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Johnny Marr - What do you guys think.


black blade

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Marr is basically the Alternative Jimmy Page. He took some innovations and combined them into a towering colossus of gorgeous work that outlined a new approach to the instrument. As an arranger, he's near peerless, and as a technician his playing is incredible and intensely expressive.

 

Noel Gallagher has a quote in documentary to the effect of "I've seen him do some things that just look so easy ... and then you do them ... and they're not easy at all."

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1MsuoNJQ3U

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I think Johnny Marr is the kind of guitarist.....much like the Edge....that needs to have threads like "what do you think about Johnny Marr"....as if he NEEDS some kind of validation. When really they don't. They are simply amazing guitarists. Just like Jeff Beck or Page, or Hendrix or EVH or Malmsteen etc......

 

And I'm not picking on you in any way black blade. In fact I think you bringing this up is important.

 

Unfortunately the stink of classic rock snobbery is still something that lingers over ALL of rock.

 

Marr comes from that generation of guitarists who were ignored and shunned by the baby boomers, as being "less" than their heros like Page and Hendrix etc....Same as guys like George Lynch, Warren DeMartini, or anyone who played a charvel or a jackson.

 

And those baby boomers even had a powerful influence over my generation (X) in convincing many of us that while our guitarists were good, they still weren't as important as theirs. Which is why many Gen Xer's still tout the 60's and 70's guys. Truth is we were simply more open minded. We liked their music too....they just didn't like ours.

 

The difference was that classic rock snobs couldn't write off the "shredder's" talent, when it was obvious they could physically play better than guys like Page and Hendrix. So they came up with....."those guys (shredders) have no feel" or "too many notes" to make themselves feel better. (All the while missing the point that the classic rock guitarists were trying to play as FAST as they possibly could...lol...)

 

With guys like Marr and the Edge, it was easy to write them off because physically they didn't even TRY to do technical things (like speed) even as good as the classic rock guys. Their brilliance was that they went for "sonic landscapes". But that was easy to poke fun at. I mean hell....I was a metal kid and I used to think guys like Marr and Edge weren't very good because I was caught up in the snobbery of it all. I was so completely wrong.

 

Thankfully, over time, many of these guitarists are finally getting the credit they deserve. Mostly because gen x is now in charge of programming. Many of us metal heads have come to the realization that the punk and new wave of our generation was really amazing and I have new wave friends that have discovered just how good the 80's metal really was. Even some Boomers have started to grow up and realize that their generation wasn't the end all and be all of music.

 

I try to remember that when I listen to anything new. That there are a whole new generation of creative guitarists now and coming that are every bit as good as anyone else in the history of the instrument.

 

 

 

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^^^^^^^^^^^ ... or how about the guy who stepped into his shoes with Morrissey's first solo stuff, Vini Reilly (of Durutti Column)?

 

To be blunt, "the stink of classic rock snobbery" is actually something I associate with unsophisticated people who find something they like, and never grow. If you have an active intellect, you are always seeking out new things - it's part of your makeup. That's nothing against Jimmy Page or liking him, but I find it hilarious when some "peaked in high school Rob Lowe" type gushes about Page and disparages Jack White - who is a very similar player (and equally talented writer / composer).

 

It really boils down to how you see music: as a means of communication, or a way to serve your ego needs (e.g., feel superior, look cool, etc.). We all have egos, but if you see music as a means of communication (and hence: Art), you do your best to put your ego aside from time to time and challenge yourself.

 

We really ought to have a "great guitarists of the '80's" thread.

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