Three of them are rather major. Sonic Youth pretty much ruled the 80s art-punk scene and paved the way for a lot of later alternative music (pretty much without them there’d be no Pixies and then no Nirvana). My Bloody Valentine pretty much invented shoegazing or, as they called it in the US, dreampop. As a genre it was roundly mocked by the late 90s but there’s definitely been a resurgence (listen to the first album by Sweden’s “The Radio Dept” for an example. There’s also a lot of electronica inspired by shoegazing, Ulrich Schnauss being a good example). Slint were the pioneers of what came to be known as post rock, of which the big names these days are Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky and Sigur Ros. The awesome Arab Strap are more-or-less Slint with a drunk Scottish guy talking over the top.
Oh and I really disagree with the guy earlier that said that the Mary Chain were doing Kevin Shield’s thing before him. Sorry, but they are very different types of music, especially the later MBV seen on the likes of ‘Loveless’.
Okay, I definitely understand the “as someone who plays guitar, there’s more to it” line, but I can’t tell if you are pro-Jeff Beck or anti-Jeff Beck hey, it matters.
Music cannot be “overplayed.” It can only be “overlistened,” because the control is in the hands of the listener. So the blame falls not on baby boomers or radio stations, but on Punch Line Loser for spending too much time listening to music he doesn’t like.
It’s necessary to explain how it’s your opinion or else how would we know? We might mistake it for the opinion of 4/5 medical doctors or the opinion of the CBO.
Classic rock stations existed as far back as the 1970s, when the format was called “album-oriented rock”. Every city of some size had one or two, if not more AOR stations, playing whatever topped the Billboard rock charts along with the iconic and popular rock songs of the recent past. However, the playlists of classic rock stations began to ossify in the mid- to late-1980s, about the time “alternative rock” became fashionable. AOR stations in the US embraced Southern heartland rock, hair rock, hard rock, progressive rock and heavy metal, but they drew the line at alternative rock. Why?
I agree that the above quote about Hendrix is stupid. The way I would say it is this: “If you play rock guitar and you don’t realize that you’ve been influenced (either directly or indirectly) by what Hendrix did, then you’re an idiot.”
You state that you play guitar. Then I guarantee, no matter how much you deny it, YOU were influenced by Hendrix in some way. The guy was a once in a lifetime musician that transformed the instrument. There’s no way any rock guitar player out there hasn’t been touched by his work somehow.
I’m a guitar player as well, with many varied influences - lots of classic rock players, some blues, some jazz, some alternative 80’s and 90’s, and some from today. And yes, even Hendrix. I’ve never been much into country music - in fact I used to absolutely hate it - but I do know how to PLAY country music. Forcing myself to learn country music helped me to develop my own voice on the guitar and, as a result, garner a new respect for the genre. I still don’t like it that much, but I understand it. Studying different styles will help your playing immensely and you seem to be limiting yourself quite a bit by not studying some of the most influential musicians ever…
hey, it matters.
