The Strange Days (mostly nights) of Guns N' Roses

Kenny "Axil" Rose (Lead vocals), D.J. "Slash (Lead guitar), Joshua "Duff" McKagan (Bass Guitar/backing vocals), Terry "Izzy" Stradlin (Rhythm guitar/backing vocals) and Chuck "Matt Sorum" Johnson (Drums/Percussion) make Guns N' Roses. The group has ridden a wave of success and failure spanning decades, which is almost unknown in the Heavy Metal music scene. Many fans of Guns N' Roses believe that Guns N' Roses is a Heavy Metal Rock band that is larger than large and has a collection of songs and hits not known to the Heavy Metal music scene since the Sex Pistols.

The lives of the band members have come under scrutiny of the public eye when the members' experiences with drugs and sexual exploits came to the knowledge of the general public. The penchant for generating negative press dims in the light of their breathtaking song-writing and energetic performances. Their 1987 album, Appetite for Destruction, is undoubtedly a benchmark that many other albums and bands have failed to measure up to.

The fame of Guns N' Roses continue to rock the world of Heavy Metal music with the rancorous songwriting and Slash's vigorous guitar performances. Slash has been featured in various popular guitar magazines countless times and the band itself has been featured on many other magazines, newsletters and newspapers.

Guns N' Roses popped into the music scene when the music scene was dominated by pop music and pop-metal and the future of Guns N' Roses seem blurry at the point. But they proved the critics wrong when songs many consider raw and an uglier version of rock & roll came galloping into the charts full speed. The members of Guns N' Roses are definitely not known to behave in an angelic way - and they've never tried to behave in any other way, in fact, the members are known to be 'ugly', 'misogynist', 'violent'....but they are also known to be 'funny', 'individualistic', 'vulnerable' and sometimes 'sensitive'.

Guns N' Roses music is very basic and gritty - honest to a fault. They are everything true heavy metal music should be. Listening to Guns N' Roses, listeners will soon realize that their music can evoke a wide range of emotions, from anger to sadness, from devotion to hatred.

Guns N' Roses released their first EP in 1986 which grabbed attention of heavy metal music lovers all around the world. The release of the EP led to their first debut album, Appetite for Destruction. The album didn't start selling until almost a year later, as the group toured and performed in numerous live shows. Only when attention was given by MTV by playing "Sweet Child of Mine", the album shot straight for the number one spot! Taking opportunity of their sudden fame, they re-released their debut single "Welcome to the Jungle" and it instantly rocked its way to Top Ten. Other albums and songs followed including "Patience" and "One in a Million". They started work on their follow-up album in 1990 and it's in the same year that Adler was fired and replaced by Matt Sorum from "The Cult". In addition, Dizzy Reed on keyboards was also introduced. The recordings for 1 new album turned into 2 new albums - "Use your Illusion I" and "Use your Illusion II".

"Use your Illusions I and II" initially sold very well until Nirvana's "Nevermind" broke their successful stride. Rose took over the band with a change of attitude and as a result, Stradlin, one of the best songwriter of all times, left Guns N' Roses in 1991 and he was replaced with Gilby Clarke (Kill for Thrills). It wasn't until 1993 that the fans of Guns N' Roses could come to terms with the change because Stradlin had an important role to play in the band. Their following album, The Spaghetti Incident, did garner good reviews but it still failed to capture the kind of spirit that was apparent in the early days of Guns N' Roses. Guns N' Roses appeared to have lost their edge and many thought that they were out of the race for good. The situation was further worsened with the departure of, yet, another band member, Slash, leaving Rose as the last of the original cast for Guns N' Roses.

In 1999, the first original song in 8 years for Guns N' Roses, "Oh My God" was released and it was featured in "End of Days" film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. The new lineup for Guns N' Roses consist of Rose, Finck, Buckethead, Stinson, Brian Mantia, Paul Huge, and Dizzy Reed. The new Guns N' Roses continue to play and perform wherever they can but they generated some bad press when former members of Guns N' Roses were BANNED from watching their performances. Soon Paul Huge joined the lineup of EX Guns N' Roses members and was promptly replaced with Richard Fortus (former Love Spit Love). Fans and critics alike are waiting to see what the new lineup can come up with while the group of ex-GNR members continues to enjoy celebrity status.

