I wonder why when my mood is upset I try finding out things which will cause me more anguish and succeed in make me more upset than I initially was! Perplexing eh?
Like today...I spent almost half of the night looking for reasons if people hate Bon Jovi and for that matter Richie Sambora (the band's guitarist for those who are not aware), and for what reasons.
I knew I'd find a lot of haters...true Bon Jovi ain't the most popular band around...but it pained me to see that a lot of reasons given by people basically consist of the following:
a) They don't have talent
b) They a pretty boys who sing for girls only ( any guy who likes their music is apparently gay!)
c) They have no originality
d) They are an obsolete hair metal band who should have retired like their 80's counter-parts
e) They themselves are gays (one VERY popular reason!)
f) They are cheesy and they are not metal but they say they are...
and scores of others along those lines......
These people are even of the opinion that most people who in fact like Bon Jovi are:
a) Girls (or gays)
b) Have no taste in music whatsoever
and they are also kind enough to share these insightful thoughts:
a) Bon Jovi sux
b) GnR rocks...Axl kicks Bon Jovi's butt.....Slash can kill Sambora's solos....(Replace it with any other band, lead singer guitarist you prefer)
c) Bon Jovi are horrible
and the like.............
Well I for one do like the band, very very much so, it's the band that made me fall in love with glam rock of the 80's, which then made me want to try different bands from even older eras, ultimately made me the classic rock fan that I am now...... so does that mean that my taste in music is for shit?
Yes I am a girl, yes I do think the band has talent, has originality and hasn't gone out of style in the almost 26 yrs its been formed.
I am a diehard fan yes.....will I bash up anyone who criticises my favourite band...no!
I love Bon Jovi...doesnt mean that others should nor should I force them to! True they may not be in the same strata as Rock Gods Zeppelin (whom I'm also a HUGE fan!) or the Stones(also fan!) or Bob Dylan.....nor may be Sambora the equivalent of Hendrix(fan!) or Page(obviously fan!) but they do have talent.
They have some highly original and memorable songs! Almost all their songs are easy to sing or hum along with.....simple songs about people and daily life.....
Don't know about people but sometimes I prefer songs like these than others with 'heavier' lyrics.
As a genuine fan (not a fangirl who says everything which they put out is Gospel!) I will say that they lost steam around 'These Days'. That album in my opinion is their best along with 'Keep The Faith'. 'Crush', 'Have a Nice Day' are ordinary (Ironic since the 1st album I bought was Crush...I was 12!). 'Bounce' was good in my opinion.....under-rated. 'Lost Highway'-hmmmmm still an album I have mixed views on....I like all songs (generally like all Bon Jovi songs....albiet in specific orders....though their are some few songs which I dont mind listening to but just won't prefer to if their are some of their better songs available!) but it seems that I have a hot/cold kinda opinion to it.....listening to it really depends on my mood!
I am slightly bugged that they are playing it safe....not taking any risks (well hello.....been arnd for 26 years now.....taking a risk won't cause any harm in the fan following....who knows.....old fans may love it!)...it makes the band look absolutely commercial.
Still they do make some of the best music now compared to majority of the 'whin-y' bands with similar music and lyrics saturating the atmosphere now.
Also another thing which bugs me is the comparision of Sambora's guitaring skills with other guitarists!
True that most people who know me or are close to me in anyway know that I'm obsessed with this man.....in my eyes he's right up there with the best guitarists...but people feel that he's a talentless hack who can't play any riff properly and give such comments like : "Slash owns him" or "Can't compare this talentless hack with Hendrix" and stuff!
Since I am not a particularly good judge of guitaring skills (I'm more of a vocalist person.......and yes I do believe that Jon's voice has gone for the worse after 'Crush') I won't give any judgement in this matter....only will cite a personal opinion that Richie Sambora has never been allowed to explore his full level with the guitar in Bon Jovi (anyone who's heard his solo albums will know that he has a neat style of playing!). The only time he was allowed some free reign.....we got Dry County...and God was that solo wonderful!
He is a talented musician....I wont put him in the 'God' catagory maybe for most....but he's definitely close to it for me! (he has a nice voice too......raw but passionate...definitely sexy!)
In short I'd say that I love Bon Jovi, I love them inspite of their mediocrity (acc. to some), lack of originality/talent, I love them with all their flaws, I love them 'cause they only aspire to entertain and they do it quite well (for 45+ men....over 25 odd years ;)!)....I love them mostly for the fact that they got me into Rock n Roll and saved me from all these idiotic crap like rap, hip-hop and nu-rock!
Bon Jovi is my 1st band....and will always remain my favourite.....and I sincerely hope that they release their next album with a 'These Days' feeling!
Now that its established that I love Classic Rock....I can go on to expressing more about my love for music.
