“Rock This Town” by The Brian Setzer Orchestra

(Words/Music: Brian Setzer, Album: The Dirty Boogie, Interscope 1998)

When Brian Setzer burst on the scene in the 80s with his band The Stray Cats, he was looked at as a bit of a novelty act in that his band played a guitar oriented version of rockabilly in the midst of the New Wave scene, the burgeoning metal scene, and the ever-present pop/dance scene. However, everyone seemed to love them. They were “out there” enough for the New Wave fans to like (and I think it may have had something to do with his pompodour which seems oddly similar to a certain singer from Flock of Seagulls); they had enough guitars to keep the metalheads from changing the channel; and their songs were catchy enough to get a good share of radio play. Then Setzer disappeared for about a decade. Of course, he didn’t really disappeared; the novelty just wore off.

When he re-emerged in late 90s, he didn’t just have a stripped down three piece rockabilly combo, he had a full blown band behind him complete with a full horn section which he referred to as his “orchestra.” His image was the same: greasy 50s pompadour and hollow-body guitar. But now covered with tattoos, he seemed an interesting juxtaposition to his new orchestra. The music, and most notably, his guitar playing, had gone through an evolution as well, changing from simple mid-paced early rock tunes to frenetically paced and complex compositions which incorporated his rockabilly guitar into a full jazz band. A perfect example of this evolution is “Rock This Town,” an early hit with The Stray Cats but reborn now with his orchestra. The intro is extended, the guitar solo is more advanced, and the tempo is increased. In addition, he allows his drummer and saxophonist to take lead breaks. But despite all of these changes, the band is by and about Brian Setzer and his electric guitar and is driven by the immense energy he creates with it.

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“Surrender” by U2

(Words/Music: U2, Album: War, Island Records 1983)

When I first heard U2, watching their live concert from Red Rocks on MTV in the early 80s (because it seemed like it was on every Friday night and “Sunday, Bloody Sunday” was on every hour), I thought the band had some potential if they got a new guitar sound or new guitarist altogether. In the middle of my metal phase, I was disappointed that a band that could put together some pretty good songs didn’t play any guitar solos. After all, at that point, I thought the only way a guitarist could truly express himself was through an extended period where the focus shone primarily on him: the solo. Even when they began to get more popular, I referred to The Edge as having ripped off his entire playing technique from part of the guitar solo in Jimi Hendrix’s “All Along the Watchtower.” Little did I know then, I had actually recognized the importance that The Edge had his own style and he developed it within the confines of the song as opposed to within the solo. 

Like most music fans (or even casual listeners), I could sing along to a number of U2’s songs because they were constantly available on MTV and on every radio station from Alternative to Classic Rock to Adult Contemporary. After reluctantly picking up The Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum and loving them, I began to search their back catalog and discovered early albums like Boy, October, and War. The first thing that I noticed was how much more raw their sound was as compared to the beautifully polished work of the early 90s with Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. The next thing I noticed was that The Edge’s playing was different: it was more of a straightforward rock sound than the precision rhythmic strumming that eventually became his trademark. As I listened closer and got more familiar with these early albums, I began to pick up pieces of The Edge’s style at various points in different songs. One of those songs is “Surrender” off of War. Instead of a “normal” riff or struck and held chords, “Surrender” features chordal melodies and rhythms utilizing combinations of full- and semi-muted chords which would eventually become the staple of The Edge’s sound during their mainstream breakthrough albums The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree. It also features The Edge experimenting with multi-layered guitar tracks and slide guitars to create sounds which pre-date the chaotic and hellish sounds in songs like “Bullet the Blue Sky.”  As a more seasoned listener, I can now appreciate the intricacies and feel that The Edge brings to U2’s music and how much more his style is defined within the song itself than it ever could have been in a solo. 

More U2: AmazonMP3 - last.fm - AllMusic - eMusic

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“What Is and What Should Never Be” by Led Zeppelin

(Words/Music: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, Album: Led Zeppelin II, Atlantic Records 1969)

My journey to becoming a fan of Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin was a fairly long and confusing one. It started like much of my music education started: with the radio. That meant I was gradually exposed to a few of their bigger songs with their longer, less popular, and sometimes more innovative work remaining unfamiliar. This also meant that I would purchase Led Zeppelin IV because of “Stairway To Heaven,” “Rock ‘n’ Roll,” and “Black Dog” but would be initially disappointed by the rest of the album’s softer acoustic nature. However, I would come to like “When the Levee Breaks” (which is, to this day, one of my favorite Zeppelin songs) and “The Battle of Evermore” (especially once I figured out that they were alluding to The Lord of the Rings trilogy). This meant that I really liked five of the eight songs on the album and that gave me enough reason to just “let it play,” allowing me to gain familiarity with the rest of the album. Eventually, I would gain an appreciation for the acoustic orchestration on that album and count it as one of my favorite recordings. However, during that time, I was also being exposed to more songs on the radio like “Whole Lotta Love,” and “Ramble On” and had an opportunity to see Page’s violin-bow-wielding performance during “Dazed and Confused” on their live concert film The Song Remains the Same. The result of was that I began to realize that he could do some amazing things on the guitar and was a true innovator. However, my experience with their albums had yet to really confirm that. 

I’m not sure when I first heard Led Zeppelin II, or even if I heard it all at once the first time I heard it, but somewhere in my listening history it became the Led Zeppelin album I had been searching for. It had a mix of everything Led Zeppelin was: the heavy blues band tinged with acoustic pieces and Tolkien-inspired mysticism. But the special songs on that album for me were always the songs that started as mellow atmospheric pieces: “What Is And What Should Never Be” and “Thank You.” Of those, my favorite is “What Is…” because it evolves into a full-on rock song. In this one song, Jimmy Page shows most of his skills as a guitarist and growing composer of some of the most complex and beautiful rock songs ever recorded. Watching him last week in It Might Get Loud, a music film in which Page, The Edge and Jack White discuss the electric guitar, I was amazed at how comfortable he still is with picking up a guitar and experimenting with a sound or chord progression. Even though he has been recording longer than the other two combined (as evidenced by his now shock-white hair), he refuses to play the role of the old wise man (no Gandalf, he), but instead appears more as a giddy schoolboy in his first garage band. It’s this love of playing and general excitement that comes through the most on Page’s albums and why I count Page as one of the greatest guitarists of all time.

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