Dean Erickson. Journalist, and web site builder Dean Erickson lives in Texas. He is the owner and co-editor of [http://www.all-guns-n-roses.info] on which you will find a longer, more detailed version of this article.

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Heavy Metal Music - Headbang To The Rhythm

Can you imagine life without music? It's very difficult to imagine no doubt, but one thing is certain, life would have been dull and boring had it not been for music. In fact you can never come across a person who says that they have never hummed a tune in their life or that they do not love music. Well everyone cannot become great singer, but we all exercise our vocals in the privacy of our bathrooms. If anyone says that they do not sing in the shower, chances are likely that are they are lying. Heavy metal music is a genre of music that evolved in the late 60s and early 70s. Heavy metal music is also referred to as metal music, and this music reached the zenith of its popularity in the 80s and many subgenres of music evolved from heavy metal music. The sounds associated with heavy metal music consisted of heavy guitar and drum centered sound with highly amplified distortion of fast guitar.

Devoted fans of heavy metal music are referred to as headbangers and metalheads world wide. Heavy metal music is characterized by loud distorted guitar sounds, dense drum and bass sound, emphatic rhythm combined with vigorous vocals. A typical heavy metal music band consists of a bassist, a rhythm guitarist, a drummer, a lead guitarist and a lead singer or vocalist. The vocalist may or may not play an instrument. Today heavy metal music has a variety of styles namely power metal; progressive metal and symphonic metal and most of the present day bands often make sure of the electronic keyboard. The heavy volume used in heavy metal music is a vital element of attraction towards the music for fans, especially for live performances. Most popular theme for songs of heavy metal music is violence, fantasy, sex and the occult.

Physical gestures are a vital part of heavy metal music and this is very much evident during live performances. Moshing, headbanging, hand gestures like devil horns, stage diving, air guitar and crowd surfing are very popular among singers and fans of heavy metal music. If you are thinking that heavy metal music is just a form of entertainment, then think again. Researchers have recently found out that heavy metal music can be a great source of comfort to teenage children. The study has found out that teenagers who regularly listen to heavy metal music cope better with pressures as compared to their peers. So now if you find out that your teenage child is hooked to heavy metal music you can just simply rest easy.

Heavy metal music has several subgenres. Underground metal is one of the broad categories of heavy metal music and there are five categories under this namely: death metal, trash metal, black metal, doom metal, gothic metal, power metal and trash metal. The sound that was developed by trash musicians was mush faster and aggressive then the original heavy metal music. Some of the popular heavy metal musicians and bands are Guns N Roses, Iron Maiden, Poison, Bon Jovi, Ozzy Osbourne and Deff Leppard.

Tom Janison is a music fanatic. He loves downloading music of all his favorite artists. http://www.ez-tracks.com is one of his favorites sites for free music, Heavy metal music, Love Songs, Nickelback, Akon, free MP3 downloads and online music.

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Musicians: How to Look for Band Members

Looking for band members is never an easy task. You may first want to ask yourself what exactly you're looking for - whether it is to join an existing band or find individual members to start your own band. Obviously, both have their differences and this should be answered first before you start your grueling search.

Join an existing band.

This is a great way for enthusiastic musicians to gain some playing experience right away, although it is sometimes harder to find these kinds of opportunities. These are established bands that are looking for single or multiple members for various reasons (their guitarist overdosed on cocaine, bass player got fired for drinking problems, etc). This might go without saying, but make sure you really do like the type of music a band plays before deciding to join their group! There are many musicians I know that play in a band where they don't even like the music they play, all just to "gain experience" to get their foot in the door and hopefully move on to greener pastures. It can't be stressed enough that if you don't like the music you play, you're going to do a half-assed job at it, so why bother?

Also, know your playing experience and limits. For example, if you've only started playing guitar learning all Green Day songs for a few months, don't expect to join a thrash metal band that requires you to do sweep-picking, fast arpeggios, or any other insane guitar techniques. Make sure you choose a band where the technicality of the music they play is comfortable with your own skill level as a musician.

