Glam slam

When I was younger, the bands I listened to featured some great guitar wizardry without trying too hard to be technically impressive. Yes, those players do possess some lethal fretwork but they weren't extensive, befitting the needs of the songs more so than individual attention. I made it a point today to listen to 3 bands that introduced me to some of the best melodies, solos & licks: 1) Cinderella 2) Firehouse 3) Warrant.

Cinderella's Tom Kiefer has a shrieky vocal range that conjured images of the male entity whose family jewels are being squeezed beyond oblivion. I thought that was bad but everybody forgives ACDC for featuring such a vocalist as well so I got used to it. That aside, Tom Kiefer & Jeff LaBar churned out some of the best guitar complements in this music genre. Hertbreak Station is still my favourite Cinderella release because the band displayed a level a maturity by incorporating slide guitars into the music. Those were not passing slide passages but they were necessary punctuations & were there in virtually all songs.

Firehouse on the other hand features a living, breathing banshee in the form of Carl Snare. This was enough to forgive the band for not having a twin guitar attack but Bill Leverty is someone not to be messed with. Together with Michael Firkins, they were the flag bearers of the (Yamaha) Pacifica goodness. I enjoyed the faster Firehouse songs as opposed to their ballads, which, in my opinion, are overplayed.

Ah, Warrant... I like all their songs. Jani Lane (RIP) was simply someone who could sing & he was the right guy for all Warrant songs- irreplaceable. Guitar-wise, Turner & Allen were very under-rated players & they were the early Ibanez-toting dweebs who sounded awesome through some angry Marshalls for this kind of music. Machine Gun is my go-to Warrant song.

So that was my Sunday in a nutshell; re-living guitar moments through songs. Songs I thought were ordinary back then but are actually awesome upon a re-listening today. I have always made it a point to re-discover songs which were from another era but still living in my head. Have a good week ahead, everyone.