Jake E Lee does Surfing with Alien

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

I much prefer Jake's solo on the Ultimate Sin Tour!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6D69...eature=related

I'm gonna have to say, I thought that fucking sucked. Eleventy billion notes and finger exercises. The harmonic tapping thing was interesting and the clean part was also interesting, the rest of it, meh.

[Rupe]

I'm gonna have to say, I thought that fucking sucked. Eleventy billion notes and finger exercises. The harmonic tapping thing was interesting and the clean part was also interesting, the rest of it, meh.

Looking at it like that completely misses the point. Its a live show in front of ~20K screaming fans...everything has to be overblown to have an impact. It's not an artistic statement, its sonic bombast to impress the kids. As an 18 year old who was at that show, it seemed pretty mindblowing at the time...especially after watching Kirk Hammett struggle his way through the opening set

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Looking at it like that completely misses the point.

You mean, like it's supposed to be a good guitar solo?

OK, so the point was to show off how fast he can play finger exercises. Good show, Jake!

[Rupe]

No, the point was to play a bunch of flash for the 90+% of the crowd who don't actually play guitar or understand what a good solo is...and it succeeds on that level. Would it sound good on an album...no, but once again that's not the point.

Most of the great players from era did the same sort of thing...Randy, Eddie, Lynch, etc. Who do you think played a tasteful unaccompanied live guitar solo back in those days?

[Ralph E.]

I'm with you Rupe, Jake was awesome live. Alot more than I can say for George Lynch, who blew chunks every single time I saw him. Another guy who was awesome live was Warren D.

The solo and tag solo in Bark At The Moon are some of the greatest solos ever written IMO.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Yeah, I saw Lynch at Monsters of Rock and his solo was annoying as hell. I can't say I've ever heard him play anything I liked on a record, either. Seems like a heck of a nice guy, though.

I wouldn't go so far as to say "greatest solos ever written" by a long-shot but I like Jake's solo on Bark At The Moon (and other songs on the album) as well, I think he was/is very talented, though he's never been one of my favorite players. In addition to the fact that he has great chops he has some structure and taste and ear to go with it.

But it seems like I don't really care for most of these kind of guitar solos, maybe because as Rupe pointed out they are written to appeal to the "90+% of the crowd who don't actually play guitar or understand what a good solo is."

[Killertofu]

Looking at it like that completely misses the point. Its a live show in front of ~20K screaming fans...everything has to be overblown to have an impact. It's not an artistic statement, its sonic bombast to impress the kids. As an 18 year old who was at that show, it seemed pretty mindblowing at the time...especially after watching Kirk Hammett struggle his way through the opening set

rhoads could wail AND have a song that was musically perfect. same with zakk. same with dime.

i dont want my guitar solos to sound like an atari.

sorry mate, this guy is a perfect example of why fast doesn't equal good.

[ulijdavid]

In regards to the original post, this is definitely not what Jake E lee is capable of. I hope he is one day able to get the monkey off his back. I was OK with his stuff in Ozzy, but I think the real Jake type playing was in Badlands. The songs were just stronger and very melodic. It seemed his solos and sound were a minor slap in the face to what was going on in guitar at the time. After Ozzy, his sound got a lot more raw and aggressive - less of the high gain processed sound. Hi solos were perfect for the songs and a bit more sloppy - but just perfect.
Its funny...I had G3 with Petrucci, Vai, and Satch from netflix and also Axel Rudi Pell live. I turned off G3 after about 3 minutes, but watched the entire Axel Rudi Pell video. Better technical guitarists in G3, but they didn't say a word. Axel is sloppy as hell and I don't think he is that good. But the songs are alot better.
Oh well...there aren't that many that can have technique and feel - Schenker and Uli come to mind.
I think Horns666 stated it best "Petrucci can play at 460BPS and not say a thing".!!!

[Rupe]

rhoads could wail AND have a song that was musically perfect. same with zakk. same with dime.

i dont want my guitar solos to sound like an atari.

sorry mate, this guy is a perfect example of why fast doesn't equal good.

Once again, somebody who is completely missing the point. I am talking about an unaccompanied live solo, not songs. Randy's live solo was nothing more than a hodge-podge of "look at me" licks thrown together in much the same manner as Jake's. It's not indicative of what they were capable of when playing for a song. FWIW, Randy was and is my all-time favorite player but his live solo was still nothing more than licks and tricks...it had nothing to do with composition and taste. He even stated that it was a bunch of flash meant to impress the kids (listen to his Grennsburg, PA in store seminar to hear him talk it).

If we are talking about playing within the context of a song, I agree that Randy was phenomenal...but as Ralph just noted, so was Jake.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Once again, somebody who is completely missing the point. I am talking about an unaccompanied live solo, not songs. Randy's live solo was nothing more than a hodge-podge of "look at me" licks thrown together in much the same manner as Jake's. It's not indicative of what they were capable of when playing for a song. FWIW, Randy was and is my all-time favorite player but his live solo was still nothing more than licks and tricks...it had nothing to do with composition and taste. He even stated that it was a bunch of flash meant to impress the kids (listen to his Grennsburg, PA in store seminar to hear him talk it).

If we are talking about playing within the context of a song, I agree that Randy was phenomenal...but as Ralph just noted, so was Jake.

OK, so it's not indicative of what they were capable of playing. It's written to appeal to a bunch of kids who don't play guitar. So, judged on that context "it's good" as far as you are concerned.

Think of an artist you don't care for. Prince? Michael Jackson? Madonna? Britney Spears?

Or how about everyone's favorite genre around here... Emo. Weezer? Fall Out Boy? My Chemical Romance?

Perhaps you would say you "don't care for" these artists. Maybe, you'd even say, like most people around here, "They suck."

If I were to say that any of these pop artist's intent is to write music which appeals to 14-year-old-girls who buy singles and pop music, or to do out an dance at the clubs, would that make you appreciate them any more?

Or, the Emo band's music, it's written for poorly-adjusted moody teenagers who cry a lot and think life is hard and want to cut themselves, isn't it just perfect for the target audience?

So judging it from that perspective, that music is all "great." Does that make you like it any more, or want to listen to it any more?

So, I am not really missing your point any more than you are missing MY point. I just don't give a crap whether the point is to impress emotional teenagers, 14-year-old-girls, or 50,000 zit-faced teenagers who don't play the guitar. I am the one watching the guitar solo, and I am basing my judgement on what it says to me, which is nothing.