Zakk's tone on That Metal Show

[JohnSykes]

Oh but there was a time...

Damn right there was a time!

He was an absolute beast imho. His tone was much better, he didnt abuse the Wah, he was more accurate and maybe even more bluesy.


He lost it when he became this viking cartoonish character.

 

[yankeebulldog]

I only really liked his tone on No Rest For the Wicked however he got it, via Lee Jackson, modded Marshalls, a JCM800, etc. It was cool on that album and the tour and the Just Say Ozzy EP. Once he got into that running a Boss SD-1 into an 800 with tons of chorus, etc. I really didn't care for it. I always thought it was kind of thin sounding compared to other guys tones during that era and it's gotten worse over the last 20 years. I was a big fan of his style back in that time, even through his solo stuff before BLS. He wasn't Randy or Jake, but he did have his own cool little bag of tricks. He kind of lost me with the sudden switch between the southern rock/country stuff to biker metal. There are a handful of BLS riffs I like but he never really did much solo wise that was very tasteful IMHO. The only anomaly was the Rock Star soundtrack. He totally ripped it up on those songs, but he's never done anything like since.

 

[DannyM]

Those are the kind of solo's that took trippin' on acid at a concert to the next level

 

[BrentSSL]

The only anomaly was the Rock Star soundtrack. He totally ripped it up on those songs, but he's never done anything like since.

Didn't he write most of the Steeldragon music?

 

[Anonymous]

Also... What's with the sitting down all the time?
The videos from the show in jersey last week show him sitting.. he's in that bad shape? I heard about the clots but thought he was over that?

 

[yngzaklynch]

Oh but there was a time...

that still wasn't pleasing at all.

your gonna do a live solo.
BUILD IT> don't start with the fastest thing in the world and then never stop being fast, and then add some random wild long notes, and then more fast.

it all sounds like the same shit. I didn't need 4 minutes of that. 40 seconds and you've heard ALL your gonna hear the entire time.
NO variation, no dynamics, nothing. Just the same rapid fire crap the whole time. Im sorry. He has built some incredibly good solos on record (No More Tears) , but there is no momentum here, just a flurry.

This is a much better staged and developed "live" guitar solo break.

speed, dynamics, changes it up with a slide solo. hits some chords...cmon. just so much cooler all around.

Love both leads. Love both players. But i believe there are some that will prefer the Zakk solo over Dougs solo. I know I do.

 

[Racerxrated]

I wish I could play as well as he sucks.

This. I'm not really a fan, but he still kicks most peoples asses around the block. I too wish he would lay off all those effects ...

 

[Racerxrated]

Oh but there was a time...

that still wasn't pleasing at all.

your gonna do a live solo.
BUILD IT> don't start with the fastest thing in the world and then never stop being fast, and then add some random wild long notes, and then more fast.

it all sounds like the same shit. I didn't need 4 minutes of that. 40 seconds and you've heard ALL your gonna hear the entire time.
NO variation, no dynamics, nothing. Just the same rapid fire crap the whole time. Im sorry. He has built some incredibly good solos on record (No More Tears) , but there is no momentum here, just a flurry.

This is a much better staged and developed "live" guitar solo break.

speed, dynamics, changes it up with a slide solo. hits some chords...cmon. just so much cooler all around.

Yup. I could listen to this stuff all day..

 

[Mr. Willy]

This guy does Zakk better than Zakk, IMHO. He does what Zakk should do - slow down every now and then and use more melody. This would give his faster runs more impact. I will say also that I can't play like Zakk or this guy at all, but it's still MHO.

 

[Mr. Willy]

Another. This guy is unreal.

 

[amiller]

I guess I'm in the minority, but I thought he played well, I was pretty impressed at some of the stuff he was doing, keep in mind he's not going through a huge p.a. system or studio processing like you're use to hearing, it's just raw into the t.v. studio's board, sounds to me like he's keeping his chops up pretty well!

I agree. I thought he was pretty damn entertaining.

Steve

Yeah, I agree. I thought this site was going to be buzzing about how much better he did than in the recent pass...before he got sober. Man, this is a tough crowd!

I enjoyed it and I'm NOT a fan.

 

[Chubtone]

He had so many effects on, he sounded like a 13 year old who had just gotten his first Line 6 amp and was using the pre-set labeled "Armageddon".

