My poor guitarist friend

[SweetZombieJesus]

I am so sick of hearing his demo at this point I could kill him. He's a good guitarist, but his original material is derivative shit with the exception of one song, and it's only good because it sounds vaguely like a Replacements song covered by The Wipers. The rest of his stuff is just really crude three chord punk with no redeeming qualities. It might have been great had it come out in 1977, but now it's just tired and cliched. I keep trying to give him albums to steer him in another direction, but he keeps pounding out the same lame tunage over and over, and I have to hear it like ten times a day.

I'm just too nice to say anything, and really, I can't play guitar so I have no room to criticize him, but my inner critic just cringes whenever I hear this demo.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. It's because he's copying people

you might give him a little nudge by saying "you are a talented guy...try sounding more like yourself instead of everybody else"...or for a gift, buy him a book by Ted Greene called CHORD CHEMISTRY...something every guitar player should own...if you get it for him, he'll be busy for a while :evilgrin:

[SweetZombieJesus]

3. The problem isn't that he sounds like other people

He's original, its just that his whole idiom is rooted in this junior high mentality that he has in general. He's got a cover of "Gin & Juice" on this demo that drives me up the fucking wall, and this HORRIBLE song he calls "Big Booty Bitch" that's just him playing faux-porno licks while yelling "BIG BOOTY BITCH!" And don't even get me started on "Parking Nazis".

[TheZoo]

2. Based on your avatar...

There probably isn't too many guitarists that can meet the standard. I prefer Messrs Harrison and Page personally, in that order.

Has the young man a website? If not, you might want to push him towards that way, so the rest of us could hear his talent, or "talent".

[SweetZombieJesus]

5. It's not that he isn't a good guitarist

In my estimation, he's very good, it's just that he's a good technician, and not very creative artistically. Meanwhile, my friend Ryan is both his better creatively and technically, but I'm stuck living with Josh.

And Jimi's not my favorite guitarist by any stretch. I'm quite taken with Greg Sage, Joey Santiago, Ward Dotson from the Gun Club, and a number of other "post-punk" guitarists. It's just that Jimi's the only guitarist avatar available ;-)

[roughsatori]

7. You just made me really miss Jeffrey Lee Pierce NT

[SweetZombieJesus]

8. Yeah, they were a great band

I love that Jack White namedrops them frequently. Thanks to him I've witnessed their genius.

And yet all the coked up zombies of the 80s missed out on them. I hope they all have to listen to Flock Of Seagulls in hell as pennance.

[Fovea]

9. Howe, Fripp, Ballew

Lowell George, FZ, and Ry Cooder,

[Droopy]

4. How do you think he'd take it if you told him how you really feel?

I mean in a tactful way. Don't call his stuff lame.

[SweetZombieJesus]

6. Well, I just floated a very mild criticism, and he took it ok

It's just frustrating to hear one really great song, and then a bunch of shit that's a waste of my time. It's obvious that when he really tries, he can knock out a great song, but he lacks focus. So the rest of it is just aimless fucking around, except the very good cover of Bad Religion's "We're Only Gonna Die".

There's a song he's playing now called "Going To Nebraska". It's not half bad, maybe I just hate it because its about Nebraska.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

10. He should look for a coach...

You're never too old or too professional to learn from someone else.

[leftofthedial]

11. try to find a third party to offer a review

you can get demos critiqued by song coaches (look for ads in music stores).

Or through organizations like Just Plain Folks or Taxi.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

12. I've only written one good song. The rest suck.

So I can relate to your buddy.

[leftofthedial]

13. what do you mean "only one good song"

one good song is a treasure beyond price!

You did great! My hat's off to you. Keep writing and trying to get better.