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Attention all planets of the Solar Federation, we have assumed control. So it has come to an end, this is the final entry of the music series I started last month. Apollo and Dionysus raged their war of logic and emotion atop Olympus the entirety of the month, but finally dear Cygnus, the brave space explorer, has intervened and brought balance to the cosmos that is my blog. If you're completely lost on all the Rush references I'm making, it's not going to get any better for you. Pop a Xanax, get loose, and hop into my spaceship (Yeah, I know what the ladies like).

This entry will cover two things, a tiny bit of what I've heard people define as "progressive-rock" (I honestly don't know what that term means though), and plenty of classic rock in general. Now let's get started already.

Prog Rock and Metal

Rush: In the metal edition of this series I said that I think Iron Maiden is the best group of guys to get together and play the type of music they do. If Iron Maiden is the greatest metal group ever to live, than Rush is the greatest rock group in general ever to live. I was introduced to the band by my friend Justin when we were kids (the same Justin that use to practice Metallica songs with me in elementary school). We would listen to some of Rush's popular hits like Tom Sawyer and Limelight, but I never dug deeper into the bands history until recently.

Last year I bought the old Rush album Hemispheres (1978) and listened through the entirety of it. It was like a religious experience, and it made me rethink everything I thought I knew about rock & roll. Have you ever listened to a song, been completely captivated by it, and realized that some band is winning your heart as you listen to it?  That's how the song Hemispheres (Cygnus X-1 Book II) was for me. Above, the first video I posted is the full Hemispheres song for you to hear if you would like, it's an 18 minute long doozy and every section is perfect. However if you just want to get a taste of it to see what I mean, just listen to the song between 11:00 and 16:40 because that's my favorite section. If you decide to listen to that section you won't be disappointed.

The second song I posted is called The Spirit of Radio and it's probably my favorite Rush song to play on guitar. The leads at the beginning are a ton of fun, the rhythms rock really hard in the rest of the song, and the little "reggae" music section at the very end is a colorful addition to the sound while still sounding really heavy.

The third and final Rush song I posted is called Different Strings and it's a slower one and is full of acoustic guitar, distorted guitar, and piano. It's pure magic and I often listen to it on repeat while I play video games, like during a long match of Civilization Revolution or during my Minecraft escapades. Different Strings is a very relaxing and beautiful song that soothes the soul.

Dream Theater: My friend Evy got me into this band and she has sent me some of their albums in the past like Images and Words for example. This song I posted above is called Wait For Sleep, and it's my favorite Dream Theater song. However, I'm cheating a bit because these blogs are suppose to be about guitar playing that influences me, and this song doesn't have any guitars in it lol. There's plenty of great songs I could post to show how awesome John Petrucci is as a guitarist, but I wanted to post this instead because it's too pretty not to. Evy is a music nut who studies Music Theory at a big music school in London, and she goes on about how difficult Wait For Sleep can be to learn on piano and how many dozens of times it changes time signature. Naturally I have no idea what she's talking about, all I know is Dream Theater rocks!

Classic Rock

I'm a child of the 90s. We were Xtreme, we did the Dew. For the most part I liked my generation of kids, however, when I was growing up the phrase "classic rock" became somewhat derogatory and some kids chalked it up to just "old people's music". I never understood why kids around me were so dismissive of this kind of music. My dad listens to this music, and since I spent my childhood close by him at all times I would hear this stuff all day. From what I've seen, if you can throw the label of classic rock on something it's probably some of the greatest music ever made.

Blue Oyster Cult: If the melodic leads in this song aren't enough to woo you, the powerful chords that the guitar and keyboard do together during the chorus should be.

Heart: One Christmas we were all at a family dinner and my little cousins were playing a Heart song on Guitar Hero. My dad thought it was cool that the game showed some love to the band and matter-of-factly said, "I think Heart was the greatest band of the 70s." I don't think he was wrong.

Boston: I really love playing this song as well as their other hit More Than A Feeling. This song is really melodic, loud, and therefore it's after my heart.

Greg Kihn Band: They truly don't write 'em like this anymore. Enough said.

Jimi Hendrix: I've been listening to his music for a long time, and when I was in highschool I grew my hair out to try and look like him. But the truth is I never wanted to learn to play like him, sound like him, or do anything like him. I've never practiced a Hendrix song. When I listen to Jimi Hendrix it's probably the most unique sound I've ever heard, and there's no point in trying to replicate it or imitate it. It's better to just shut up and enjoy it.

Peter Schilling: I had to throw this guy in here as a wildcard lol. Justin and I love this song and I play it for him from time to time. I learned how to play it but I do it with really heavy distorted guitars and it sounds both badass and funny. This English version is cool, but the original German version is even better. We love this shit.

Ten Years After: That last one was funny, but this one gets serious again to close out this whole blog. I was watching the documentary movie Woodstock and I was hearing a lot of nice music, but suddenly this performance came along and stole the show for me. I never heard this before, never seen this guy play, and I was blown away. I might have a lot of distortion to my guitars and speed to my playing, but this guy shreds harder than I ever have in my life and I'll explain why.

A lot of kids playing guitar these days just assume that all they have to do to be "good" is play super fast or loud. To let you in on a secret and give you some wisdom, when it comes to "shredding guitar", the philosophy to shredding isn't about cramming as many notes in as possible, it's about power. Raw power, savage, primal, sexual. You have to feel it in your gut, and if you don't feel it, you're not doing it right. You can play a thousand notes really fast, but if it doesn't have a heart, it's useless. If it doesn't breath, it isn't alive. This guy here breathes, he gets it, and he lets out a mountain of fucking power in this performance. This song is like blues rock but when I watch this it makes me want to go crazy just like heavy metal would.

To prove my point about "breathing" or having power, during this very song there comes a time around 7:40 where the band isn't even playing music but they are still rocking out. They get real quiet, there's no guitar, but the band is still headbanging, jamming, and you can tell they feel the music even when it's not there. You have to probably see it to believe it, and feel it to believe it as well. Take a look for yourself and see if you feel it as well.

Well that wraps up this Let's Talk Musicianship series! To recap everything that happened previously, here's a look at what it covered:

Entry 1: How I started playing guitar, and why it matters to me

Entry 2: Heavy Metal

Entry 3: Punk Rock

My next blog will get right back to gaming, and I'll share some games I've bought and been playing. I've been dying to talk games and do a blog about them. I'm finished with this musicianship series, but it might not be the last time I talk music in general. I'm going to take a break from the music topic for a little bit, but eventually you could end up seeing a one-time special music edition of my Guilty Pleasures series (a series that's always been about games).

Until then, keep your eyes on the prize.