Guitar Nerd Albums - post 'em

[rkm]

Post something. Describe it.

[dihansse]

OK I'll start.
Guitar nerd albums to me are certainly not the ones by so-called guitar gods like Yngwie Malmsteen or Steve Vai in which the guitar playing just seems like a technical show-off of look what I can do on this guitar.

How I interpret it is: guitar bands which are both original and (fairly) unknown, this means not the usual suspects like Allman Brothers, Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth, Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix which I like very much as well but are maybe too obvious as a choice.

I'll name three to prove my point:
- The Aints: I suppose everybody knows the Saints, the Australian punk band, but when one of the two main characters, Ed Kuepper, left the band and formed his own band, he called it the Aints. While they were still performing with Saints songs like This Perfect Day and Know Your Product and turned them into guitar monsters (see Live album SLSQ), they were gradually writing their own songs and created this fantastic combination of absolutely blazing guitar play and great sax solos, but the guitar ruled. They issued two fantastic regular albums, Ascension in 1991 and Autocannibalism in 1992. Both albums contain long and winding tracks with many guitar solos which are absolutely fantastic and highly original. I don't know where to begin to name individual standouts because the two albums with six tracks each together contain 9 songs which belong to my favorite songs ever. To name a few: Like An Oil Spill (sounds exactly like the title promises) and Ill Wind. After that Ed Kuepper started a solo career mainly based on more singer-songwriter type of songs.
- The Band of Susans: this American band with indeed three Susans as a member has a number of average albums but one stunner: The Word and The Flesh of 1991. Wikipedia describes them as a mixture between avant-garde and shoegaze and I suppose that's correct but I mainly appreciate them for their crazy guitar playing (they called their tribute to the E chord) on songs like Now Is Now, Plot Twist, Silver Lining and the more than 13 minutes long Guitar Trio.
- and then there is Souls, a Swedish guitar band of which nearly know nothing but issued a great album with an impossible title Tjitchischtsiy (sudêk). You can find them on Bandcamp
https://soulsofficial.bandcamp.com
but also on Apple Music in a recently remixed/redux version by Steve Albini. I like the original of 1994 better however because it has to me more edge and also contains the 15 minutes long Danskin not appearing on the redux version and I couldn't even find it on Youtube but I've got it on the original CD. If you can find it, check it out because it's great and the song builds up to a magnificent finale. The best way to describe the guitar playing on the album in general is thundering (without being hardrock) which is combined by fantastic vocals of the female singer. Other standouts on the album are Fishbowl and Ladybird.

I hope I gave you some ideas rkm. I'm curious to hear others from you or other people.

[bobbyb5]

I wouldn't know how to describe them though. One is Spanish guitar, one is folky, a couple are country-ish and the rest are rock-y. That's the best I could do.


Paradise And Lunch by Ry Cooder


Rumble! The Best Of Link Wray by Link Wray


Real People by Chic


All Things Must Pass by George Harrison


My Feet Are Smiling by Leo Kottke


The Best Of Dire Straits & Mark Kno...re Straits


Guitar Solos by Andrés Segovia


3 + 3 by The Isley Brothers


Talk Talk Talk by The Psychedelic Furs


Have 'Twangy' Guitar Will Travel by Duane Eddy


Wild Planet by The B-52's


Supersonic Guitars In 3D by Los Straitjackets


Press On by David T. Walker



Finger-Style Guitar by Chet Atkins


The Lightning Fingers Of Roy Clark by Roy Clark

[rkm]

I'm defining Guitar Nerd Album as those where the guitar is the primary mode of expression, or at least an equivalent voice to any actual vocal element.

[rkm]

I too like this Leo Kottke album, Bobby.


My Feet Are Smiling by Leo Kottke

I think Michael Hedges had a similar experience to Leo Kottke, in that he got a lot of attention for his fantastic guitar playing, and then subsequently struggled to find acceptance as a vocalist. Some of Leo Kottke's albums come across as a bit uneven, but I think My Feet Are Smiling, being a live album, lends a continuity to those two elements.

Here's a Michael Hedges album I like, while I'm here. He referred to his own style as Heavy Mental: a lot of percussive hammering and pulling off, and slapped harmonics, in open tunings. He was a forefather to players like Andy McKee and Kaki King, I think.


Aerial Boundaries by Michael Hedges

In a similar vein, incorporating some of what I hear in both Leo Kottke and Michael Hedges:


Beyond Nature by Phil Keaggy

[bobbyb5]

[RoundTheBend]

I'll be honest I don't really know what you are going after, but these guitarists have done nerdy/innovative things and as a gear/tone geek I really respect them:

Tosin Abasi: dude took slap bass and applied it to guitar in some really cool ways. Seems he is constantly innovating. Also puts most prog rock guitarists to shame.

Teppei Teranishi: His use of the baritone guitar has yet to be matched.

George Harrison: It's boring probably to most of you now, but the introduction of a sitar into pop music of the 60s really is pretty damn awesome.

Matthew Bellamy: he has that scratch pad that he has on his custom built guitars and has made some unique guitar sounds (almost dubstep like stuff). Plus his knowledge of music theory is incredibly evident.

Tom Morello: Not only did he show riff rock wasn't dead, but could be powerful and fun again. His unconventional solos, using at times really unconventional methods (using infrared on his pickups, etc) to make extremely unique sounds.

Billy Corgan: Dude layers guitar parts like no other. I remember reading the song Soma has like 20 layered guitar parts or something ridiculous. His solos are pretty damn passionate at times as well.

The Edge: Probably has more effects/layered effects than 90% of all other guitarists combined. He's most known for his echo/delay work, but most people don't realize the other cool effects stuff he does. It's one of those things that he does so well, nobody notices it. Check his rig rundown. And if you don't realize how hard it is to manage all the different configurations, changing guitars for almost every song, etc., you don't know anything about playing guitar/live music.

Trey Anastasio: I don't really know anything specific, but his guitar playing as always interested me.

[RoundTheBend]

Leo Kottke: his open tuning/slide technique has yet to be matched.

Les Paul:
dude played incredibly fast and smooth and pioneered electric slide guitar/guitar.

[bobbyb5]

[bobbyb5]