deserve that based on what i know a real musician to be. but i play my guitar alongside some monsters who humble me each time i attempt to share the stage with them and it's a joy for me.

the uli/warren story you shared makes sense. i listened to samples of the latest uli cd he has on itunes but it lost me quick with the overdramatic woodwinds and kettle drums and bone chilling vocals. admirable he's trying to drive complex music with the electric guitar as the lead instrument, and he still sounds viable as a player, but for me it comes across as so fruity. and i have halloween ghost sound effects records that blow uli's vocals out of the water. how can he still be so into music and believe he is capable of singing at all?

but for sure uli has a bigger musical vocabulary than warren playing with traditional musicians, and not "writing" with blues rockers, and reminded me of that EVH/holdsworth jam story at the roxy, which would be like einstein trying to discuss quantum physics with gary coleman.

ed= pentatonic with 1&1/2 step bends and major scale trills, followed by horse harmonic dive bomb. lick bin empty.
allan = plutonian data dump which makes tides rise an extra 3 inches off of newfoundland and a pig spontaneously combust in a cleveland zoo, and evh shrinkage.

yngwie still has the hands to pull off exciting music on the guitar but the "brewing eyes of newt and gargoyle feet in the cauldron whilst shackled in a dungeon" mentality is ridiculous, and i cannot take what he does, injecting rock with classical music, seriously anymore, when framed with that nonsense.

he used to think like a classical musician and could improvise with such technical precision when he was young and hungry. i believed what he was laying down. it just sounds like he got lazier and sloppier over time. stopped progressing. guthrie or gambale or the late great shawn lane could have pulled off the play with the orchestra trick but i really don't think yngwie pulled it off well with either the prague or the japanese deal.

You are a genius!

Just found this, interesting??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUii61K8 ... re=related

 

[lordriffenstein]

Pat,

2 things:

- You are a genius!

- You need to start a blog, that´s some some funny

it is pretty evident when a guitar player reaches a certain level of competency he or she becomes a musician. the language becomes fluent and the ability to communicate a complete thought or emotion is achieved.

I know this thread is about 80s heroes but I need to comment on this as I don´t think level of competency is what seperates guitar players from musicians. I think a guitar player becomes a musician when he/she starts to play in a band environment, learns his/her place and how to play with other musicians.

 

[mentoneman]

Just found this, interesting??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUii61K8 ... re=related

I liked that. the lyrics poke fun at the genre which is way better than trying to sound like they mean it.
And uli sounded great but kinda predictable.

 

[Anonymous]

if vh would have put out a solo record of his fabled practice cassette tapes at the height of his popularity and skill, he would have sold a trillion of those. he'd probably still make a fortune releasing something like that on itunes, and it would represent his peak years as a player and would remind the fans what VH was all about.

My opinion is, regardless of whether he released it at the peak of his abilities or not, an EVH solo record would have sucked balls. Eddie writes music for people to sing over - that is what he's great at. Also, Eddie needs a foil like DLR to be at his best. That is where the magic is. When left to his own devices, or working with cheeseball singers, his material sucks balls. One of the smartest things he ever did was not releasing a solo instrumental album even though we were all clamoring for it. The only success would have been financial...

Steve

you might be right. i just imagined a closet full of practice tapes and late night instrumental jams that could have yielded some hidden treasures. early vh songs and solos were so full of individuality and character. you could look forward to another innovative guitar moment on almost every song.

now i can pretty much tell you what yngwie and eddie will play on every solo before i even hear it.

Last time I went to see Yngwie, before he came out with the band, he let forth with a 30 second blast of playing from offstage, presumably to do a final check on his sound. When he was done, I yelled "Thank You! Good Night!" Lotsa people laughed... He then came on stage and essentially proceeded to repeat that same 30 seconds for the next two hours.

Steve

 

[mentoneman]

the inventiveness in his improv is gone

Gambale said more fresh things in a 30 second blurb I heard him play at NAMM last year trying out a guitar than yngwie does on an entire record.