REO Speedwagon from their second album R.E.O/T.W.O. which I still think is their best album.
5 comments on “Sunday Metal 11-22-2015”
Great rock guitarists are too often measured only by their soloing ability. Rhythm guitar skills are often overlooked. Gary Richrath was a very good rhythm guitarist. Dynamics, syncopation and rests (spaces between strums) are very important. A good rhythm guitarist takes into account the drummer’s and keyboardist’s parts. When it’s done right you can hear each instrument clearly in the mix; they don’t tread upon each other.
Well said. I would put it in similar terms: Great guitarists are measured not just on the notes they play and how they play them, but on the notes they do NOT play.
In the 80’s, there was an epidemic of Eddie Van Halen clones playing guitars like typewriters. Endless soloing with little rhythm underneath. Every hair band had it’s very own shredder who thought himself the next Yngwie Malmsteen.
In the 90’s, the trend reversed, with lead guitar shredding getting cast aside in favor of overbearing and grating rhythm guitar, while singers wailed about how miserable their lives were. The best bands in rock history understood the relationship between rhythm and melody, between lead and rhythm guitar. Too many bands in the 80’s & 90’s ignored those musical relationships.
REO in their prime (1970’s), clearly had an understanding of that musical balance. Richrath’s guitar melded perfectly with the keyboards, bass, drums and vocals. Instrumentally, you can’t really say that one guy stands above the others. Even though Richrath could play his ass off, he usually kept it grounded within the framework of the song, and the band benefited greatly from that.
I consider REO one of the all time great midwestern rock bands. It’s just too bad that they whimped out in the 80’s and got stuck doing awful ballads for top 40 appeal. This record, REO/T.W.O. captures them in all their hard rock glory.
MTV led first to the feminization and then later to the ghettoization of rock music. Video killed the rock star as well as the radio star. Country music is another one of its victims.
During the David Lee Roth days Eddie Van Halen’s rhythm guitar playing was very fluid and punchy and had a lot of swing to it, which has been often overlooked. The big-haired guitarists of the time fetishized his soloing style ad nauseam and kind of missed the forest for the trees.
Great rock guitarists are too often measured only by their soloing ability. Rhythm guitar skills are often overlooked. Gary Richrath was a very good rhythm guitarist. Dynamics, syncopation and rests (spaces between strums) are very important. A good rhythm guitarist takes into account the drummer’s and keyboardist’s parts. When it’s done right you can hear each instrument clearly in the mix; they don’t tread upon each other.
Well said. I would put it in similar terms: Great guitarists are measured not just on the notes they play and how they play them, but on the notes they do NOT play.
In the 80’s, there was an epidemic of Eddie Van Halen clones playing guitars like typewriters. Endless soloing with little rhythm underneath. Every hair band had it’s very own shredder who thought himself the next Yngwie Malmsteen.
In the 90’s, the trend reversed, with lead guitar shredding getting cast aside in favor of overbearing and grating rhythm guitar, while singers wailed about how miserable their lives were. The best bands in rock history understood the relationship between rhythm and melody, between lead and rhythm guitar. Too many bands in the 80’s & 90’s ignored those musical relationships.
REO in their prime (1970’s), clearly had an understanding of that musical balance. Richrath’s guitar melded perfectly with the keyboards, bass, drums and vocals. Instrumentally, you can’t really say that one guy stands above the others. Even though Richrath could play his ass off, he usually kept it grounded within the framework of the song, and the band benefited greatly from that.
I consider REO one of the all time great midwestern rock bands. It’s just too bad that they whimped out in the 80’s and got stuck doing awful ballads for top 40 appeal. This record, REO/T.W.O. captures them in all their hard rock glory.
MTV led first to the feminization and then later to the ghettoization of rock music. Video killed the rock star as well as the radio star. Country music is another one of its victims.
During the David Lee Roth days Eddie Van Halen’s rhythm guitar playing was very fluid and punchy and had a lot of swing to it, which has been often overlooked. The big-haired guitarists of the time fetishized his soloing style ad nauseam and kind of missed the forest for the trees.
Heh! Darius Rucker. Yep, it don’t get no more country than that.
/snark
Which is why I think it is their best album.