Neil Schon...

"Happy 58th Birthday"

Neil Schon

The longtime guitarist for arena rockers Journey, Neal Schon was born February 27, 1954 in San Mateo, CA; a child prodigy, he joined Santana at age 17, making his debut on 1971's III LP. In 1973 Schon co-founded Journey with fellow Santana alum Gregg Rolie; although the group's early records favored a largely instrumental, progressive rock-influenced approach, with the 1978 addition of frontman Steve Perry their commercial fortunes ascended as slick hard rock hits like "Wheel in the Sky," "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'," and "Anyway You Want It" became FM radio staples. In 1981, Schon teamed with keyboardist Jan Hammer for the fusion-inspired Untold Passion; that same year, Journey achieved mega-stardom with the release of the chart-topping Escape, which yielded the Top Ten hits "Who's Crying Now," "Open Arms," and "Don't Stop Believin'." A second collaboration with Hammer, Here to Stay, followed in 1983, with Schon soon rejoining Journey for the smash Frontiers; however, despite the success of 1986's Raised on Radio, he left the band in 1989, recording the solo effort Late Nite before forming the supergroup Bad English with singer John Waite. After two LPs, Bad English imploded, and in late 1993, he joined the reformed Journey, issuing the acoustic solo outing Beyond the Thunder two years later. The two-disc Electric World followed in 1997, and in 1999 Schon returned with Piranha Blues. - Billboard.com 

My Thoughts: Being a huge Journey follower since the 70's I'm a big fan of Neil's work...

Journey is on top of my list of Bands that in my opinion made an Impact for many rock Bands that followed in their footsteps~

Drowning Pool...

Drowning Pool

"Turn So Cold"

"Turn So Cold" is the second single by Texas-based band Drowning Pool, from their eponymous album. It is the third song from the album. Fans who preordered the album received "Turn So Cold", as well as the first single from the album, "Feel Like I Do" starting April 13, 2010.
"Turn So Cold" is one of the highest charting singles by Drowning Pool, reaching #8 at the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and #25 at the Rock Songs chart. -Wikipedia.com


My Thoughts: Really like these guys, This song shows the 'softer' side of the band, Well at-least with the lyrics...Bassist Stevie Benton spoke about the track. Said Benton: "It's really just your typical dude/chick song. It's a theme that guys have been writing songs about for years and years. It's just about a chick that's being a b***h, to put it bluntly. It's about giving and giving and giving to someone just to have them take and take and take, and then turn their back on you."
I hafta say that 'Bodies' is my fav though, What a kick @ss song, To this day when I hear it playing I feel myself banging my head like a true Rocker should, Love it~


Just for fun:
Test your knowledge on the Band..Follow this link for a quick quiz, Good Luck !!!
http://www.quizmoz.com/quizzes/Music-Bands-Quizzes-I/d/Drowning-Pool-Quiz.asp


I scored 50%...Guess I should brush up on my Drowning Pool Info...Post your Score !!!!

Michael Wilton...

"Happy 50th Birthday" 

Michael Wilton...

An American guitarist for the progressive metal band Queensrÿche. Wilton attended Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle where he met future Queensrÿche drummer Scott Rockenfield and began recording in 1981. Wilton's musician life began when he was eight years old, when he inherited a bass guitar from his uncle, who died in a motorcycle accident. He started to learn bass by learning some songs by bands from his father's collections, such as The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. Later, he also got a nylon string acoustic from his aunt and accidentally blew his father's speaker. He convinced his father to give him his uncle's equipment, a Fender Bassman and speaker cabinet. In junior high school, Wilton changed his mind and chose to play guitar rather than bass, when he bought his first guitar, a Les Paul copy and a fuzzbox. At school, he also joined some garage bands with his school-mates, including Chris DeGarmo, Queensrÿche's former guitarist. He began to explore the guitar world further in high school, where he started to listen to hard rock and heavy metal music  and began practicing seriously, for 2 hours per day. -Wikipedia.com

Some facts about the B-day boy: 

Wilton has used many different guitars throughout his 24 year career, mostly Gibson guitars and Fender guitars. He then began endorsing ESP guitars in 1989. He also has had two signature series from ESP, which are the 2004 ESP Signature Eclipse (comes in three different colors) and the 2004 ESP Signature Skull. In 2010, ESP Released a new Michael Wilton signature, the LTD MW-Demon. Everything about the guitar is much like his previous MW-600, except it has a heavily distressed black finish with a custom demon graphic in the center of the guitar. -Wikipedia.com

 Sweet Guitars...

