Steve Vai solo

Added - thank you for the suggestion. The discography will soon be imported from MMA and processed by a collab.

I know this my sound strange, but when Appetite for Destruction came out, no one anywhere would have argued against it being metal. I realize things change and we're looking for metal fans now, but prior to grunge, metal was even easier to define that it is now. And alot of the bands now considered borderline were clearly in.

Please understand,

I am in no way trying to start a fight, I have many points I'd like to "debate" but it will serve no purpose in the particular discussion here.
I'll retract my idea for a "Shredder" sub-catagory, because people have a problem with it as a "Genre" (Term, title, definition etc.), and seeing a great example like "Slash" and his solo album definately is a way to look at the Solo Guitarists, not all are Progressive, some are 8 Bar Blues based, some are Jazz/Fusion based and then everything else.  But I'm an "Ear" guy, I play Guitar by ear, I can't read Music or even Tabliture, I'm Improvisational, but I'm Metal Based, even when I play Jazz fusion, and I am FAR away from 8 Bar Blues and Rock n' Roll (I'm not blessed with that "soul" in my fluidity in scales).

Please think about and consider this:  If you ADD to the sub-genre catagory Window on the Home Page...
"Guitar Soloists", you will alieviate the question of SOOOOOO Many "Metal" -based Guitarists, In anyones Review or whomever writes the descriptions for each Artist, they will mention what "Type" of Metal they will play, what are the influences.
I am not trying to start a dominoe effect of Sub-genre "suggestions", I did that with the so-called "Math Metal /Tech Thrash" and I understand the infantcy of this site, I succumb to the fact that they will go in respective Death, Thrash and Progressive Metal Catagories and the descriptions of each will be characterized by their "sub-genres" in them.
We can agree to disagree to what "influences" and characteristics these Soloists base their brand of Metal.
But I think we could all agree . . . they are Soloists, who do it their way, have respected musicians collab with them in writing or playing what has been written for them.  All thats left when you strip it all away, is it Metal? And they are still Soloists.

One last point (I really want to stay away from fighting and dont want to leave Steve Vai or anyone else out of what has potential to be the biggest source for Metal Information).
I'll say that Prog Rock has more potentials for Bands that have different elements that make them "progress" within the Genre, even if its one extreme compared to another-for the most part I can see more folks enjoying the "variety" than not (I litteraly like it ALL, but thats me).  Metal on the otherhand I feel has bigger gaps and one genre will be HATED amongst others (Prog does too, but Progression and various influences are what make Prog -"Prog").  If you had a Metal Festival of different sub-genres, what genre would have the most people leave to have a Lunch/Smoke break or go take a nap?
To get wrapped up in what site needs to Exclude or Include is too subjective and to "Leave" a site when you have a PLEATHERA of other musics to enjoy and read about is a shame to your own limitations to learn about something new.  I hate Glam, but there can be a Band I've forgotten about or learn of that has a great sound, I'm open to anything.  If you guys elect "Prince" to be here, I'm not going to complain about it to where I want to leave this NEW site "in disgust".
Be civil folks, be open minded and "research" your findings, or learn about these Artists that some of you, YOU are making decisions for.  Dont be the "American Grammy's" type of judges that decide what "Metal" Band should nominated like opening a Phone Book and pointing at the 1st thing they see (Believe me, thats how its done, I know 2 people in the Recording Industry who know people on the Grammy committee).
And by the way, I could really see this site "Helping" expand the Grammy Nominations in Metal (or maybe I'm dreaming) if this becomes a viable source for Information and there is enough publicity of some kind in the future.
Dont be afraid of Genres, its what makes this Music (and Prog) better than anything else out there because its more than just noise, we know better.  It is loud and aggressive, but has alot of Art, Heart and Soul.  I may get angry, but I'll come back and still support its efforts here, theres a bigger "picture" than just my tastes.  Again, I may not like a lot of Bands mentioned here and there, but that doesn't mean they are
not part of the Heavy Metal community.

Forgive me if I offended anyone, truely, I may use the wrong words but the point I hope will supercede my bad grammer (I mean, English is my 1st language ).

Bang on!


Edited by MAVIIIVAM - 17 Apr 2010 at 5:13pm

Raff wrote: I agree with you 100% about the Encyclopedia Metallum. I don't like it, and don't consider it to be complete in the least. However, I am an admin here, and was one on PA some years ago - so I know what it means to have to constantly put out the fires due to controversial additions. And let's not forget that it is the very owner and founder of this site that would rather see those 'floodgates' closed, at least for the time being. He has invested time and money in the creation of this site, and obviously he is none too keen to see it go under for lack of a clear direction in its early days.

Edited by 1967/ 1976 - 17 Apr 2010 at 10:50am

I agree with Negoba, and, as I've pointed out elsewhere, leaving certain stuff out may be just as controversial as including certain stuff. It's just a matter of choosing an exclusivist strategy over an inclusivist one - they both carry potential controversies.

I, for one, would be happy to see both Steve Vai and Joe Satriani (and Slash) here - but I am also generally more prone to thinking "WTF? Why isn't X here?" than "WTF? Why is X here?". Anyway, it's somewhat of a comfort that the chosen exclusivist strategy is only intented to be a temporary one, and I am hopeful that many of the artists we've discussed - including Steve Vai - will be added some day in the near future.

BTW, I am actually sceptical towards the Encyclopaedia Metallum for its exclusivist - dare I say elitist - approach, so I don't consider it the ultimate metal resource. It's a very extensive one, to be sure, but not the ultimate one.


Edited by Time Signature - 17 Apr 2010 at 10:26am

Raff wrote: I don't want to stifle discussion, but remember just one thing: if there is any controversy attached to any of those suggestions, they will be put on ice for now. The last thing we need now, in the early days of the site, is for people to become members just to say, "WTF? Why is X here?". This happens just about every day on PA, and very often creates tension and ugliness. We don't need this as we are trying to create our niche in the Internet world.

I don't want to stifle discussion, but remember just one thing: if there is any controversy attached to any of those suggestions, they will be put on ice for now. The last thing we need now, in the early days of the site, is for people to become members just to say, "WTF? Why is X here?". This happens just about every day on PA, and very often creates tension and ugliness. We don't need this as we are trying to create our niche in the Internet world. 

this axeman topic raised another interesting question
should SLASH as solo artist be added ? i just pick up his new solo CD and saw many names performing as singer including some metal names, now if we want to add him, should we put him under Glam or Alternative Metal or ?

I think Vai and Satriani and most shredders should belong here, but the question of what genre is pretty hard, but the least I can think of is probably trad HM

I have no problem with Vai being included here - nor with Satriani's inclusion - because they are part of the metal world, and they've always been associated with the metal world in the media etc.

As to the genre, I don't know. They don't seem to fit into any of the existing genres, and I'm sure a "metal related" genre will never be introduced ;-) The closest fits I can see are progressive metal, avant-garde metal or - controversially :-P - trad metal.