A huge advantage for joining an established band (maybe) is that most of the back-end stuff is already taken care of. This includes tasks such as finding an agent/manager to book your gigs, song development, contracts with music labels, etc. All you have to do is show up for rehearsals and play shows as scheduled.

A good resource to start finding these bands in need is going to your local rehearsal studios where most of them lurk. These are places where any musician can pay for a room to rehearse. Best of all, all the musicians you find there are often in your local area. Check out the bulletin boards where frequent bands post up classified ads that may go something like:

"Looking to join a band that rocks?! We are in need of a guitar player with lots of experience! Our influences include: Megadeth, In Flames, Black Sabbath, and many more! If interested, please contact Todd at xxxxxxxxxx."

Or even better yet, post up your own classified ad on the bulletin board so bands can contact you instead. Local, independent music stores often have a bulletin board for classified ads as well. These are some of the best free ways to find band members in your area.

Disadvantages of joining an existing band.

First and foremost, you have to learn all their songs usually in a limited period of time. The band might have a show coming up and you have to be able to play all their songs flawlessly note-for-note. Needless to say, this might be stressful for some musicians (except if their music is very straight forward and easy with pure 3 note power chords).

Another disadvantage is often your own music creativity is limited. Most bands prefer their original tunes to be played and carried on without any radical change. For example, if you just joined a band and replaced their old guitarist, the way the former guitarist played a particular solo, is the way the band wants it to be played by you. Often you must follow the same note structure of a music piece composed by another musician.

Organizing your own band.

This is where you try to find individual musicians to start a new band, usually with similar music skills and backgrounds. Thinking of starting a band is the easy part, but the actual process of searching for the right people is harder than most people think. There are tons of musicians out there in the world but only a small percentage of those you may be compatible with. In addition, ask yourself: are you going to play in a band just for fun, or are you trying to make a living out of it? This will influence where you are going to start looking.

The internet is becoming a popular method for musicians to find other musicians. If you search "looking for musicians" in Google, you will easily find over 12,400,000 results - so how do you find what you're looking for? Many ads posted in classifieds sections and on popular music forums will vaguely have descriptions such as this:

"Guitar player looking to form a band."

Well, that's just great.

Try refining your search to keywords such as the area you are in, what position you are looking for, etc. Example: "Looking for bass players in Toronto". The first search result is an ad posted on http://www.craigslist.org, which by the way is an excellent place to get started. Try to only focus your attention on well-written ads that describe the musician, which includes how much playing experience he/she has, the types of music they are willing to play, and the intention of playing in a band. Or you may also want to post your own ad in music community forums and add a link to your audio/video samples that will likely interest more candidates. Audio/video samples that show off your best work are often the most influential factor of candidates contacting you back.

Be consistent with this. Chances are you won't find someone right away on your first few posts, so try to refresh your ads on a weekly basis (but don't spam!).

The internet is a large resource but don't just rely solely on it. You may find you have better luck looking in local magazine's classifieds ads section where it's more direct. Also, because musicians have to pay to get their ads published in magazines, it shows that they are more serious about organizing a band.

Don't limit yourself in a location.

If you are serious about starting a career as a musician, you don't just search for bands or members only in your local area. Living in smaller towns and cities won't give you very many options in choosing the right band or member for you. Expand yourself to larger urban cities where the potential to find band members is greater.

Finding band members is like finding a good job. Know exactly what you want before searching, always have a good portfolio ready, and be consistent in your pursue. Goodluck!

Kenny Auyoung

Webmaster @ [http://www.getmeaband.com] Looking for a band? Search through our directory of musicians to find band members in your local area.

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Using a Lick Library to Hone Your Guitaring Skills

Especially in the rock music genres, the word "lick" is used to refer to a pattern or phrase that consists usually of either a series of musical notes or a short phrase and is often played in melodic lines or in solos. More often than not the term is used in reference to the guitar playing rock musicians. Some musicians recommend that one of the best ways to learn the guitar would be to practice licks, collect a variety of them in a lick library and learn how and when to utilize them so that you will be able to create good solos.

