Back in the day guitar players had one goal which was to create a unique sound from the instrument by following legends like Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen, Tony Iommi etc.
In a new interview with Guitar Magazine, Aerosmith’s Joe Perry admitted the days of the guitar hero are over.
He said:
“We’re all entertainers, so I want to give him the best bed he can have. Then, when it’s time for me to do a solo, sometimes it’s better to just not. You don’t have to do a solo anymore.”
He added:
“The days of the guitar hero are kind of past. It’s like any other instrument, standard operating equipment.
“Back when we were starting, nobody had guitars that sounded like Zeppelin and The Stones – they were new instruments. All of those guys were experimenting with guitars played through distorted amps, and Hendrix was creating sounds that nobody had ever heard before.
“It was a pretty phenomenal instrument when I was growing up. It’s evolved to a point where even the shape of them is iconic around the world. They represent freedom, America.”
Kids now, they look at it as just one more instrument, one more voice that they can use to write a song and help people grab onto it. They’re coming up with melodies and songs, which is really what it’s all about.
“There are a lot of other great guitar players out there, people interpreting it from wherever they learned it, whether it’s country or rock, pop, rap, whatever. It’s a very adaptable instrument.
“There was a time when walking around with a guitar case was like walking around with a little baby dog today – it got the chicks to notice you. You might know three chords but that was enough to get a conversation going. Now it’s no big deal.”