Why Steve Vai and other "great" guitarists are so boring?

[Psychedelic]

I'm in the same boat, tbh.

Could never get into the likes of Vai or Satriani. I think their style is self-indulgent and that the compositions per se are meh.

One example of a great technical guitarist who can actually compose songs is Chuck Schuldiner. But he's more niche and not as "prestigious" as names like Vai because he played Death metal.

Some examples:






One of my favorite guitarists. RIP.

 

[Snubnoze707]

Also folks who enjoy Satriani, Vai, and Gilbert will love Earthless. A mostly instrumental psychedelic rock band from San Diego, California consisting of guitarist Isaiah Mitchell, bassist Mike Eginton and drummer Mario Rubalcaba.

I'm a huge fan of theirs and own all their material on vinyl.

Good call. Earthless is my favorite current band right now. Saw them live in Oakland a few months ago in a small venue upstairs from a bar, it was incredible. Uluru Rock was face melting. Chris Robinson from The Black Crowes was there watching too.

 

[Satanical Eve]

Good call. Earthless is my favorite current band right now. Saw them live in Oakland a few months ago in a small venue upstairs from a bar, it was incredible. Uluru Rock was face melting. Chris Robinson from The Black Crowes was there watching too.

I first heard about Earthless when I watched the Such Hawks Such Hounds documentary when it came out in 2008. The band was featured in it playing Sonic Prayer and I've been a fan ever since. Isaiah Mitchell is otherworldly on the guitar and both Mario Rubalcaba and Mike Eginton aint too shabby either. Unfortunately I had tickets to see them here in NY but something came up to make me have to sell my ticket and then COVID came and ruined the whole concert scene for everyone. I'm glad you got to see them live before all this shit went down.

Acid Crusher may be repetitive but I love love love the riff and the laid back nature of the song.


One of my good buddies met the band after their gig a few years back and Isaiah told him that he was enjoying a Psilocybin mushroom trip. Friend said it was one of the best concerts he has ever attended and that Isaiah was playing like his life depended on it. Once we get back to being able to see bands live I am going to see Earthless when they come around.

 

[terrapin]

I appreciate the skill of Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, etc... They're quite impressive to watch, but gosh, their music is just so boring to listen to. Even baby songs have often a more catchy tune than stuff they play.
Is this because I'm a music imbecile that knows nothing about music and just can't grasp their godly music?
Or is it cause their "catchy tune" talent is non-existent?

It blows my mind how somebody can be that good on an instrument, yet compose such shitty music.
Thoughts?

Maybe we share some common ground. I have never understood associating how hard something is to play with it being good. This simply makes no sense to me and that bias and preference seems to run deep in a lot of people thinking.

I place zero value on how much skill it takes to do something.


I could not care less how difficult or simple a player is. I care how much emotion or spirit they can make me feel and if they can alter my consciousness with the playing. This can be done with really simple music and can be felt deeply.

Simple music is often what moves me the most.

 

[Psychedelic]

I first heard about Earthless when I watched the Such Hawks Such Hounds documentary when it came out in 2008. The band was featured in it playing Sonic Prayer and I've been a fan ever since. Isaiah Mitchell is otherworldly on the guitar and both Mario Rubalcaba and Mike Eginton aint too shabby either. Unfortunately I had tickets to see them here in NY but something came up to make me have to sell my ticket and then COVID came and ruined the whole concert scene for everyone. I'm glad you got to see them live before all this shit went down.

Acid Crusher may be repetitive but I love love love the riff and the laid back nature of the song.


One of my good buddies met the band after their gig a few years back and Isaiah told him that he was enjoying a Psilocybin mushroom trip. Friend said it was one of the best concerts he has ever attended and that Isaiah was playing like his life depended on it. Once we get back to being able to see bands live I am going to see Earthless when they come around.

Duuuude. I saw an improvisation gig of theirs with Kikagaku Moyo while I was on MDMA and it was amazing.

 

[Snubnoze707]

Once we get back to being able to see bands live I am going to see Earthless when they come around.

Absolutely, I'll be looking to see them again anywhere in NorCal when this opens back up. Isaiah not too shabby on the vocals too, but boy can he speak with the guitar.

I still need to collect all of the vinyl records. Guess I'll do that in the meantime since no chance of a live concert.

 

[Satanical Eve]

Absolutely, I'll be looking to see them again anywhere in NorCal when this opens back up. Isaiah not too shabby on the vocals too, but boy can he speak with the guitar.
I still need to collect all of the vinyl records. Guess I'll do that in the meantime since no chance of a live concert.

This is just some of what I have from them.

https://teepeerecords.com/collections/vendors?page=3&q=Tee+Pee+Records+Webstore Some of Earthless' music is available via Tee Pee records. Amazon also their music for sale just the vinyl versions are either sold out or being sold by a market place store

Duuuude. I saw an improvisation gig of theirs with Kikagaku Moyo while I was on MDMA and it was amazing.

