Church History and Slash

So I decided to go down to the pool with the wife today to shed some light on my radiantly white flesh. I flipped open my Church History book for some ...light reading and slipped in the ear plugs connected to my very nifty Ipod Shuffle. I had forgotten what songs I loaded on my shuffle and was at first pleasantly greeted with Johnny Cash singing "When the Man Comes Around."

"This is a good soundtrack for Church History" I thought, and turned to the section on the Crusades. I was plowing my way through valiant sword fight after sword fight in the name of our Lord when to my surprise, the tender guitar stylings of a certain "Slash" from "Guns 'n Rose"s started oozing its way from my external ear into my eardrum which caused me to float against my will back to my adolescence. I immediately shut those painful memories of awkwardness down, stopped my reading, and began to listen to "Sweet Child of Mine" with new ears. I then remembered that my favorite guitar solo is found in this song. As a matter of fact, for me, this song holds the greatest electric guitar moment of the 80's. Right before the grunge crappers and Nirvana knock-offs stormed the radio, Slash was king. He was the last great guitar player that ruled the radio waves and he was the last of his kind. Back when Rock Stars were not caricature of themselves. Back when the myth was real and when the man with the long curly hair crowned with a large top-hat picked up his guitar it was if a god had descended from Asgard to hypnotize his fans into new levels of Rock ecstasy. (All before we found out they were just drunken stupid losers who were mostly miserable unless they were drunk or stoned into oblivion.) Before MTV created the video Rock Star, someone who looks "cool" at all times. So cool that every spoken sentence is rehearsed mentally before they say it. Before labels had to create the image of the myth for the sole reason of capitol gain.


If you have not listened to Sweet Child of mine for a while I encourage you to turn it on. When you do, you will notice something peculiar and unexpected. These guys were pretty darn good musicians. Slash's solo is worked out like a fine Sonata. It is beautiful and powerful. Now, I realize that no one will ever achieve the raw power of creativity and force of nature that was Jimmy Hendrix but Slash gave us the bookend to this era. You can find no finer moment in Rock Guitar history than in Sweet Child of Mine. And what a song. Who writes songs like this anymore? It begins with a Guitar solo then goes to a verse/chorus then another Guitar interlude, not too showy, then another verse/chorus and Guitar solo, a little showier than the first. Then a bridge to another guitar solo except this time the solo takes us to a new place, major turns to minor and the solo builds to a climax as fine as any musical development can deliver. Finally the song ends with a CODA!!!! A section that has very little to do with the rest of the song but bursts with new energy delivering something that we had not expected but love. Can't you hear it now ...'Where do we go now? Where do we gowooo oooo where do we go now...?" YESS!!!! CAN YOU FEEL IT???!! Come on people get out those air guitars and go to work! What the heck, break out the Air Drums while you're at it! Relive those glory days of your youth. Simultaneiously remember what it was like to be 12 years old and in love with rock and roll AND what it feels like to be inside of the psyche of someone who works at Guitar Center RIGHT NOW.

Sweet dreams.

So, it's confession time. What is your Sweet Child of Mine moment...i.e. your favorite 80s rock song? I am all ears...