It's bizarre what net surfing late at night leads to. Going from some tab searches led me on a wild string of tangents. Lo and behold I end up on a rant by the eldest Zappa son (Dweezil). He has a few good points about modern (post 80's) guitar playing. Mediocrity has been the key word for pop musicianship for a long time. I'm talking mediocrity on the verge of outright shittyness (read: Nirvana, most KROQ clones, etc.). But let's face it, this is all a backlash at uninspired technical wizardry that had no point, no soul, and no inspiration. Yeah, most shredders of the 80's were technical masters.... who did nothing but whip out the typical wanky self absorbed 20 seconds of ego trip in the middle of standard riffology. Sure there are always the exceptions, those that really get creative. But the longer the hair bands continued, the more the industry became obsessed with the hair. Yep, the hair, coupled with a case of Aqua-Net....and too much spandex.

Maybe if the record execs found more inspired players instead of puffy headed clones wearing feathered boas and high heels, the public would have kept listening. But they got sick of the glut of "macho men" with lipstick and traded their red vinyl boots for a smelly flannel. The smell was worse and the guitar playing fit the sloppy look, but at least I didn't have Roth sticking his fat ass in the camera.

These trends cycle endlessly. Just wait. Keep those skimpy leather vests handy.