A lot of time is devoted to the practicing of scales when a person is first learning to play the guitar. There is not much benefit to that approach. There is a better way to utilize the practice time.

Scale practicing is not all lost. When you scale practice you are able to build up the strength and agility in your fingers. You will be training your ear for the patterns of the scale. You are learning the fret board notes. But if you think about it, scales itself is not music. Even the notes you play in a chord or in a solo did originated from a scale; you are playing them differently.

In music such as the rock, the blues and jazz, notes not in the scale are quite often used. Another point is that your scales practice does not help you when it comes to playing chords, solos and licks which are the building blocks of most guitar songs.

Here are a few suggestions for what you can do instead. When you are accompanying songs on the guitar, chords are mainly what you will be playing. So you should practice your chords. If you want to play them you will have to begin practicing them.

Continuing to practice scales do not help you do that. Another thing you can do is to practice playing licks. Practicing lick you have accumulated in your lick library will give you all the benefits that scale practice provides. Also, it allows you to directly utilize you skills in your songs.

It is a good idea to collect a large number of licks in a lick library and you will become skilled at knowing exactly when to utilize them when you begin to create your own solos. Another thing you can do is to practice intervals. This will bring it all together, because you will be able to play anything when you hear, and then play the intervals with the guitar.

Train yourself to think intervals instead of in scales and it will allow you to make creative solos and licks. Keep practicing licks and intervals, but also be certain to practice whole solos also. If you can learn a complete solo, that would provide you with a good finger workout. It teaches you the construction of solos.

This is a more productive process that continuing to practice scales. So these are the alternative methods you can use when learning to play the guitar. You will still get all the benefits that the scales practice gave you.

A good way to be able to improvise a song on your guitar is to build a foundation of both riffs and licks. It is said that successful players had all created a well memorized riffs library and also a lick library. While practicing, they would totally absorb their licks from many sources, so they will be prepared if the opportunity arose for them to perform a solo or give an improvisation. That process of learning through the lick library makes improvisation very easy because you will be able to blend you tunes.

There are several strategies you could use when approaching learning to play guitar. Utilizing a lick library is only one of them, but it has been proven to be effective. Learn more about using a lick collection to hone your skills as a guitar player.

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Learn to Play Heavy Metal

The heavy metal genre of music is known for exacting highly intense emotions from the audience; and this is precisely what separates it from other contemporary music genres. Once you develop a taste for heavy metal, you are unlikely to find any other music style so cathartic. If you are an intense person and have occasionally listened to heavy metal bands, you are sure to have a desire to learn to play heavy metal. However, the first step towards learning it must start with knowing the history of its origin.

Born out of the experiments of late 1960s, heavy metal took the shape of a separate class only during 1970s and 1980s. It originated from the fusion of old blues and rock styles and finds its uniqueness in heavy guitar distortions. The earliest music that could be termed metal came from bands such as Led Zepplin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath in the 1970s.

The later bands shed most of the blues influence and added more speed and loudness. You can find metal lessons in books, CDs, DVDs and also on many websites. An important thing is to keep away from irrelevant lessons and focus only on what is essential for metal music. Your lessons should be more focused on techniques like scales, harmonics, palm muting, tremolo picking, etc which support the aggressive metal style of playing guitar.

The learn heavy metal guitar course by Phil Wheatley is a complete beginner course for players who are venturing into the metal guitar niche. This course gives you a run through in exactly what a metal guitar player will require to start playing fast. With a detailed coursebook and more than 10 video lessons, the course available for download is the fastest means to learn to play the guitar for anyone. Phil Wheatley has offers some interesting advice on playing metal guitar on his blog and this is a good way to read the latest news in the music scene.

Heavy metal music is played at a faster pace and in a rather forceful style. Mastering strong and heavy notes as well as riffs will greatly improve you metal skills. These are important things to be kept in mind when you are looking for lessons to learn to play metal guitar. But do not allow yourself to be overwhelmed with the tricks of metal music and keep in mind that you are learning so that you can have fun. And you will sure succeed with patience and practice.

Check Out Beginner Metal Guitar Lessons Today. Read Our Learn Heavy Metal Guitar Review At GuitarPlayerWorld.com.

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