Very true. And I've heard seveal instrumental "rock guitar gods" where the soloing was strong but the song writing was nothing more than something to hang the solo off of. I could name a few BUTTTTTTT they are popular and it would no doubt ruffle some feathers. I saw one of these rock guitar gods in concert a few years ago in concert with Kings X and Dream Theater. 1st song I was impressed by his playing, 2nd song I said OK ... 3rd song was the same as the 1st two songs, 4th song I lost interest, 5th song I went to the bathroom, got a snack, looked at T shirts and waited for the main act to come on stage who BTW was Dream Theater. So this awesome guitar player ... this "rock guitar god" with chops up his butt bored the heck out of me. IMO he could solo like anything but could not write a song worth listening too. Masturbation ... BUT again it still comes down to one thing ... personal taste. After all ... this guys a star so a lot of people would disagree with me. But I wouldn't listen to his music if i could get his disks for free ... and I'm a prog-rock fan. I LOVE technical music. So IMO even technical music needs to SAY SOMETHING.

Yep. And let's be real here ... this is not confined to rock. There are plenty of jazz tunes out there that are just "vamps" and there are plenty of players who are simply regurgitating from thier collection of licks and bringing absolutely nothing new to the table.


Sure! I completely agree. But the word "technical" can come in many forms too. Sure ... fast is technical. But other stuff can be very complex harmonically but not necessarily in notes per second. Ravel composed solo piano music that left people scratching there heads over the harmonic structure. Satie wrote piano music that was so beautiful and simple it was considered brilliant in it's day even though a beginner could play the notes. Genesis were one of the king bands of "prog" but much of there stuff wasn't over the top technical. The early prog bands were more interested in bringing the harmonic and structural complexities of classical music into rock than they were showing off chops. Somewhere along the line that changed though.

But again, I don't think this is new. Somebody brought up Rachmaninoff as an example. I like Rachmaninoff but it's not my first choice when I want to hear piano music. For some it genuinely is. For others, they think he was the "king of piano music" simply because he composed music that is considered the most difficult to play. So even back then, there was the simpleton camp that thought harder automatically equals better.

It kind of makes you wonder ... if you went back to Vienna during Mozart's time, how many of the people attending those operas realized how brilliant the music was and how many went for the spectacle of the live opera?

Not sure I agree with what you are postulating there. It sound like you are saying 'ultimately, everything has to speak my language'. I believe that all forms of music say something, the question that is relevant to most of us is 'do I like what it's saying'.

There is plently of 'music' out there that I cannot stand, and I cannot fathom for the life of me what some people hear in it that I don't (eg grindcore black death metal with growling vocals), but surely, if one single person on the planet likes it, then it has value.

Well really what I'm trying to say is music like beauty music is in the eye of the beholder. FOR ME ... music has to say something. I enjoy music that makes me think as well as feel, I enjoy music that's complex in regard to either new unusual ideas or over the top musicianship ... and I expecially love music that presents both to me. That why I'm a Gentle Giant fan! However it's up to everyone to decide what turns THEM on. My example of the "rock guitarist god" I saw that bored the heck out of me admitted that he had a HUGE following ... my opinion about his writing at that concert would have been in the vast minority and I' sure unpopular. So most of what I said was to explain how "I" feel about music in general. But my biggest feeling is it's up to everyone to pick what they like. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Ahhhh, I think that we are all singing from the same hymn sheet after all!