Three Days Grace...

Three Day's Grace

"Never Too Late"...

"Never Too Late" is the third single from Three Days Grace off their second album One-X.
This song's meaning was explained by Three Days Grace frontman, Adam Gontier, at a live performance on March 7, 2007 at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., where he stated, "this song is about being in a very dark place, but being able to see a way out." Then, at the Palace, in Detroit, Michigan, he explained it as, "feeling like you don't belong here, and wanting to give up, but never giving up." The song was featured in a promo for the television show Eleventh Hour. -Wikipedia.com


My Thoughts: The song's meaning totally hit home with me, At the time I was trying to deal with letting go of some past issues & it helped me realize that you can overcome trauma in your life if you just let go, It's never too late for healing~

Music Facts just for fun...

The story of why King decided to call his guitars "Lucille" dates back to 1949. While King played at a club in Twist, Arkansas, a fight broke out between two men over a woman named Lucille. A barrel of kerosene that was being used to heat the building was knocked over and started a fire. King almost lost his life, while trying to save his guitar. Consequently, he started calling them "Lucille," as a reminder never again to be so foolish. On his 1968 album, Lucille, he wrote, "I've had many guitars—and always call them Lucille. She's taken me a long way, even bought me some fame—most of all, she's kept me alive, being able to eat. Sometimes I get to a place I can't even say nothing—sometimes when I'm blue, seems Lucille tries to help me, calls my name—she's just like a woman, and that's the only one I've had that seemed I could really depend on. I've been married and each time separated—but Lucille never separates from me. She always stayed with me." -celebrityrockstarguitars.com

Speaking of Guitars named after me, HAHA, Yeah in my dreams, I had to mention

Lita Ford's music video for "Hungry"

She plays a gorgeous Red Guitar with the words "Juicy Lucy" on the Neck, So cool~

Akira Takasaki...

"Happy 51st Birthday"

Akira Takasaki...

Founding member of the Japanese heavy metal band, Loudness.
He started his career as a guitarist, winning a TV contest for young music talents at the age of 14. He was rapidly put under contract to be part of the pop-rock band Lazy, of which drummer Munetaka Higuchi was also a member. Lazy produced five successful albums at the end of the 70s, but Takasaki's musical style, oriented towards hard rock and heavy metal, did not gel with the band and in 1981 he decided to make his original band, Loudness, alongside bandmate Higuchi. The many heavy metal albums produced by Loudness brought him international fame and vast critical acclaim. He is the only member of Loudness that has been in the band since its inception, producing more than 20 studio albums in 25 years. Takasaki has also continued the production of solo works, starting with Tusk of Jaguar in 1982 and is now committed to a new side project called Ji-Zo. In 1998 and in 2002, he was also directly involved in the reunion of Lazy for the release of two new studio albums and for a tour. Takasaki found enough time to start Killer Guitars, a company co-founded and managed with fellow guitarist George Azuma. He is responsible for several of the guitar designs. -Wikipedia.com

Ratt...

Ratt

"Body Talk"

The song is primarily written by Ratt's bassist Juan Croucier. Ratt's guitarist Warren DeMartini had the song's opening riffs for years. However, no one was able to develop it into a song. Under a very tight deadline (one day to be exact), Ratt bassist Juan Croucier stepped in. He wrote all the vocal melodies and lyrics, adding additional chord progressions to the one riff that had been around for years. The song title was apparenly conceived of by Ratt producer Beau Hill or vocalist Stephen Pearcy."

It appears as the fifth track of their third full-length album Dancing Undercover and the eleventh track of their compilation album Ratt & Roll 81-91. It was also used as a soundtrack for Eddie Murphy's film The Golden Child. The video was added on MTV, in late '86, while "Dance" was still in heavy rotation. The song was written by Ratt vocalist Stephen Pearcy, bassist Juan Croucier and guitarist Warren DeMartini. -Wikipedia.com

My Thoughts: Ratt-n-Roll Baby, What can I say I was among many female fans who loved these guys & YES, They sounded good too...Was such a tragedy when Robbin Crosby died from a heroin overdose in 2002. Ratt's music was influenced by 1970s hard rock and heavy metal bands..Although they later incorporated more of a blues-rock sound into their music..The band was one of the first glam metal style groups that appeared in the early 1980s in California. Their image bore similarities to that of Rough Cutt, which had several members who were previously in Mickey Ratt the former band that Stephen P. was In. Glad they dropped the "Mickey"~