xanga's impending doom, yet another web 1.0 internetting casualty
Xanga.com originally launched in 1998. Yep, it's that old. And in July 2013 it will probably shut down. Either that or it will "pull a Friendster" where it will be rebranded/retooled into something else and totally lose the flavor or what it originally was...
...and so goes yet another early-internet site.
In my experience, there are a few hard truths when it comes to collectible guitars.
Metal music is cool and all that, but one thing that has always ticked me off about the metal community is how snobby many are. Anyone who's into metal music knows what I'm talking about. Metalheads just love their classifications where something is "totally metal" or "somewhat metal" or "not metal enough" or whatever. Very annoying.
I listen to a ton of different stuff for three reasons. First, I enjoy it. Second, I don't like being pigeonholed into liking just one thing and only that one thing. Third, it makes me better as a guitar player.
For example, I like the song The 2,000 Pound Bee by The Ventures. A lot. That song (or songs, rather, as there is a part 1 and 2) was the first commercial release that featured the fuzz effect on the guitar. And it's awesome. I also like Six Days on the Road by David Dudley. Total country trucker's song. And it's cool. I also dig the "Outlaw Country" sound like Christine's Tune by The Flying Burrito Brothers, and I'll even listen to Love's Theme by Barry White every now and then, because it's a great song.
And yes, I will mix this in to listening to metal songs.
There was a time in my life when I listened to nothing but metal. Metal, metal, metal all day long. After a while that gets really boring real quick. And I'll tell you exactly why it gets boring.
If all you do is listen to metal, metal, metal, what happens is that it all starts to sound the same. Every riff, every chug, every "face-melter" scream, every fast drum track, every solo... all of it. Totally boring if that's all you listen to.
And yes, the exact same thing can happen to any other style of music that exists. However, metalheads make it a point for whatever stupid reason to only listen to metal and absolutely nothing else. That's stupid. And what's even more stupid is that if you dare go outside of the only-metal rule, you're actually made fun of for it, as if you "betrayed the community". Whatever.
From the guitar player's perspective, nothing will put you in a rut faster than only listening to just one kind of music exclusively. There will be days you'll pick up your guitar and just not be able to come up with a single new idea, and you will get bored and put the guitar down. It will happen...
...unless you're willing to listen to other stuff. And I don't mean other styles of metal music. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about actually listening to totally different genres like jazz, country, disco, orchestral, big band, swing, rockabilly and so on.
A whole new world of inspiration is opened up when you ditch the metal-only "rule".
In addition, also from a guitar player's point of view, a whole new world of guitars are opened up by ditching the metal-only rule.
For example, if you dared showed up to metal band practice with a Squier Mustang, you would instantly be made fun of for showing up with that because it "doesn't look metal enough". Because the guitar doesn't have a "badass" look to it, well then, it just "sucks" then, right? Wrong. You play what you want because you're the one spending the cash to buy the guitar.
I stopped being a metal-only guy years ago, and to be honest I wish I had done it a lot sooner.
Like I said, metal is cool and all that, and I do listen to metal music from time to time, but it is absolutely NOT the only thing I will listen to, nor do I base my guitar buying decisions off of it either. And neither should you.
On a final note, here's why you should renounce your metal citizenship:
Think of your favorite food. Now think if that's the only thing you were ever allowed to eat. How long would it take before you got sick of eating the same thing? Not long at all. It doesn't matter how you prepare the food, what temperature it is when you eat it or how it looks when served to you because it's the same thing over and over. Day in and day out, same thing. Totally boring.
As the old saying goes, variety is the spice of life. Well, you can't have any variety if you're always listening and playing the same stuff now, can you? Of course not.
"Metal 'til I die" is a joke, because those who sincerely believe that are already dead inside. Try other styles for a change; it's not a sin to do so.
Something I didn't even realize until just recently is after all this time, I own the two most popular guitar shapes in existence, that being the Stratocaster and the Les Paul shapes. That doesn't mean anything, but it feels kinda cool.
So anyway, here's how my 'yellow brigade' guitars have fared out.
Some stuff concerning music scenes and styles are timeless, while others get dated, stay dated and never return.
One of those "never-return" eras is that oh-so brief period in the very-early 1990s where metal ruled the day. And the best example of this is the video of Nothing Else Matters by Metallica because it basically shows everything that was perceived to be cool back then.
That video is a real time capsule and shows what every rock band back at that time wanted to be. A bunch of guys in a studio with gear everywhere just recording stuff, and then hanging out.
You get to see how music used to be recorded, as in on reel-to-reel tape where the machine is loaded and getting prepped for recording. Nobody records that way anymore because digital is just so much easier.
Because Metallica at the time had a ton of money to blow, you see a whole lot of ritzy, expensive guitars used, and other guitars you ordinarily never see the band play. In the video, a Gretsch White Falcon is seen as well as a butterscotch Fender Telecaster and even a Gibson 12-string double neck. And yeah, you also see your fair share of ESP guitars that the band favored at the time (and still does as far as I know), but a Gibson Flying V sneaks its way in there along with a Jackson Rhoads V.
Guitars are guitars are guitars and yeah we all get that. But as for the style, oh yeah, very dated.
The standard "trying to look like a badass" metalhead look of the early 90s was to wear a black t-shirt, blue or black jeans, black boots or running shoes and the heavy black leather coat with as many shiny bits on it as possible.
And yes, it was the biker's coat that completed the look. But at the same time it's what made metalheads of the early 1990s look so stupid.
Now as far as motorcycle-use purposes are concerned, yes, the biker's heavy leather coat does have legitimate reasons to exist. However, a bunch of kids bought leather biker coats back in the day just because they saw James Hetfield wearing one as seen in the video. But see, here's the thing: James actually rides and that's why he wore them. But kids didn't know that and just bought the coats because they thought they looked cool...
...and buying a leather biker's coat but not owning a motorcycle so you can use the coat for its intended purpose is just dumb.
Nobody wants a repeat of the bullshit that happened in the early 90s with metal
What happened in the early 90s with metal is something that at the time was just plain awful. You had to sound and dress a specific way to be "considered metal". Metalheads of the time were so unbelievably stuck-up that you'd think they were all participating in some warped beauty contest. Many metalheads back then were just as bad as the glam rockers in many respects.
Yes, there there is the threat of a brand new crop of stuck-up metalheads doing the same crap the last generation did where they want to do that warped beauty contest nonsense all over again, but fortunately those morons are called out for what they are.
And as far as the younger metalhead crowd that says you need $4,000 worth of guitar hardware (guitar + amp + effects, etc.) just to get a metal sound, my response to that would be a bird flipped in your face.
I've proven time and time again you don't need expensive guitars nor do you need expensive amps/effects/whatever to get metal tone. I can get metal tone on a bone stock Squier that sells for under $150 new, can do it easily and posted videos to prove it.
Early-90s metal is not a time you want to come back, trust me. "Fitting in to be a misfit" sounds stupid, right? That's because it is. Don't do that. Do your own thing instead. Dress how you want and sound how you want, because that's the only way to fly.