My greatest regret is that I can't play any musical instrument, except a classical Indian one called the harmonium (if you don't know what it is or how it looks like just google it up! :))
I would love to learn how to play the guitar...Seriously its one of the coolest instruments out there.....a bit cliched but there you have it! I honestly love every twang of a guitar string, played the right way of course.....
One of my fantasies involves a guy of my dreams seducing me with a really loud rock song with a neat and passionate lil riff playing in the background.
One of the things which puzzles me is that how most of my peers seem to find rock music loud and un-hearable while they listen to the absolute crap of these days which they consider the best thing since potato chips!
They cannot seem to find the beauty hidden in the songs I seem to like.
Now here I'd like to insert a teeny bit of information: I don't like most of today's rock bands either....most of their lyrics are to 'whine-y' about how bad everything is, how hope is gone and almost every band's style is the same! Its really boring!
I love how every old band seem to have a distinct sound to them even if they were of the same eras!!!
There are some things I noticed about some bands I like (I think other fans can recognise them too) which I'd like to list here starting with my all time fave, Bon Jovi.
For eg:
Bon Jovi: there songs generally have two main verses, with the main chorus interspersed in between, with another small verse which comes mostly before the main guitar solo and ends with a repetition of the solo fading to the background or with a loud note.
Led Zeppelin: Characteristic trait: Long songs with beautiful solos....not only from guitars....from drums, flutes and what not and, mostly, very little amount of lyrics...with lots of sexy "ooohs" and "aahhhs" from Robert Plant.
Skid Row: Songs usually feature two main verses with the chorus in between and they end off with some gorgeous guitar solos.
Aerosmith: Loud, crazy, wonderful songs with lots of lyrics! Their type of songs really suit Steven Tyler's voice.
Kiss: two main verses.....occasional third verse and main chorus....songs usually end with a bang!
These are some of the things I noticed......funny how your mind sub-consciously picks up these lil details when you don't even realise it!
Till next time.....
I love classic Rock n Roll......of course I'm not an expert or something in the old rock eras, but I'm always open to trying out new 'oldie' bands or artists.
One thing always bugs me and that is the bashing of my choices in Rock by people who claim that the bands/artists I like are not true rockers as compared to artists like Cradle of Filth, Slayer, Iced Earth and the like.
Now heavy metal is popular sub-genre of rock, I completely agree with it. It has its own fan following but its certainly not for me! I get headaches from listening to artists like these. But I always feel annoyed when fans of this genre keep whining that heavy metal artists are "the gods of rock" and artists I prefer and love are bullshit!
While my tolerance for heavy metal is low.....I do like some goth based and light metal songs. I've developed a slight interest in 'shock rock' recently but that's also not as much as I like ordinary hard rock bands!
For most who don't know my preference here's a list of artists/bands I enjoy listening to:
Bon Jovi (my ultimate favourite....deserves a separate post....will add later!)
Led Zeppelin (unquestionably my 2nd favourite band)
The Who (newest 'oldie' to my ever growing list of favourites)
Kiss
Van Halen
Scorpions
Deep Purple
Eric Clapton (he's one of my mum's fave artists....grew up listening to most of his songs!)
Janis Joplin
Jimi Hendrix
Def Leppard
The Rolling Stones
Aerosmith
Creedance Clearwater Revival
Skid Row (older songs mostly...when Sebastian Bach was still in the band)
Poison
Cinderella
Ratt
FireHouse
Roxette
Heart
Rainbow
Eagles (also coz of my mum!)
Red Hot Chili Peppers(only alt.rock band like)
Evanescence(only new band I like)
and a host more I can't recollect now......
Bands I'd like to try (within the next month) include: INXS, Sex pistols, Twisted Sister, Tesla and I want to try more of Black Sabbath songs.
I also like independent works by any artist associated with any band I like...most fave being works of Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi) and Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin).
My mother's been a huge influence on my taste in the oldies. I grew up, like I mentioned listening to Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Elton John, Tina Turner, Eagles, BeeGees, The Police and Rod Stewart to mention a few. I do like some songs by these artists (and more!) and have a soft spot for them even though I'm not a hard-core fan except perhaps for Clapton!
As mentioned before I like some Marilyn Manson and Alice Cooper songs (hence the credit of slightly liking shock rock!) but I'm certainly not a big fan!
To the contrary I don't like Guns and Roses very much (owing to the fact that Axl Rose's disposition makes me sick...though I admire Slash's guitaring skills...) or Nirvana (Kurt Cobain is over-rated to the max!) as they have enough fans around the world and won't miss my support very much! Most rock fans list them either seperately or together when they give their faves list......so its surprising I guess not to find them in mine.
The Beatles on the other hand...I'm not sure....I like some of their songs...but I'm not a huge fan of them! I prefer the Rolling Stones over them anyday!
Guess its enough rambling about this.....gotta grab something to eat. Adios!
