Matt Wake
@matthewbwake
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staff writer. Prior bylines with: Metal Edge, SPIN, Guitar World, Revolver, LA Weekly, Rolling Stone, Billboard, Paste, etc.
Joined January 2011
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If you could own the original artwork from any rock album cover what’s your pick? I gotta go Holy Diver.
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My top 3 frontmen of the 80s:
1. David Lee Roth
2. Axl Rose
3. Sebastian Bach
Who you got?
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What's a rock concert video release you love? Watching Van Halen's Live Without A Net VHS. Ed's smile and brilliant playing are just the best. What a gift he was to us.
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Pics of your fave guitarists playing a different type of guitar (or guitars) than they're mostly known for. For example, Keith Richards playing a Flying V instead of a Telecaster (or a Les Paul).
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More rock fans should appreciate Duran Duran. Basically another fun '80s band but emphasis on synths and bass instead of guitar. Plus their origin story is organic in a way rock fans like bands to have. There's also multiple members that are fun to obsess over. And great songs!
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Happy birthday to Edward Van Halen. Not only was he rock's greatest electric guitarist, but I've had more fun listening to Van Halen music than any other band's. We listen to Van Halen during good times or when we want to feel good. What a gift he gave us.
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My ultimate guitar duo. Who’s yours?
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Do or die, gotta pick one, rock fans: MOTLEY CRUE OR GUNS N' ROSES?
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If a band gets good/big enough there's going to be overexposure. Happens every time. But watching Taylor Hawkins' electrifying drumming or in interviews beam about his fave bands, that was always awesome and never once got old. He was that great of a musician and likeable dude.
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I miss That Metal Show.
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Maybe just psychological, but back then seemed like cassettes sounded better when they switched from opaque white to clear?? 😂⚡️🤘
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Can't always judge the album by the cover. Music on this sounds nothing like the band photo on the front. Songs are very, classic Aerosmith meets AC/DC. Holds up very well.
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The rock community on Twitter is awesome. If this place goes up in flames, let's reconnect elsewhere. Sincerely appreciate those who've read/been supportive of my work. Had many rad exchanges with folks here n' found new bands/albums I love from you. Whatever happens, rock on.
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Albums that aren’t that artist’s best, but are still YOUR personal favorite by them? I’ll start.
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Think how lucky we are to have been alive during the life of Edward Van Halen. Guitar will never get better than that. No way. Never.
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In '91 average young rock fan would have mix of albums by Jane's Addiction, GN'R, Black Crowes, Metallica, Soundgarden, Motley Crue AND Pearl Jam. Haircuts, pants, lyrics...different among those. But all had cool guitar/good songs. Snobbery/tribes that soon set-in was/is silly.
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Wrote about Guns N' Roses' legendary 1988 show at NYC's The Ritz, which happened 35 years ago today. Thanks to MTV later broadcasting the show, Ritz '88 became a classic GN'R bootleg. It's one of my favorite recorded live performances by a rock band ever.
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Sometimes it's obvious a support act has the goods to become a superstar. As was the case with a teenager named Taylor Swift.
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What rock musicians come to mind when you think of double-neck guitars?
I'm gonna start us off with:
Jimmy Page
Alex Lifeson
Richie Sambora
Lita Ford
Frank Hannon
So many more! Who else you got?
Or better yet, leave a pic of that guitarist and their double-neck as your reply.
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Drummers with star power: For me, Tommy Lee, Taylor Hawkins, Lars Ulrich come to mind. People who are not just drummers but also legit celebs/stars & charismatic performers (almost like another frontman behind the kit). For you, which other drummers fit that description?
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A musician, past or present, from a well-known band who never made a solo album that you wish would have? It's an obvious pick, but an Eddie Van Halen solo album would've been incredible. Fascinating to think of the different directions EVH could go with that.
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ROCK ALBUMS NOT BY LED ZEPPELIN with the BEST DRUM SOUNDS? This one’s up there, for me. Eric Carr. Wow.
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What are some hard rock/metal albums where a classic artist modernized their sound and scored a hit/new fans? Trash by Alice Cooper comes to mind. Love this album. Desmond Child completely Desmond Child-ed the hell out of this MFer.
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The new AC/DC album eats Americana bands for breakfast, gets pop singers pregnant and closes down the bar with rappers.
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Sounds awesome. When I think of non-rock artists who should make a rock album, Carrie Underwood is way up there.
.
@carrieunderwood
covered “welcome to the jungle” by
@gunsnroses
tonight. what a rockstar 🔥
#denimandrhinestonestour
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One person to give you a guitar lesson, dead or alive, who is it? For me, Randy Rhoads
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“These are not the droids you’re looking for.”
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Hereby trademark title HOT WATER for inevitable movie based on this starring Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson
Not a movie:
Gulf of Mexico — in the Campeche Sound.
Three boats have supported to douse the flames…
@MLopezSanMartin
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If you're not familiar with this Muscle Shoals-area record label, these 20 tunes are where to start.
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That new “Kill Team Kill” episode of Love, Death and Robots is rad. Crazy animated short that’s like Predator + The A Team. Most fun I’ve had watching Netflix in a sec.