Also, when he plays fast, he just goes into this cruise control mode where everything is the exact same speed. And it's all 16th notes, with no break up or variation in the pattern of notes. It is way more repetitive than Yngwie that people go on and on bitching about. Dang Zakk, chop it up a little buddy. Mix in some triplets and a stuttering eighth or quarter note pattern in with all that speed otherwise it becomes mind-numbingly boring.

And to the guy earlier who complained about note-choice. I'm right there with you. Your ear is either fine with what Zakk is feeding it, or it wishes he was throwing in some of the other notes that are available to you in any key. There are 7 "correct" notes in any key and you can bounce between modes and add a couple of more in for some spice. The notes that "don't work" will also work really well as passing tones. Or you can use 5 notes, and marry yourself to those 5 notes.

Just my opinion. Zakk doesn't leave me cold. He annoys me. At least you could say he causes a reaction.

 

[legend71]

I love his playing but those amps and guitars are fugly

 

[thiswaythatway]

Link?

 

[Soulstealer]

Zakk does Zakk. I'm not expecting to be harmonically or rhythmically enlightened by anything he does at this point. I can't get annoyed, because I already know what he's basically gonna do. I don't think it sounds terrible, though. It's a barrage, but it's more aggressive and honestly more pleasing to me than hearing someone like MAB or even John 5, who plays extremely boring and semi-sloppy chromatic runs when he does fast picking. He's just as rhythmically steady as Zakk, yet way sloppier. Hell, there are a TON of legendary-level guys who go autopilot with the right hand. You just don't notice it as much as Zakk, because he does it a lot. One reason I like Zakk is because he was one of the first guys I heard doing clean, fast two-note-per-string picking runs. Everyone else at the time was 3 notes. Those were much easier to do, but the seemingly simple 2-note pentatonic runs, played as fast and clean as Zakk does them, were far trickier. I give him tons of respect for that, however basic it may seem to some of you. There are legions of guys who shred through scales with 3-per-string patterns, but far fewer who truely have a handle on blazing through 2-per-string runs.

 

[Metlupass2]

Didn't Kerry and Eddie mention that Zakk was sober, but it sure looked like he was drinking beer on there unless it was non alcoholic.

 

[LowDesertSludge]

This guy does Zakk better than Zakk, IMHO. He does what Zakk should do - slow down every now and then and use more melody. This would give his faster runs more impact. I will say also that I can't play like Zakk or this guy at all, but it's still MHO.

That was refreshing. Through a Crate too!

 

[jharpersj]

It was not great, but most of the guests don't sound that great on there. I think the guys like John 5 who do clinics are the ones that always sound killer, the rest seem unprepared. That being said he is a legend so he still gets props from me, I mean how many of us wrote a riff like No More Tears ? or played Mr. Crowley, um with Ozzy ha ha.

 

[Mr. Willy]

This guy does Zakk better than Zakk, IMHO. He does what Zakk should do - slow down every now and then and use more melody. This would give his faster runs more impact. I will say also that I can't play like Zakk or this guy at all, but it's still MHO.

That was refreshing. Through a Crate too!

I think he's using a rackmount POD or the Digidesign thingy. Either way, yeah. He's awesome. This is how Zakk should sound, IMHO. It'd be way more interesting.

 

[Chubtone]

Everyone else at the time was 3 notes. Those were much easier to do, but the seemingly simple 2-note pentatonic runs, played as fast and clean as Zakk does them, were far trickier. I give him tons of respect for that, however basic it may seem to some of you. There are legions of guys who shred through scales with 3-per-string patterns, but far fewer who truely have a handle on blazing through 2-per-string runs.

Three notes per string is what people were doing when Zakk came out because the two note per string licks were left behind in the hands of the 70's players by guys like Eddie, Randy and Yngwie. 3 notes allowed you to play more musically IMO. Two note per string fast picked runs always left you with a downstroke while moving to the next string. I don't think that was harder. I think that is much easier for alternate picking. The fact that no one else was doing 2 notes per string anymore wasn't because it was harder, it was because people were trying to play a Paul Gilbert lick from 1987 in 1987 and Zakk was trying to do a 1972 Frank Marino lick in 1987.