battle of the bands

[fizz]

hi, im 16, and in a band, and i need to know what song will be a good one to win battle of the bands.
a good technical song with a solo that would take a few months to learn?
lil help pleeease?
i was thinkin along the lines of metallica maybe? or megadeth? but i dont know which songs to play that will
a) get the crod going
b) impress the sh*t off the judges
c).....make us look damn good.
Thanks.

[fizz]

........not crod.....
crowd..
dammit

[smfulla]

ok dude
I suggest the Metallica song 'One'
Reasons why....
The clean intro and intro solo
The next clean solo (which kirk plays in distortion live, and in my opinion sounds better in distortion)
The last solo..... it is soooo good, very technical. If you're a very good guitarist and musician, I think it'll take you a couple of months to learn, other wise it could take much longer. It's got tapping, tremolo picking, and its pretty fast.
The song itself in whole is awesome, with some harmonizing guitar parts, awesome lyrics, and fast riffs.
This would definately kick ass in a competition.
Make sure ur drummer has a double bass drum kit and make sure you have a bassist who is damn fast, coz if you've got 2 guitarists you're gunna need the bassist to keep the rhythm going.
Soooo yeh, I think you should do One.

[smfulla]

btw the only way to make your band look good is to be really tight and practice hard out together

[fizz]

cool, i like one.
hmm...i can play the solo but the timing is awful with the rest of the band.
dont suppose....you wanna record it and send it to me??
eh eh eh?
how much do double bass pedals go for these days?

[fizz]

one thing i missed, .....tremelo picking?
what is that, im oblivious to all the technical names..

[smfulla]

tremolo picking, its when you use alternate picking to pick 1 note alot of times really fast

I can't record the song for ya coz I have no band right now =/
ummmm and I can't tell you about the pedals coz I'm not a drummer.... BUT!!!!! I can tell you that you guys have to practice heaps and heaps if you wanna win that competition.

[fizz]

hehehe, cool man.
cheers.
i mean just you on youre own, record the solo!
i wanna see someone else play it cuz i think i do it ok...

[Pezcore]

how many songs do you have to play in this battle of the bands?
if its a one-song showdown then try and get a song which uses as many different techniques as is possible if you want to impress, or maybe just use a well known simpel metal/nu-metal song if you wanna get everyone jumping - depends what style you play.

if your playing a battle where you have to play multiple songs (like my band is in a few weeks :):):)) then my advice would be to span as many styles as possible, not just sticking to one genre.

for example, the battle we're playing in is a 3/4 song (time dependent) per band event, and our current tracklisting is as follows:
(remember we are a bluesy/rock/acousticy band so the songs you choose may vary differently, but this is just to give you an idea of what i mean):

!)Wishing Well by Free (a good ol' blues rock song with fantastic solo)
2)Polly by Nirvana (a mix between the distorted new wave version and the slow acoustic version, this is the simple easy to recognise song in the set)
3)Baby Your So Free by the Cosmic Rough Riders (the acousticy soft song. basically an excuse to use my acoustic 12 tring :))
4)Long Train Running by The Dooby Brothers (completely changed it - its now a funk song with a decent lead guitar part)

hope you understand what im trying to get at - try as many styles/techniques etc as possible but still within the boundries of what you like to play. for example maybe do a metallica song where ive done wishing well etc..

hope this helps. and if it doesnt, ah well...

[smfulla]

to be honest dude I can't play all of it. I tried after playing guitar for a year and got all frustrated, I haven't tried since...... sooo I might try learn it again =] I can do the tapping part easy as tho.
Umm I can give you a link to this metallica site with user music submissions. here it is http://www.themetsource.com

[fizz]

hehehe. sweet.
I get ya, well basically ours is, well a one song showdown thing as you said. the last one which we did (and consequently won) was a Korn Song, Freak On A Leash, i was so surprised, i think they liked our attitude, the whole headbanging thing going, the crowd were moshing etc. the song doesnt require much more than a pick and a chord.
What do you guys think of something like Metallica did in their Cunning Stunts video?
(a mix of songs -shortened- from the Ride the Ightning, and Kill em all albums)
sounded wickid.
MetSource eh?
does that have tapping@?
...ill go see.
Thanks tho - ill get back to you when were decided -
its gonna be Either ONE as mentioned, or No Leaf Clover.

[smfulla]

I did a metallica medley for my last battle of the bands. It was just me and my friend on guitars =] We didn't win, but we would have if we had a full band. But I did actually end up winning in my other band, we played Down So Long by Jewel. Hehe, not my prefered style of music, but we still won.

[slaughteredsoul]

I wonder how No Leaf Clover would sound without the symphony...a Metallica medley is a cool idea(especially if it's gonna sound anything like it did on cunning stunts) BUT i think you should stick to one song, like ONE,which i think is the perfect pick..but this is only my opinion.
Plus to impress, i dont think you need to play different techniques or pick a popular song ,you just need to play it well.(comes by practice :) )
good luck.

[fizz]

hehe, yea we got another year to practise, unless we play in another one, but if we were to do no leaf, we would have some keyboard whiz, playing it with strings effects so it sounds SOMETHING like the symphony..

[treyphish]

the who.........the song the "seeker" easy song to play and it jams.