Was it at Roadburn in 2018?

That must have been one hell of an experience seeing both live on MDMA doing an improvisational gig.

 

[Psychedelic]

That must have been one hell of an experience seeing both live on MDMA doing an improvisational gig.

Yep, Roadburn 2018. Friends did acid but I did not want a heavy psychedelic trip, just some ecstasy, beer, and enjoying some good old stoner rock. Kept jumping the whole gig.

 

[Takes_Two_To_Tango]

Making great music is by making great melody. It doesn't have to be all fancy and technical. Just simple melody will do enough to make something extraordinary.

Like The Edge for example for U2 songs.

 

[Snubnoze707]

This is just some of what I have from them.

https://teepeerecords.com/collections/vendors?page=3&q=Tee+Pee+Records+Webstore Some of Earthless' music is available via Tee Pee records. Amazon also their music for sale just the vinyl versions are either sold out or being sold by a market place store

Nice collection. Good prices on that website I"m gonna grab a few. I do find a lot of stuff on Discogs.com where I get a lot of vinyl. Can get some of the rarer stuff on there.

*Edit - Most on there sold out, I'll have to dig into discogs.

 

[IIIIIIII]

I appreciate the skill of Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, etc... They're quite impressive to watch, but gosh, their music is just so boring to listen to. Even baby songs have often a more catchy tune than stuff they play.
Is this because I'm a music imbecile that knows nothing about music and just can't grasp their godly music?
Or is it cause their "catchy tune" talent is non-existent?

It blows my mind how somebody can be that good on an instrument, yet compose such shitty music.
Thoughts?

a lot of that music seems to be played for other similar types of musicians. something that fast and technical can't be understood by the layman. i appreciate it on a technical level. but if something isn't written with a sense of clear structure and patterns of melody, then it's just randomness.

 

[ocean size]

srv

 

[squeezewax]

After a while most shredding to me sounds like a guitarist practicing their scales ultra-fast, boring.
I recall flipping over the 45 of Running with the Devil by Van Halen, to play Eruption for the first time. It was amazing, it changed things.

Many years later my favourite players are still, Jeff Beck, Brian May, UFO-Schenker, Gilmour, and other old skool guitarists.
Got sick of Yngwie not progressing. Liked the first few VH albums a lot. EVH too sounds too much the same to me.
Speed can be impressive for a while, but i'd rather hear just one note played by David Gilmour than a trillion played very quickly by a shredder.

Really liked and still have the early Satriani releases.

 

[Blue_Lou]

Music reaches a greater height when there's a marriage of both instrumentation and words. Lyrics provide another, profound dimension for the listener. This is coming from someone who has put out a couple dozen records or so with no singing.

Sometimes. But lyrics can also get in the way if they’re corny or not delivered well. Vocals/lyrics can make the song less personal for the listener if they can’t relate. Personally, I prefer instrumentals because I don’t want to be told what feelings to feel, and more often than not I find that when vocals kick in, it takes away from the song’s ambiguous/immersive ‘celestial’ quality and instead just makes me think about the dude who’s currently singing and what he might be like.

IMO vocals/lyrics lower music from immortal to mortal status. If you get it you get it, if you don’t you don’t, I’m not sure how to explain this better.

 

[Snubnoze707]

srv

Stevie is in a different category because Stevie can SANG.

 

[The Hash Slinging Slasher]

I appreciate the skill of Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, etc... They're quite impressive to watch, but gosh, their music is just so boring to listen to. Even baby songs have often a more catchy tune than stuff they play.
Is this because I'm a music imbecile that knows nothing about music and just can't grasp their godly music?
Or is it cause their "catchy tune" talent is non-existent?

It blows my mind how somebody can be that good on an instrument, yet compose such shitty music.
Thoughts?

Me and my buddy were taking about this very subject the other day. Those guys are incredibly technical and skilled, but I think BB King can say more in a few notes than they do in an entire song. The guitar is an amazing conduit of emotion but I don’t feel anything when I hear guys like them play.

 

[BossRootin]

The thing is, good musicians have incredible ears and hear patterns while casual listeners hear a bunch of random notes.
Many musicians can hear a song or lick and immediately play it back on their instrument.
Some of this genre is experimental as well. Not every song has to be a radio success.

 

[BossRootin]

Maybe some of you will dig Andy Timmons, a shredder with great melodic feel.

 

[BossRootin]

I doubt you will find this guy boring.

 

[SalvadorCollie]

Love Vai, but I more often than not use music as background sound. Playing games, reading, hanging out on the back porch. Find his instrumental stuff to strike emotion. I can find a Vai song for every mood. Lyrics or not