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If you could put 5 artists into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame right now, who'd you pick? My 5:
Bad Company
Iron Maiden
Soundgarden
The Runaways
Living Colour
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BESIDES Eruption/You Really Got Me, what's an "instrumental leading into a single" sequence you love on a rock studio album? YYZ/Limelight by Rush on Moving Pictures is one for me.
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What are your personal rankings for top 5 greatest rock guitarists ever? Totally subjective, and you decide what determines "great."
Mine:
1. Edward Van Halen
2. Jimi Hendrix
3. Jimmy Page
4. Jeff Beck
5. Duane Allman
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Best one guitar bands? (Not solo acts.)
Van Halen
Led Zeppelin
Jimi Hendrix Experience/Band of Gypsys
Cream
Mountain
Gov't Mule
White Stripes
And who else???
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What band would be a great fit to be the opener on the Aerosmith tour? I'll start us off with Black Crowes
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They’ve been on the road a lot the last 7 years but if you love Guns N’ Roses see this tour. Reshuffled setlist/rejuvenated band. Axl sounds very good, made some smart vocal adjustments, having fun being a frontman. Slash is on fire. Duff, Dizzy, Fortus, Melissa killing it too 🖤
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Dear Guns N' Roses,
If you're sitting on unreleased studio material and feel like releasing them now, they will get streamed billions of times.
Sincerely,
A Guy Who Wasn't Wearing a Shirt At Your 1991 Concert in Birmingham, Alabama
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For EVH's birthday was gonna to post a list of great guitarists and notable bands his music gave birth to. But that list would take up WAY more space than here. Let's just say Edward Van Halen's music brought joy to millions and millions of people and always will.
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ANN WILSON
If Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham decided to tour with Led Zeppelin without Robert Plant (That said many times he doesn't want a reunion), who they should invite to be the singer?
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Maybe it's stupid to get tears in my eyes reading about a person I never met. Or maybe this is just a great piece about an even greater musician. Well done,
@hiattb
. And R.I.P. Edward Van Halen.
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Your favorite musical guest performance on SNL ever? Mine is ‘92 Black Crowes. If you’ve got a musical sketch joke tweet to do, please keep scrolling. But if you have a fave SNL musical guest, drop the vid below.
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If you think Matthew Perry making out with Eddie Van Halen's wife while Eddie was passed out is more newsworthy than Mick Mars retiring from Motley Crue you should stop covering rock music entirely.
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Rock/metal fans/media in my opinion our best move from now on is to completely ignore the Rock Hall. That also goes for media outlets who continue to disrespect our music. Don't give them money, clicks, follows or posts. You can only control what you can control. Long live rock✌️
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Love Motley, Leppard, Poison. But got a feeling Joan Jett is gonna steal the show on the Stadium Tour.
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Clickbait version: Is Alice Cooper Taking Away Food From Kids At Shelter?
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Bittersweet but incredible day for rock music. Coolest thing: some kids out there watching Taylor Hawkins tribute will grow up to be great rock musicians too. That will be part of his legacy.
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A poster you had on the wall as a teenager. Answer with an image of the poster please. (Even if you don't have it anymore, Google it.)
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What a thrill talking debut solo album, guitars, classic Mötley Crüe solos, Duane Allman, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, much more today with legendary Mick Mars. What a kind, generous and talented soul. The chat was all music, no dirt. One of my favorite interviews ever.
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Underrated frontman + guitarist "dynamic duos" from bands that released their debut album in the 80s?
I'll start us off with Corey Glover and Vernon Reid from Living Colour.
Who else you got?
(📸: Mick Hutson)
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Now THIS is a hard-rock album. Tons of competition in late 80s and cliche to say but how was this not huge???Songs, vox, guitar, grooves, production, looks, all there.
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Vito Bratta was the very first electric guitar player I ever heard play at the very first rock concert I ever saw. (White Lion in '88 opening for AC/DC in HSV, AL at Von Braun Center.) High bar to set
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In Huntsville, Ala. 10 feet from stage, waiting for Jason Isbell to go on for free show in support of Doug Jones US Senate campaign.
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STOKED Vito Bratta is part of this rad cover for GW's August issue, which contains my interview with him. Vito deserves to be with these greats. The placement between EVH and SRV, 2 huge influences, is perfect. Huge thanks to you know who for connecting us.
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Who’s your favorite frontman and guitarist with mystique dynamic duo? Here’s mine
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Incredible Robert John portrait of Axl Rose, shot through the shattered mirror in Axl’s condo at the time. Photo appeared in the August 1989 RS cover story on Axl, by Del James.
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What a pleasure interviewing one of my favorite all-time music writers today, Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield, for a pretty cool Taylor Swift story publishing next week.
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You’ll have to pry this original press of Appetite For Destruction from my cold dead hands. I liked music before this album came out when I was 15, but Appetite is what made me love music. Once in a lifetime rock & roll badassery.
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For the rest of you life if you could only listen to music from a consecutive 20-year period, what's your pick? For me, I'm think 1968 to 1988.
