Sonic Youth Gossip - View Single Post - are any of John Frusciante's solo albums good?

atsonicpark · 01.21.2011, 02:02 PM

I'm on such a Frusciante kick. I downloaded that VPRO Interview (the youtube version cuts out a lot), it's actually easy to find via torrents. For some reason a few parts repeat. Uh, anyway, I've watched it 6 times.

I play along to Frusciante's stuff constantly. I actually have downloaded a couple Chili Peppers songs and cut out the vocals with Adobe Audition. It doesn't sound very good. I wish there was some way to just hear the guitar and bass and nothing else.

But yeah I play along to his stuff and am not ripping him off but he's definitely inspiring my new stuff. On the new songs, I've actually come up with what you could actually call "guitar solos" which are modeled after Frusciante's wilder stuff.

The thing is, musically the Chili Peppers have come up with a few really good musical songs as far as mainstream 90's rock goes. Now, vocals are some of the worst of all time, and the lyrics are just garbage. But honestly a song like "Scar Tissue" is amazing. I mean, those solos!

I even, shudder, have downloaded all the Mars Volta albums recently. You really can't tell Frusciante's playing on a few songs, because there are about 9 guitar tracks per song. There's just so much going on, each segment is SO effected/processed and ... god damn, so many layers ... this band gives me a migraine. Only albums harder to listen to is THERE'S NO 666 IN OUTERSPACE (and the double album the band released before that). When did prog become about being annoying as hell? There's no depth to it. I know a lot of people think 500 layers of guitars playing as many notes as possible is "Deep". ANYWAY, on the few songs when you can clearly tell Frusciante's playing (note the word clearly; also note that on songs where Frusicnat plays the whole songs -- not just a solo -- you actually can tell pretty easily, since Frusicnate is a technically good and creatively interesting guitarist, which is the exact opposite of Omar Rodriguez, who often still sounds like an amateur), if you can tune out the garbage, it's good stuff.

I also just got the omar rodriguez (ugh)/frusciante collab album and it's actually pretty cool.

Anyway, this guy is in my top 5 guitarists, he's up there with seeichi yamamoto, gary lucas (from the magic band; also see zoot horn rollo and jeff morris temper; basically, any guitarist the magic band had is a genius, though the bassist was the most "talented" member of the band, listen to the bass playing on decals sometime), trey spruance, and john fahey in my top 5 guitarists ever.

Thanks for turning me onto him all those years back, Derek.

I'd say SMILE FROM THE STREETS YOU HOLD is pretty easily in my top 10 albums of all time.

01.21.2011, 02:02 PM	#40
atsonicpark invito al cielo Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 28,843	I'm on such a Frusciante kick. I downloaded that VPRO Interview (the youtube version cuts out a lot), it's actually easy to find via torrents. For some reason a few parts repeat. Uh, anyway, I've watched it 6 times. I play along to Frusciante's stuff constantly. I actually have downloaded a couple Chili Peppers songs and cut out the vocals with Adobe Audition. It doesn't sound very good. I wish there was some way to just hear the guitar and bass and nothing else. But yeah I play along to his stuff and am not ripping him off but he's definitely inspiring my new stuff. On the new songs, I've actually come up with what you could actually call "guitar solos" which are modeled after Frusciante's wilder stuff. The thing is, musically the Chili Peppers have come up with a few really good musical songs as far as mainstream 90's rock goes. Now, vocals are some of the worst of all time, and the lyrics are just garbage. But honestly a song like "Scar Tissue" is amazing. I mean, those solos! I even, shudder, have downloaded all the Mars Volta albums recently. You really can't tell Frusciante's playing on a few songs, because there are about 9 guitar tracks per song. There's just so much going on, each segment is SO effected/processed and ... god damn, so many layers ... this band gives me a migraine. Only albums harder to listen to is THERE'S NO 666 IN OUTERSPACE (and the double album the band released before that). When did prog become about being annoying as hell? There's no depth to it. I know a lot of people think 500 layers of guitars playing as many notes as possible is "Deep". ANYWAY, on the few songs when you can clearly tell Frusciante's playing (note the word clearly; also note that on songs where Frusicnat plays the whole songs -- not just a solo -- you actually can tell pretty easily, since Frusicnate is a technically good and creatively interesting guitarist, which is the exact opposite of Omar Rodriguez, who often still sounds like an amateur), if you can tune out the garbage, it's good stuff. I also just got the omar rodriguez (ugh)/frusciante collab album and it's actually pretty cool. Anyway, this guy is in my top 5 guitarists, he's up there with seeichi yamamoto, gary lucas (from the magic band; also see zoot horn rollo and jeff morris temper; basically, any guitarist the magic band had is a genius, though the bassist was the most "talented" member of the band, listen to the bass playing on decals sometime), trey spruance, and john fahey in my top 5 guitarists ever. Thanks for turning me onto him all those years back, Derek. I'd say SMILE FROM THE STREETS YOU HOLD is pretty easily in my top 10 albums of all time. __________________
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