I read an article the other day that stated, “In the digital era, guitars no longer rule popular music.” Yeah, well, that’s been happening for a long time. Drums became the thing when disco turned into House Music, Hip Hop, Euro Disco, and now EDM. Twenty-five years ago, a friend asked me to hang out in the sound booth at a club while his band played and keep an eye on house guy. I could tell he was a little too proud of his drum sound, so I asked him, “Can you make the guitars as loud as the snare drum?” He looked at me like I was crazy. The popular sound was already changing back then. It’s too bad though because the guitar is so individually expressive and full of attitude. The wild rawness of a distorted guitar driving the song is what rock is all about. It’s beautiful.
This one’s for you TimCoulter.