As frontman of Nirvana, Kurt Cobain not only became the face and voice of a generation. He also shaped the course of the music industry, pivoting American counterculture and alternative rock as a massive driving force. His conscientious lyricism and distortion-packed, blasting riffs trademarked the band and the left of the American dial alike. With …
Les Claypool is known as a modern bass-playing powerhouse and a punk-rock virtuoso. His mastery of the bass has made him genre-defying. He is as well-versed in jazz fusion as he is in heavy metal or progressive rock. His band Primus mixed funk, metal, and other genres to create something unique. Known for his crazy …
Steve Vai, innovator of “stunt guitar” and mercurial, enigmatic solo artist. His unique playing style is rooted firmly in precision and infinite expression, and over five decades remains at the forefront of potent shred guitar. Appropriately, his first job as a guitarist came with Frank Zappa, who often referred to Vai, then aged eighteen, as …
Peter Frampton, whether he was playing with Humble Pie, the Herd, or through his critically acclaimed solo career has long been a staple of British rock and roll for decades. His early work was critical in the development of hard rock, and his songwriting prowess and rich tenor voice gave classic rock radio such household …
The 1980s were yet another decade flush with creativity and originality in new Rock and Roll music. This is especially the case with metal music, with a surge in new styles and subgenres emerging since the late 1970s. In this new generation of music, Metallica stands out as one of the biggest (if not the …
The prince of indie, Mac DeMarco has captivated and reinvented what it means to be an independent artist and songwriter in modern times. He initially garnered a devoted following through his laid-back jangle pop, lo-fi indie sound, and open-heart lyricism. But Demarco’s success wasn’t just some overnight happening, born in British Columbia in 1990, Mac …
Nowadays, it’s hard to remember a time before Taylor Swift’s rule of pop music. From her explosion in popularity with radio-ready Nashville country to her foray into outright pop and recent return to guitar-driven introspective folk, Taylor Swift enters the third decade of the 21st century as one of her generation’s brightest stars and most …
In the long, storied history of the electric guitar, few artists have blended classical and metal styles with the ferocity and melodic sensibility of Yngwie Malmsteen. Sweden’s shred-meister general took the lightning-fast technique of Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads and amplified it through his own baroque sensibility. Malmsteen continues to inspire awe and envy …
Gary Moore was one of the most well-known and successful guitarists of all time. Music connoisseurs will often describe him as a virtuoso. Moore has often been cited as an influence by other influential guitar players and his impact in rock music extends from blues-rock to hard rock, iconic tunes from his time with Thin …
Few artists ever achieve the level of stardom as KISS’ original Spaceman, Ace Frehley. His incendiary work on the early KISS albums, success with Frehley’s Comet through the 80s, his triumphant return to the band 90s, and his barn-burning solo efforts throughout this century have been nothing short of remarkable. It’s no surprise that renowned …