Steve Vai: Composer

Playing the guitar is a lost art. It used to be all about composure, theory, and innovation. Nowadays, it's all just power chords and dominant vocalists. But, there is one guitarist who knows how to bring down the house. His name is Steve Vai. He considers himself more of a composer than a guitarist. In his early days, he would challenge his fans to write him a musical score just to see if he could play it on the spot without any practice. Steve Vai is a modern day Jimi Hendrix. Although they both have completely different music styles, they both have innovated the guitar dramatically. Not nearly as many people have heard of Steve Vai, but it is important to know about how he approaches music.

As I am typing this, I am listening to Steve Vai floating in bliss. Vai is a perfectionist, he virtually never misses a note. Steve bases all of his guitar playing off of music theory. He has an incredible knowledge of music theory, something that I find boring. Although music theory is indeed boring (if you have never tried to learn about music theory, just a heads up: it is boring as fuck), it is vital to any person who ever wants to be a respected musician. Even Michael Jackson, somebody known for his singing, knows the key to every single one of his songs.
Steve Vai is not only a virtuoso at theory, but he is also a very odd guitarist who has developed his own strange style. Just listen to Steve Vai's "Massacre", he is not only very fast and talented, he is also very unique. He takes the place of a vocalist who is always in key, something that is very loud. Often times, he emulates vocalists while still maintaining what still makes the electric guitar famous. Steve Vai's "The Audience is Listening", is a great example of Steve Vai emulating a vocalist. It really makes me wonder how Steve Vai got this good.
Ibanez guitars has jumped on Steve Vai with many endorsement deals and signature guitars. If you take a look at Steve Vai's signature collection, you'll find guitars as odd as his playing style. I'm personally, a big fan of his beautiful fingerboards, even though I've never played one myself. I'm just itching to get my hands on one of these.

A Heated Debate: The Greatest Artists of All Time

As VH1 attempts to script what they believe to be the 100 Greatest Artists of all time, I could help thinking, "who the hell came up with this list?" As it turns out, some of the most popular modern musicians are responsible for this dreadful list. Seriously, can someone please tell me why Cream is so low and why Eminem, Justin Timberlake, and Green Day are even on this list? Well anyways, I've had enough of saying, "what the fuck", to these absurd opinions. Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest artists of all time is much more tolerant, but I still can't help thinking about why these opinions are so garbage.
I have narrowed the list down to the top 5. This is what my opinion consists of.

5. Michael Jackson

I am not a big fan of his music but you can't help but notice the effect Jackson has had on pop. He turned pop music into the music genre most people listen to. His album, "Thriller" still remains the greatest selling album of all time. Jackson's music is easy to recognize by the way he sings, dances, and squeals. It is easy to come by a person trying to pull off the Michael Jackson moonwalk, or trying to break out a high pitched squeal the way Michael Jackson used to. Jackson's classics are easily some of the most recognizable songs in music, who can forget the flowing songs of "Beat It", "Thriller", "Billie Jean", "Bad", and much more. Michael Jackson is an icon and the best man to ever live in pop.

4. Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix is a mastermind at the electric guitar and a mastermind at rock and roll. Jimi Hendrix was one of the first guitarists to ever incorporate gain in his guitar. Just look at his Woodstock performance, he makes the Fender Stratocaster sound magical. His powerful riffs echo through a nation begging for peace. His endless solos tell the tale of an apocalyptic struggle. His voice is the lid to his amazing guitar skills. Jimi Hendrix is the greatest guitarist of all time, there is no question about it. Nobody could pull off the kind of stuff he did. His influence has echoed generation to generation. His incredible songs are like a perfect synchronization of all that should be in music.

3. Bob Marley

The great Bob Marley is a symbol of friendship, hardship, and peace. Never before has one man's music ever been able to unite an entire nation. The Jamaican reggae singer revolutionized the word, "peace". Marley was there when the Jamaican revolution happened, and he was the main reason for it. His music is the the most relaxing you've ever listened to. All you have to do is sit on your couch, light up a joint, and jam with Bob Marley's peaceful grooves. Bob is the classic example of a man under the influence of understanding. It's hard to say that Bob Marley is just a musician, he is the one of the greatest humanitarians ever. His face has been all over the place, it seams that Bob Marley's revolution is continuing to this day and it shows no sign of stopping.

2. Led Zeppelin

They hold their proud place over music history, they are rock gods, they are how much music has to offer, they are Led Zeppelin. Led Zeppelin has been worshipped as some of the most genius musicians to ever roam this earth. When I say that people worship Led Zeppelin, that is an understatement. They were the pioneers of hard rock. Jimmy Page laid down riffs that were (and still are) hotter than the sun. Led Zeppelin has made their mark on modern musicians, they have an unbelievable amount of dignity. The classics just keep on lining up like like dominoes, and once one of them came down to earth, the rest of them soon followed. So when you're wondering what to listen to next, Led Zeppelin is always a reliable choice.

1. The Beatles

There is no question that the Beatles are the best artists in the world, collectively. Chances are that your favorite artist wouldn't be around if it weren't for the Beatles. Underneath all of the teenage screaming is something incredibly special, some of the greatest music to ever his human ears. The are, without a doubt, the biggest influence in music. The hold the trophy for the greatest musicians ever in many opinions. The resulting music coming from the Beatles is the wondering mind. All you have to do is take a listen and you'll get how influential they've been to every single musician since the 1960's. These men are the greatest musicians of all time and that's not about to change anytime soon.

Notable artists that almost made the cut:
Bob Dylan
Elvis Presley

Feel free to add your input. Who did I miss?