Sunday, October 07, 2012

Sunday Song: My Husband is Wrong Edition

Erik and I have a...difference of opinion...when it comes to heavy metal.  It's always been an also-ran for me; something I can either take or leave.  My husband, on the other hand, seems to think it is the ne plus ultra of rock music.

Witness his hating on Rivers Cuomo:

Saddest thing I’ve read probably all year:

“Rivers Cuomo…used to be a pretty awesome shredder in the 80′s/early 90′s. He sounded like he was influenced by Queensryche, Maiden, and Slayer.

“But then Weezer happened, and he seemed to lose a lot of that. I think he claimed in several interviews that he can’t play like that anymore.”

I must say, that’s a real shame. If he couldn’t play the guitar worth a shit in the first place it’d be one thing, but to let talent like that fall by the wayside is such a waste. More power to Cuomo if Weezer makes him happy — but then I’ve never been a fan of Weezer anyway, so I do have a biased perspective.
Like I finally told him the other night--instant wit isn't always my strong point--the mere ability to play the same three chords over and over again reallyreally fast isn't the mark of talent he seems to think it is.

Thing is, Rivers Cuomo is a good guitar player by rock standards--and let's not delude ourselves that rock guitar is on a level with, say, flamenco guitar.  That he's not playing heavy metal anymore doesn't change that.  Why he left that kind of music I can't say--maybe he realized it's not 1987 anymore, or just realized he preferred something different.  Either way, he didn't leave his guitar skills behind:



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