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Suggested titled for a 1983 US Festival think-piece: Blizzard of Woz
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Mick Mars' guitar playing on the Dr. Feelgood album is fcking brilliant. Not the best Motley record, but damn those guitars
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Now on newsstands: My story for Guitar World, on
@gunsnroses
overlooked albums. Seven pages. Pretty rad.
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My top 3 frontmen of the 90s:
1. Scott Weiland
2. Chris Robinson
3. Chris Cornell
Who you got?
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Listening to new
@JasonIsbell
album Weathervanes and it's his best album yet. Lyrics are always razor sharp. Music, vocal melodies, production & grooves are extra good this time, imo. Hits intersection of art and accessibility that makes big acts huge, puts them on cover of RS ✌️
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Happy birthday
@TraciiGuns
! Killer guitarist and songwriter, and hands down one of best I've ever seen live (and I've seen a lotta guitar players).
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Meanwhile, a rapper in Jean Michel Basquiat cosplay's whining because his wife has 32 Grammys instead of 33
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Buying records (and turntable) for my 6 year old niece as a gift. Loading up on '80s female artists. Already have Cyndi Lauper, Heart, Joan Jett, Janet Jackson, Blondie, Tina Turner, Madonna, Debbie Gibson, Lita Ford, Missing Persons, Nena, Bonnie Tyler. What else should I get?
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Love the sound of this Ted Templeman produced album. Natural sonics and teetering on punk ferocity. An Aerosmith record that sounds like those five dudes playing together at the same time in a room, always a good thing.
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This feels like the death of fun. Because that's what so many of us did, so many times while listening to Eddie Van Halen's music: Had big, wild, smiling, fun.
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What's your ultimate year for hard-rock/heavy-metal?
And 5 reasons why? I'll go first.
1981
Diary of a Madman
Fair Warning
Mob Rules
Too Fast For Love
Moving Pictures
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Same song title but completely different songs by different artists and both tunes great? Example: BAD REPUTATION by Thin Lizzy/BAD REPUTATION by Joan Jett.
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Musician or band you had a chance to see but didn’t and wish you would have? For me, John Lee Hooker.
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Believe it or not, this hard-rock/heavy-metal fan just purchased Taylor Swift tickets. Very curious to see what kind of show the world's biggest pop-star puts on.
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Dear Cameron Crowe,
Please do an Almost Famous sequel set amid a lucrative but tumultuous Stillwater reunion tour set in either 1989 or 2023.
Sincerely,
Matt
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Zoom interview today with LA Guns singer Phil Lewis and my laptop conked out right before. Got laptop restarted and when Zoom came up, Phil was strumming and singing a Kinks tune while he was waiting. I said hi, let him know I was on. He finished the tune for me. Pretty damn cool
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Writers who make fun of how musicians look suck. Critiquing performance is part of any concert review. (And critiques are subjective.) But cruel comments about a person's appearance have zero place in music writing. A famous musician is also a human being.
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Rock albums NOT BY LED ZEPPELIN with the best drum sounds? I'll start us with the "Creatures of the Night" LP by Kiss.
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Those who play guitar, what’s your guitar pick of choice? Answer with a photo, please.
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Blistering set by
@laguns
just now in Nashville. Vox, leads, grooves all fantastic. Classics and recent tunes both smokin’. Big fun crowd.
@TraciiGuns
@acevonjohnson
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“If Kiss is gonna live forever as avatars now those versions of Spaceman and Catman should be made in Ace’s and Peter’s images”
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Van Halen
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Picked up a black Kramer “The 84” and swapped in a pink knob to look more Girls Girls Girls era Mick Mars. My first ever Floyd Rose equipped guitar. Neighborhood, prepare to be dive bombed and finger tapped.
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Not really into politics, but was asked to cover Jason Isbell's "get out the vote" concert for Doug Jones, Roy Moore's opponent in U.S. Senate race. Besides sounding great musically, Isbell's stage banter was pretty funny.
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Best rock bands with a full-time keyboardist (not a multi-instrumentalist who usually plays bass, guitar, etc.) who's an actual member of the band (not a sideman/member of the touring band)? Deep Purple with the late great Jon Lord leaps to mind.
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R.I.P. Wes Freed, known for his striking album cover art for Southern rock band Drive-By Truckers. Had the pleasure of talking with Wes in 2019, for
@aldotcom
. Cool cat to chat with. His artwork's surreal, primal and magical.
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One of best VHS hard rock concert vids I’ve picked up so far. Classic lineup could really tear it up. Love the raw, bootleg quality of the footage
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Who's a guitarist you were surprised at just how great there really are, after seeing them perform live? Example: I'd always been a casual fan of the band Yes. But until I saw one of their shows several years back, I had no idea what an absolute beast Steve Howe is on guitar.
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My best friend died today. Stone had a Replacements swagger and a doctorate intellect. Not looking for sympathy, looking to put love out there. I wrote this about him a couple years ago
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Don't make me break out pics of Jimmy Page playing a Roland synth-guitar
Pics of your fave guitarists playing a different type of guitar (or guitars) than they're mostly known for. For example, Keith Richards playing a Flying V instead of a Telecaster (or a Les Paul).
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Izzy Stradlin on a pay phone outside Sunset Grill is peak cool.
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