Metallica

I have to address the issue of Metallica so I will do so now.

Metallica was once a great band. I remember when I first heard Master of Puppets. I was playing Castlevania at the time on my Nintendo. I was given the Master of Puppets tape, yes tape, by my friend. He was very adamant that I listen to it. He always liked listening to me play the guitar and wanted me to learn some Metallica. I was addicted before the first song was over. I could not believe how awesome it was. Really heavy and great guitar riffs. A guitar players dream come true. I remember that shortly after that great day I rode my bike down to a record shop here in town called the Last Place on Earth. I purchased Kill Em All and Ride the Lightning with literally only pennies to spare in my pocket.

For the next year I was a Metallica nut. I learned most every song I could. It was refreshing and great fun the entire time. I never was a Kirk Hammet fan but the rhythm guitars for the albums were so great. Metallica during those days were the best at putting changes into there songs. Just when you thought the song was super cool they would always take it a step further and blow your mind again before the song ended.

It is too bad that those days are over. Metallica is now a complete shit band that I wish would just fade away. Everything after about half of the Black Album has done nothing but completely suck. They sold out in the worse way possible. Every time I get asked if I like Metallica I always say, "I use to but not any more".

I have a theory as to why they suck. I think it all started with the death of Cliff Burton. Cliff was probably the creator of most, if not all, of the great music. I never payed much attention to bass players but Cliff really stood out. He would have never allowed Metallica to take the turn that it has. It is my opinion that they still had a bunch of left over material from the Cliff days that eventually ran out half way through the Black Album.


That is of course just my opinion and I am entitled to it. I can't think of any other explanation that would describe the level of suck that they now perform. I have seen Metallica live two times. Once for And Justice For All and again for the Black Album tour. I have to tell you. They sucked both times live. If I am sitting there in the crowd and know that I can play the songs better then there is something wrong. I was not impressed. Especially both times they murdered the solo for the song Master of Puppets. Talk about noise pollution.

Anyway, when I write things for my guitar blog here I try and keep it to things that come up for myself and my guitar playing. Everyone always wants me to play Metallica. I don't mind playing real Metallica but I will always hiss and grunt if I am every asked if I know anything beyond that. I always voice my distaste and let them know I would never play that crap.

That brings me once again to the moronic bar bands. You know the ones I am talking about. They have a slew of Metallica songs to pick from and what do they play?

Wait for it.

Wait for it.


Yep, your guessed it. Enter Sandman.


How incredibly stupid is that. Probably the one song on And Justice For All that sucks. Do yourself some justice and don't even bother with this song. It has been done to death. You can't even watch a Hockey game without hearing it on the stupid PA System in the background. Anything that is played during a sporting event is a good hint of a song to stay away from.

Lets get back to another moronic move. How about the sickening drummer. That guy needs to shut up and play the drums. Every time he talks I want to put my foot in his ass. They were getting rich as all hell and this guy starts whining about people downloading Metallica of the internet. I mean really. They were on the road to making tons of cash and he stands up and gets involved in attacking people who download music off the internet. It has not stopped anyone. I do it all the time and always will. If I like something enough I will buy it. If not then I don't. Metallica isn't even good enough to download for free so Lars doesn't have to worry about me.

Then the dip shit washed up drummer has the gull to say, "Metal is Dead". WHAT? Could you repeat that because I can't believe my fucking ears. How stupid is that. Maybe there metal is dead but metal is certainly not dead. Tell Prong, or Soul Fly that one. They would laugh in your face. I couldn't believe it when I heard it. It not only pissed me off but confirmed that Metallica was dead in my book. They can have there fake drones that they have now for fans and stay out of my ears. I will never buy, download, or listen to Metallica ever again. Accept for the Metallica that I grew up with and still love. Cliff would have punched Lars in the face for that one.


If they would have continued and never changed then Metallica would have been one of the greatest bands of all time in my book. It always seems to go sour however. A good thing never really seams to last. At least we had four and one half good Metallica albums and that is better than none.

Rest in piece Metallica because you died with Cliff long ago.

More clues that no one talks about

I keep thinking of what I do when I play guitar and something else came to my mind. Stretching. No one ever really talks about stretching. The first thing you should do before any type of activity is to stretch. This is just as much true for a musician as it is for an athlete.

Before I play I always open my hand as far as I can and hold it for a few seconds. Then I make a fist and hold it for a few seconds. I do this a half dozen times or so before I grab my guitar. I also make a fist and roll my hands in a circular motion before I once again stretch my open and closed hands.

