It is interesting the comments here about tone. These guys are an 80s hair metal band, not modern at all. I think the sound of the guitar is pretty much the sound of the guitar was back in the day. A loud Marshall with some pedal in front (either a TS or Metal Zone - usually over done). The excessive overdriven sound is the cornerstone of this kind of music - Motley Crue, Twisted Sister, etc. The tone didn't start to change much and become more organic until The Guns N Roses era and then it changed completely after that with modern rock. The mix sounds like a Def Lep mix - guitar front. Phil has always been the kind of sloppy choppy player as a lot of his idols - like Page, so that is what it is...no reason to make it "modern". I mean "Poor Some Sugar On Me" should be left as is not made into "Poor Some Splenda On Me." All in all they kind of sound like what you would expect them to....
The thing is, for their most famous albums, they didn't use that much gain, really. Their tones were really full of character. I, as a metalhead, always marveled at how they could have guitar tones that were so powerful but overall lower in gain, and listening to stuff like that really inspired me to explore lower gain stuff. I mean, I'll point out the song Women again. In the chorus especially, the guitar is not that gainy at all, but you've never heard anything bigger! And to me it's just massive and awesome.
From these videos I kept on thinking the tone was very suited to a metal band playing very fast, where, to keep the mix from sounding chaotic, you need to tamp down on character and just focus the sound of the guitar to emphasis definition. I mean, it sounded fine, I guess, but to me, it didn't allow Campbell or Collen's character to shine through; there was simply too much gain. But hell, you're right that it's just tone, that the attitude of the band trumps that at any moment.
About the attitude of youth, I'd point to Bobby Blitz Ellsworth of Overkill (and yes, I'm comparing a thrash band to a cock rock band), but they came up roughly around the same time, and are both still around. Bobby Blitz has more energy than anyone I've ever seen, still. He's amazing and inspiring. There's also what's been said about Dee Snider of Twisted Sister; apparently even modern shows of that band are 100% full of whatever made them great. Even look at a guy like Slash. He had a very cool, kind of James Dean feel on stage when he was making his bones, and he still has the same cool feel on stage, with a pacemaker!
These videos reminded me of seeing Queensryche on the Empire / Rage for Order Suite tour from the 2000s. Geoff Tate walked on stage in this tailored three piece suit; he may have had a pocket watch too; I can't remember for sure. But there was just this stagnant feel, like the whole band had their memory erased of what feel they put across in those albums. I'm not kidding, but as Eddie Jackson was pedaling the low E at the end of Take Hold of the Flame, he actually raised his left wrist to look at his watch. I was in the front row and caught his eye immediately, to which I made a gesture relating the idea, "What the fuck?"
To me, rock and metal are based partly on energy. Energy is something you may naturally lose as you get older, which is fine if you're in finance, or science, or writing, or a ton of other professions. But these people are performing artists. That's a different thing altogether. Your ability to be "in the moment," like an actor, on stage, is essential, or else the performance just lands flat. Everything you do is there to put across the art, and anything you do can help kill it. And I don't think age has anything to do with it. My first show was Sepultura, on the Chaos A.D. tour. This band had the energy of 1,000 suns for their previous tour, and the feel of sheer power on stage, but just a few years later I saw them, and they almost seemed apathetic on stage. God knows why, but whatever it was that propelled them a few years prior was gone, and it was just crushing to witness. I never liked anything they put out after that, and I didn't like much of that album either. But those guys weren't old, and they were just truly starting to become way way more popular.
I think it's all about remembering the awesome things about rock or metal. If you wear a tailored suit and you're letting stylists have their way with you to make you look like a Barbie Doll version of what a "rock star" looks like, you may have forgotten what's awesome about rock. A non-rock comparison again: but look at Anthrax as they were coming up. They dressed like they were going out for ice cream or something, and it always made me respect them. No BS, no putting on airs, no trying to prove something with your fashion, no lying about who you are. They loved what they did, and it showed. That authenticity made them.
Cock rock bands were often co-opted for extensive stylizing, but in the playing itself, for the bands with staying power, there was authenticity in the performance itself. You can just hear the attitude. You can feel Vince Neil selling his soul to the devil on Wild Side. You can feel the STDs in Axl Rose's voice on Appetite for Destruction. You can feel the genius and attitude in George Lynch's playing. To me, that's all inescapably part of these guys' feels, and they were putting it across. These are just a few examples.
But I think of it this way, would the people who wrote and performed their best albums want to be around the people they aged into being? That's the harsh thing; some bands could've retired long ago and gone into finance, or just been on permanent vacation, checking on their investments, but they just keep going like a real band, when it's like a weird facsimile is all that's really left. All I see is endorsements, money, a history in the business, and comfort. I do not see rock 'n roll. I mean, Neil Young, that's a guy with the feel, and heart, and it never goes away, no matter how old he gets. There are people out there who do it right.
If your songs move people, youre doing your job as a musician. As a guitarist, I LOVE a good tone. But I NEVER would pick tone over a good song or good performance. Music isnt a chops/tone contest. Otherwise we'd all play the same and sound the same.
