The benevolent cleaner

Finally, something to put this issue to rest- Is WD-40 suitable for curing stuck pots/ cleaning the guitar's electronic contacts?

The malignant WD-40 that we know is the blue/ yellow can that lazy techs resort to when cleaning dirty contacts. Personally, I had negative experiences with that version but now we have the appropriate WD-40 for our guitar needs.This one is especially for contact cleaning so it won't treat your pots & switches like dead industrial parts that need to be dealt with. It's available at hardware stores for $15+/- & it's on my to-buy list.

Coma music for guitar dweebs

This is one part Pink Floyd, one part Dream Theater & one part death metal but all these allusions do not paint the proper picture of what BTBAM is all about. I'm saying this because 2012's The Parallax II is one of heavy music's best release by a contemporary metal band whose critics deemed them as 'death core' (like that means much in terms of definition) but this release contains elements of departure. The heaviness served by Coma Ecliptic remains essential because we couldn't have anything else here to supplement intense drumming & death growls. However, the guitars veered into psychedelia every now & then which makes the journey a little more exciting. Team W (Waggoner/ Warring) have chosen to peg their guitar's heavy elements in tandem with what prog does, even the technicalities reek of Steve Morse & John Petrucci more than anything else but we know what these guys could offer collectively so the band's identity isn't lying in the shadows of some other established acts. Coming back to death metal- the overall concept of this albums simply questions the relevance of those bit-part death growls which aren't essential, I'd dare say. However, the band had embraced this vocal style for some time & they understandably wouldn't want to leave it out entirely. A good metal album & it's threatening to be uniquely beyond compare but let's see what the rest of 2015 has to offer.

Rising urge

This album is mandatory for guitar dweebs if you are really serious about getting somewhere in terms of your playing. I used to own the cassette version & it died due to over-play. I hate to buy a subsequent copy of something I already own but this one requires mandatory replacement. The consolation- it's now in CD format so it will not pose an issue in terms of over-playing (Will it? Time will tell).

What does this album offer me in terms of guitar education?

1) Precision- Malmsteen is a precise picker. All his picked notes are perfect (to me), there isn't a hint of sloppiness to be heard especially his lightning fast staccato passages. If he brags about it, he has the right to as he is pretty much the standard to beat in this case.

2) Analog heaviness- In view of the time this was recorded, it's free from those digital cess we hear in today's playback. The distortion here is downright heavy & it's all about his cranked up Marshall. Is this a case of less is more? It's definitely a case of sticking to what works.

So here's a reminder to myself- employ what works, stop trying to bow down to the current fad because the boutique effects units/ amps might amount to nothing in terms of fulfillment.

The eagle has landed

For those of us in need of something different, something nostalgic but fully functional- the Ibanez Black Eagle bass (first mentioned here: CLICK)is now available at Swee Lee ($869.98). 

Loop & loop

Do I need a new looping device? Not in the mean time but EHX has this new monster to offer (new for Summer NAMM 2015). It's a dual looping unit meaning, you can have something going in Channel A & Channel B does a totally different thing. Look at it this way- Channel A does your guitars while Channel B does your bass loops. Channel B can even handle some vocal loops if that's your plan. The 22500 is a useful performance device, at the very least, it makes a wonderful writing tool on days when you go solo. 

Live listening

For the entire week, I've been listening to live albums. I've limited liking for live releases because the tracks are re-hashing what was recorded before but with a perspective of that 'raw' take from live feeds. 

Slayer's Decade of Aggression was my first live purchase & it was overplayed & both the cassette tapes died. That's right, they were on cassette tape version. In my opinion, this was the standard to beat in terms of live releases as the production was clear, all instruments could be heard distinctly. 

Then came Emperor's Emperial Live Ceremony which was bought because I wanted to hear more bass from the Emperor tracks. Tyr played bass on this one & the production did justice to his efforts. Also, I wanted to hear how Ihsan's Rob Halford-esque shrieks fare in live situations & it was beyond doubt, top notch. 

Mayhem's live albums are gems. You can really hear the horror from each track's delivery because Maniac's vocals were uncompromising. The live tracks also made me listen to Blasphemer's guitar tracks closely as the studio versions were full of overdubbed fills so in live applications, one got to hear what Blasphemer chose to play so that the tracks would not sound empty.