The important thing that you are doing is allowing your wrists and hands to perform there natural motion. This is very important so that you do not get cramps or the most dreaded for all guitarists. Carpal Tunnel or how every you spell it.

After stretching I like to do the Dimebag warm up. It is a simple exercise that will help your fingers gain strength and endurance. Simply grab the guitar and first tap on and pull off your first and second finger on the first two frets up and down the strings. Strike each string one time up and the next string down as you progress. D means down pick and U means up pick.



If the image is too small just click on it to open it up larger.

Move up the neck as far as you can stand it. Push yourself a bit but don't hurt yourself. When your notes no longer sound right don't worry. It is about gaining strength not accuracy. Accuracy will come more and more and you will be able to go further and further up the neck and eventually the entire neck up and down.

After using your first and second fingers take a break and do the stretches. When you feel rested you can then use your second and third fingers on the same notes and the same frets as far as you can go as well then repeat the rest and stretching before moving on to your third and forth fingers. DO NOT NEGLECT THE THIRD AND FOURTH FINGERS!!!

Over time you will get very strong hands and you will be able to play longer and longer without hurting. I know this exercise is boring but force yourself to do it each day you play and you will benefit from it.

To take things further you can take a scale you like and move it up and down the neck for the same effect.

Rap is not music

Scratch a record, program some sounds, and talk with it. That is the recipe for C-rap. Glorified Karaoke. That is all we are talking about here. There is no talent. There is no music. It is just a bunch of noise created by a propaganda machine, known as the music industry, and then some can't talk straight limp brain puts his moronic life lessons over the top of it all. Splash in some subliminal messages and make a video using half dressed women all glittered up and wallah. You just made the world a better place. NOT!

Why on earth do people listen to this C-rap?

I will tell you why. They do not know a shred about music in anyway, shape, or form. They allow the world to dumb them down more and more to the point of completely being musically handicapped. Anyone could do it. ANYONE! There is not one single aspect of C-rap that could not be done by anyone at all. It is an enemy of music.

As a matter of fact there are a ton of people who are doing it. You see here is the recipe.

You buy a box for about fifty dollars or more depending on how many different songs you want it do generate. Then you buy a mic and plug it in an BOOM. You are a C-rap star. That is all you need to do. You don't even need to be able to speak well. You can mumble and yeah ah yeah ah all you want to. The only difference between you and the other limp brain on the television and radio is that the other limp brain got lucky. He just happened to be in the right place at the right time or maybe his crack dealer happened to be in the right place at the right time. It really doesn't matter. It is the worlds easiest job that pays way too much.

If you happen to be one of those people who are going to try and tell me that there is more involved in C-rap then let me just stop for one second and address you for a moment.







Okay. Back to the issue. If you are listening to or know someone who is listening to C-rap then stop yourself and them. Do it now before you get lost in the abyss of musical stupidity. Once you get trapped there. You will be forever ignorant and never musically inclined for the rest of your life. I have to say that if you are a C-rap listener and are still reading this then maybe you have a chance. Maybe. There is still that incredibly hostile chance that if you do get into real music you will poison it with C-rap influences and you would then be in the category of musical traitor.

A musical traitor is of the worse kind. They know a little about music but allow the dark side of low brained C-rap to infiltrate there subconscious mind. They are the ones who fall victim to the onslaught of popularity.
(Translation: Complete poser)
Some of the musicians I have loved over the years have done this to myself and I have to say I will always hate them for it. There is a reason Anthrax sucks. It is called mixing metal with C-rap.

The only thing that could possibly be even more sickening would be to have to listen to Country mixed with C-rap. Ehhhhhh. Double whammy of complete and utter vomit.

I should not have to right a blog about this nonsense. You people in the world had better get with the program and start showing a dislike for these things. Accepting it makes you part of the problem. If you are out at the club and someone plays it on the universal radio or something start to boo. Get other people to follow suit. If a car drives by pumping loud bass no different than the last guy then give him a big thumbs down sign to show him your distaste. If some girl starts talking about how she likes some C-rap artist ask her if her brain actually fell out of her head or has she not considered that thinking for herself was an option. If you notice a C-rap CD close to the check out counter put your stuff down and say, "I change my mind. I didn't know you supported musical abortion."

Here is my bottom line. C-rap is noise that takes away from music. It causes more people, especially young people, to become musically ignorant. If you are into it then you are a low brained musical moron. If you are not into it then I am sorry I wasted your time. At the least you will be in agreement and I would welcome more examples of how to get rid of C-rap in the comments section below. Any comments that are pro musical abortion will be promptly deleted thank you very much. So don't bother and just go back to downloading torrents of Dr. Gay or whatever you would like to think it is called.