The Top 100 Greatest...

There are many "Top 100 Greatest..." lists when it comes to music. These lists, when referring to rock music, typically cover the basics: guitarists, bassists, drummers and vocalists. I have seen the odd one or two listing the top 100 bands of all time as well.

The lists are usually based on technique, creativity, versatility and influence on the world of music and you usually see the same names making the top places every time, and these names are typically “big” or famous names that are not at all that good at their particular instruments. Most people would not consider these artists worthy of being in the top 100... This makes me believe that this is somewhat more of a contest of popularity than a contest of genuine ability.

To some extent I usually agree (aside from the occasional dispute) with the top 5 or 10, but as for the rest of the lists, I get really concerned as to what is happening. Call me biased but many of my favourite guitarists for example, get left out of the top 20. These include David Gilmour, John Frusciante and Mike McCready who are all epic guitarists.

To many, they might not be considered some of the best of all time but I couldn't disagree more. With their technical skill, emotive playing, passion for the music and wealth of experience, along with the critical acclaim they have garnered, the adoration from fans, critics and industry insiders alike and their massive influences on the present generation definitely harbour very high rankings, indeed. I think they are some of the best guitarists I have ever heard in my life.

This also stretches into my favourite drummers. Chad Smith is considered by many to be one of the best living drummers, yet he frequently ranks in the lower ends of the “Top 100 Drummers” lists. If there are many people out there who highly rate Chad Smith, why is he being placed so low in the tables? He has great technical ability, speed, influence, groove and love for drumming, but it may be because he is a quiet and reserved guy at the back of the huge stage with three massive personalities resonating at nearly a million hertz in front of him. Either way, the guy deserves to be in at least the top 20.

Everyone loves Dave Grohl. It’s a well-known fact that he is one of the nicest and most adored men in all of rock music as well as one of the most famous drummers to have ever lived, yet he is another who ranks low in the “Top 100 Drummers” lists. Dave Grohl first came into the public eye with Nirvana with 1991’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and has continued to increase his fan base even to this very day. His hard-hitting, Bonham-influenced technique and massive influence of his own over modern audiences, along with a passion for the drums and an emotive playing sense deserve to push this drumming heavy weight higher up the “Top 100 Drummers” rankings.

Basically to sum it all up, lists of “Top 100 Greatest” lists are in effect, a pile of shit because all that matters is your own personal opinion. Very rarely will you find a list that includes all of your personal favourites and in the right orders, as today it seems like a popularity contest and less of a legitimate list ordering people in order of talent, technical ability, influence, creativity and versatility.

Ever Had A Sudden Realisation?

*** Excessive use of profanities ***

It's been a while since I last wrote something here, but this isn't a catch up... This is an emotional release. Other than my sister visiting, which I thoroughly enjoyed, the last few weeks have been a bit of a cunt.

I have recently come to the realisation that people are cunts… They are only out to fuck you and get what they want from you, even family. Family are there when it suits them and they will stab their own blood in the back if it means getting what they want out of it. I come to that realisation long ago, and it has only just hit home… This is not to say that I don’t love my family, because I do… It’s unconditional, but I still hate most of my family.

The hatred and sadness built up earlier as I was thinking about it all, and I started to cry, as you do when things get overwhelming. But I can’t cry properly. I get upset and tears form in my eyes but there is no emotional release that let’s me know that I am crying, so I started to get REALLY frustrated at the fact that crying wasn’t releasing my emotion. All the emotion turned into anger and in the end I almost popped a blood vessel in my head and was literally seconds from smashing the shit out of the bathroom before I realised that it would do no good.

I am the kind of person, who once I get emotional, I start to think of everything, and today that “everything” was the fact that I am open book and have always been an open book. I wear my heart on my sleeve and I am a genuinely kind person. Too kind for my own good, perhaps. A friend once told me that people take kindness for weakness, and being as kind as I am, people must take me for an absolute cunt.

It all got me thinking… I open up too easily and I let people into my heart and they fuck me over, right away. People take the opportunity to get what ever they can from someone by what ever means necessary and they usually jump when someone shows vulnerability. Being the open book that I am, I am always left vulnerable to such attack and I can’t take it anymore. Something’s got to give and I wont let it be my well-being.

There may be other genuinely nice people out there who don’t stab people in the back for their own gain, but life has taught me that most people are cunts and that I can’t go on living my day-to-day with my heart on my sleeve because people take advantage of it. So from now on, I have taken my heart off my sleeve and I am no longer opening up to anyone, regardless of who they are. Fuck people, they can’t be trusted. From now on I am going to be nice whenever I want to be, and not because I feel that I have to be.

Consider this the last time that I open up and let people know what is really going on, on the inside...