Musicians of the day: Arch Enemy

I've recommended their music before. I'm a big fan but this post is beyond music.

Arch Enemy has joined forces with the worldwide human rights organization Amnesty International to help raise awareness of social injustices around the world. Amnesty International booths will be present at many of the upcoming dates on Arch Enemy’s headlining US tour, “North American Khaos 2011,” to hand out flyers and accept fans’ signatures in support of the cause.

Arch Enemy vocalist, Angela Gossow, stated, “We have invited Amnesty International to join us on the ‘North American Khaos’ tour to help raise awareness for defending human rights, freedom of speech, and saving lives. We are living in very extreme and turbulent times and it is important to take a stand. We hope one day everybody is allowed to freely say what they think, that no government has the right to punish and kill those who do not conform and that those who are oppressing the masses will be brought to justice. It will be a long and hard struggle, but it’s a goal worth fighting for. The metal scene is non-conformist, alternative and revolutionary – We know how to practice what others preach. So let’s go out there and support the cause!

Here is the link.

Greatest guitarists of all time

I have been hearing this term a lot lately because the local jazz (and a little bit blues) radio station is planning for an all-day tribute to B.B.King soon. It keeps mentioning B.B. as the #3 Greatest guitarists of all time. So I got really curious and wonder who else would be on the list, especially #1 and #2. (I googled and found that "the list" being referred to was published by the Rolling Stones magazine in 2003) I could easily think of Hendrix being #1. However, who should be between Hendrix and BB? To me, Clapton, Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Page are all great guitarists but I won't put them higher than BB. I thought of Wes Montgomery or Paul McCartney. (BTW, George Harrison was #21 on the list. I should have thought of him as the representative for the Beatles. Sir Paul's main role was bassist and certainly belongs to the Top 10 bassists of all time. He did play lead guitar on a few Beatle's songs.) So, who's #2 according to the magazine? Duane Allman (of The Allman Brothers Band!) I gotta admit I don't know enough about Southern rock to tell whether he deserves it or not but this choice was definitely controversial (e.g. this post)

While researching the topic, I came across a post regarding top overrated guitarists. This list has Slash on #5 (I agree. Both him and Axl Roses didn't do much after Appetite for Destruction) and Jimmy Page on #1. The latter was a bit shocking to me but that writer had a point: Led Zeppelin's biggest hit, Stairway to Heaven, might not be all that original.