Amanda Palmer covers Radiohead's Creep

Music has a universal language no matter the instrument used.

Classic metal

Marty Friedman and Kerry King play and discuss classic metal riffs on Japanese TV.

Metallica instrumental Orion

Metallica reminds us that they once wrote good instrumentals and they even translate in concert. Though they aren't radio friendly they are always enjoyable. It would be a good form to return to.

Cliff Burton Bass Solos

More Cliff Burton bass solos.

Cliff Burton - For Whom the Bell Tolls with bass solo

Cliff Burton was known best for his bass solos where he did what is usually reserved only for guitarists. He was also the backbone of Metallica's composing and musical theory which took a hit when he died in a tour bus accident.

More Trey

Another solo from Trey that is deliberate noise planned note for note.

From notes to sound

Guitarist Trey Azagthoth shows he turns the guitar into an abstract instrument of sound with this solo.

Steve Vai talks on Frank Zappa

Steve Vai talks about his difficult audition for Frank Zappa.

Frank Zappa guitar duel with Steve Vai

Zappa and Vai trade licks in Rome, showing what each thinks is possible with guitar. Their personalities are expressed with their solos.

Bohemian Rhapsody made Classical

Edgar Cruz masterfully plays his classical guitar arrangement of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody to show us that there are many ways to appreciate a good song.

Cobain: the style that launched a thousand clones

Though grunge has long been declared dead, "alternative" music is grunge rehashed as even simpler ripoffs and stupider lyrics. Where grunge's angst was the domain of teenagers and extended adolescence at least it qualified as some kind of feeling and potential energy. Today the ripoffs of Cobain devotedly steal his formula and apply it to idiotic babble and directionless cliches. The entertainment industry can be so disappointing in its tired promotion of clones.

Jose Feliciano rocks out in a funky style

Jose Feliciano shows blindness doesn't get in the way of rocking with his medley of the Flight of the Bumblebee and funky slam. Halfway through his jam, he loses his pick and keeps going.

Deep Purple - Smoke on the Yangtze

This Japanese band covers Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" and makes it their own.

Shadow Art

Australian puppeteer Raymond Crowe puts on an artistic performance of shadow art, with music, light, and frames of reference all coming together.

Metallica was a great band

You might not have much idea about it from their performances over the last decade, but 20 years ago Metallica was a tight and impressive musical unit. With Cliff Burton on bass they had character and solid metal composition. Though some said the vocals were harsh, they are now considered quite gentle and mainstream. Truly Metallica was a band ahead of their times who suffered for being unrecognized innovators and have sinced lapsed into comfortable public performances not much varied than elevator music.

Abolish the rules made of stone

Slayer still performs this classic with the same energy used to compose it 20 years ago for their definitive Reign in Blood release.

Radiohead tops the charts again - "In Rainbows" is a Billboard #1

Radiohead made their expected arrival at No. 1 on the new U.K. album chart yesterday (Jan. 6) with "In Rainbows," released in the U.K. and internationally Dec. 31 on XL Recordings.

Radiohead's victory gives them their fifth U.K. No. 1 album, a sequence that began with 1997's "OK Computer" and also includes "Kid A" (2000), "Amnesiac" (2001) and 2003's "Hail to the Thief." A single from the new set, "Jigsaw Falling Into Place," is commercially released in Britain on Jan. 14.

Radiohead New Years Gift

Radiohead brought in the new year by performing their entire album for their fans. What a good vibe for freedom in music distribution and fan connections!

Yngwie Malmsteen showing how to rock on guitar

Yngwie Malmsteen is well known for his metal solos but here he shows what he can do on an acoustic guitar without any processing effects. No distortion, just skill applied to the instrument showing decades of practice and exploration.