[smfulla]

dude you can play No Leaf Clover without the symphony =] Metallica has done it. You know in the intro? How jaymz uses that flanger or phaser (I think its a flanger) when he's playing those 2 note chords? And there's a little melody played over the top by like violins or a flute or sumthing, Kirk plays that on his guitar =]

And a medley would also impress them with the changes. It would show off your ability to work tight as a band with like different time sig changes and stuff.

This is what I played for my metallica medley (btw, we didn't play whole songs, just sum riffs from each one)

1. The Four Horsemen
2. Seek & Destroy
3. Creeping Death
4. Fade To Black
5. Master Of Puppets
6. Battery
7. Welcome Home (Sanitarium) (I played the second solo)
8. Eye Of The Beholder
9. To Live Is To Die (I played the first solo)
10. The Unforgiven (I played the solo)
11. Enter Sandman (I played the solo)
12. The Four Horsemen (finish with what started like metallica's Kill/Ride Medley)

It's called 'The Good Ol' Black Days' hehe

[rocket]

the best thing to do that will really impress the judges is to play your own songs and work hard on an exciting, different performance.

[fizz]

i wouldnt mind doing that its just that my own band arent ...well...in the age group, so we cant, and i dont like the people i play with, i just like performing :) so im not really going to argue with them.

[rocket]

you are very lucky to be based in london. i hope to visit there as often as i can once my band is up to scratch. i figure it will be the best way to get noticed.

just one question what are the best places to play, ive been to the monarch and that looks like a great place to play, but what about other places - ideally where record industry types hang out.

oh and just come to a compromise, play some covers and some of your own stuff. gradually the covers will dissappear once you start writting your own good ones.

[fizz]

hiya
right
well firstly - if you wanna jot my email add down
its - thenotsobeautifulpeople@hotmail.com
There are many places to gig in london.
i can easily get you a gig and an audience in a local pub that magazines review - the Bull & Gate.
my other guitarists uncle owns the place.
and i can get a decent sized audience down there for ya as well.
Camden Underworld (you can get after a few times at B&G)
Highbury Garage
LA2
there are loads more man.
jus tell me what kinda time you lot will come down an ill see what i can do for ya.
btw what kinda music do you play

[rocket]

i have heard of the bull and gate. my bassist sam is guitarist in a band called rusk who played there once they have the video too.

it might not be for a couple of months, but ill keep your email when we do decide to do it.

its very noisey stuff i take influences from bands such as ratm, nirvana and recent bands such as muse. we're not nu-metal we're definately more rock. i really am not sure of the specific genre, but yep as i said loads of noise.

whats your band called.

oh and thanks for the offer of a guarenteed crowd that would be amazing.


matt

[fizz]

No Probs.
it should be cool, just think of a few ridiculous jokes to say,
hehehe
and if you wanna play master of puppets for me would be mucho appreciated;)
the name rusk is sooooo familiar -
ask him if hes played on the same night as bands called Imperial Leisure and Mumcuss - talk to them an see if theyll have you support them
they do the camden palace (feet first) a few times, it would be beneficial for your band if you play on the same night as the above bands, at B&G, cuz they have quite a big local fan base.
yea, mail me nearer the time. say, a month before so i can get millions....and miiiillions there.
AND BUY ME A DRINK FOR MY TROUBLE!
...or find me a girl...hehe...either

[rocket]

im sure i can buy you one that doesnt cost too much and a drink wouldnt be a problem either.

HAHAHAAHA. sorry. perhaps i shouldnt tell any jokes.

that would be amazing, wish me luck with the old songs and if rusk sounds familiar go here www.rusk.org.uk they are a pretty awesome little outfit and are a bit younger than me too, the gits. they also have an extra member now too.

[ZakNafien]

for anything other than pop london isnt really that great for being noticed for alternative and rock kinda stuff sheffield is a better bet.

[rocket]

really!!

[fizz]

he lies!
well, its kinda true, but it depends who you go to, where you gig etc.
dont worry bout the joke ;) i laughed...lol
ill check out the site in a mo, if you dont come london, try nottingham.

[rocket]

ill definately be doing london cos notts is pretty much derby anyway. i think my band should have what it takes for london and if i start doing other places there is the possibility of speading myself too thin.

[fizz]

hehehe
ah, it was Husk i had heard of, not Rusk.
dammit, anyway, tell me when you come down!

[StarCraft]

Fizz: did you win?
which song did u use after all?

look how cheerful your posts used to be haha

[bitemejack]

why not do your owen song and spend a few mounths learning it it is much more imprasive to do your own song

[ibleedmarshall]

Originally posted by bitemejack
why not do your owen song and spend a few mounths learning it it is much more imprasive to do your own song

this thread is over two years old, lol...

Starcraft asked if Fizz ended up winning...

[popmusic_sux]

Originally posted by StarCraft
look how cheerful your posts used to be haha

I guess the more time you spend here, the more it warps your mind... :)

Or it was because he was a young'n back then.

[StarCraft]

Originally posted by popmusic_sux
I guess the more time you spend here, the more it warps your mind... :)

Or it was because he was a young'n back then.

i'm thinking all the metal music messed with his mind.

maybe he won...thats all i wanna know...i did a search for megadeth...and this came up.

[fizz]

Lol.

Wow.

Blast from the past.

Yea, ended up winning, recorded it in the same studio Nine Inch Nails recorded one of their tracks, in someplace in Wood Green. Played One by Metallica.

Mr B will remember that as the place with the Ricin scare, lol.