# Happy Belated Thanksgiving

hi Steve,

How are you doing in Heaven ? i wish you're doing great jamming guitar with the rest over there.

i came across a story today by Neil Gaiman and thought i would like to share some pieces with you...


M.O.D. : Messenger of Death
DEATH : God of Death
Matt : child who lost his mother in 911 tragedy

--------------------------------------------------------------------
M.O.D. : So why climb The Big Wheel ?

Matt : i'm going to jump. And i'm going to die. i'm going to go to God.

M.O.D. : You want to see your mother again ? Because it doesn't work like ....

Matt : No, Dummy. You don't get it. Mom's dead. i want an explanation.

.......
.......

M.O.D. : So tell me, what happens if you hit the ground and die and there is nothing after ?

Matt : Then i won't be around to care, will i ?

M.O.D. : Look .... it's not that easy. Let me tell you what you get. You get Life, and Breath, a land to walk... And the free will to wander the world as you choose.

Matt : If God made the world, then God made the Bad things happen ....

M.O.D. : People made the bad things happen, Matt. People built the city on the island. People cast down the towers. Don't go blaming God for it.

DEATH : Some people want to argue. Some are contented to just let it go.

Matt : My mom ....

DEATH : Died doing the right thing. There are worse death.

M.O.D. : Listen, Matt, everybody dies. Just as everything created is eventually destroyed.

Matt : Then what's the point of anything ?

DEATH : The point ? Walk the world. Help to feed the hungry. Help comfort those in pain. Do what you can to leave world a better place.

Matt : That's just words. It doesn't mean anything.

M.O.D. : No? Matt, you can jump off The Wheel, if you want. But whatever happen to you after that, you will get no more of an answer than the one we just gave you.

.......
.......
Matt : It's just so hard.
DEATH : It's always hard. Ride The Wheel, Matt.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Hope you enjoy these pieces of the story, Steve. i guess besides me, all other Def Leppard fans and followers out there as well,have been so grateful to have your music work in their life.

By the way, i just want to wish you, Happy Belated Thanksgiving !

- R.I.P. -


Note : Excerpt from story 'The Wheel', in collection The Absolute Death, by Neil Gaiman.

# Quotes by Musician/ Guitar Masters

1.
Borrowed from Bon Jovi's quote, on what is an exceptional football player ....

"Good players play with their head,
Great players play with their hearts,
but Extraordinary players play with soul..."

which i think, applies to guitar players as well ..




2.

"Not many guitar players have an original style ..
You can only be **original** if you **show soul in the music you play.

And not many players do that nowadays.
Translating your feelings into music that is recognizable by everyone.
People need to recognize the music you play... From the 1st note you need to be able to tell who's playing ...

When you give your heart to the guitar ... you'll find a friend for life !"

- Eddy Christiani, in handling out Eddy Christiani Award 2008 to Adriaan Vandenberg


[Eddy Christiani Award 2008 for Adriaan Vandenberg in Vlissingen, Holland.
Eddy Christiani --> the first European who played an electric guitar.]





3.




To be a true guitar player ... to be recognized as a true guitar player, he has to figure out how to be **expressive**, with your special message whenver that might be ...



.... But finding a real guitar player who has the original sound, and who can write & play a song ...that makes you cry or makes you excited .. or makes you, you know, look inside your soul ...just makes you feel happy, that's a gift .


- Joe Satriani, on what it mean by a a Good guitar player

# When Love and Hate Collide - Demo

The riff that moves. From the DEMO of "When Love and Hate Collide". Last recorded solo by Steve Clark ...



Watch on YouTube :
http://www.youtube.com/comment_servlet?all_comments&v=IWbzQFowuq4&fromurl=/watch%3Fv%3DIWbzQFowuq4

Fans' comments

Gives me goosebumps knowing that Steve would no longer play after this demo was tracked...
Rock on Steve, you're jamming with the angels now....

- night455, Aug 2009


I like the strings version alot better. the vocals are alot clearer an the songs overall better.
This was done durring the hysteria sessions an you can really hear that time area in it. They rerecording was more adapted to the sound of the slang album. which is probable my 3 fav lep album behind on thrue the night an high and dry

- pimpmasterpercy, June 2009



Wow. Just listened to this for the first time ever. Way better then the final Vault version.

Granted, I like the string arrangements in that one, but the vocal harmonies, Steve Clark guitar solo, and overall sound make this one way better. Now where can I get a copy of this on CD?

- testarossa5150, Feb 2009



It's on the UK single release, but not the US

- 206Bruce, Feb 2009



You can hear the growl of his guitar throughout the song. Unmistakable.

- 206Bruce, Apr 2009



....I've been wanting to hear this version again... Definately brings me to tears... RIP STEVE... This is his last ever solo...

- night455, 2008


The biggest difference is Steve played the lead on this song and Love Bites Phil played lead in the chorus. I still say this version is alot better than the one they released.

- SMCchik, 2008


Yeah I'd like to hear Adrenalize with Steve. That would be dope probley alot of unfinished material and what not but in my opinion so much better. Everyone says to stop living in the past but what Steve brought to the table was something more then just living in the past, "Its something that will never really be revisited but will always be part of the fan nation of Def Leppard"

- ronniemessin, 2008



...he was a light in this dark lonely world RIP sweetie <3

- defleppardgirl36, 2008

# Tony Rey Bruno

i switch on 1 of my favourite songs from Danger Danger -- Don't Walk Away, on YouTube. i have never noticed something very unique about this song, until now. The opening guitar riff. And the guitar work followed later through out the song. i started to get a bit stunned ....
The guitar riff, is so much similar, almost the same, as the riff played by the late Steve Clark of Def Leppard. Really. The resemblance is so close.

This brings me to find out the master behind this piece of riff in this song. The search results tell me, it's from Tony Rey Bruno, who had been in the bands Danger Danger and Saraya. i'm blessed to discover about Tony Rey Bruno.

= Tony Rey Bruno's guitar work =
Danger Danger - Don't Walk Away




Saraya Classic Rock live @ De Linde Groesbeek: Survivor - Eye of the tiger




Danger Danger - Goin' Goin' Gone
From the 3nd Album "Cockroach" original recorded in 1993 but released in 2001 with Ted Poley on Lead Vocal




Danger Danger - Afraid of Love
From the 3nd Album "Cockroach" original recorded in 1993 but released in 2001 with Ted Poley on Lead Vocal




i think back on all my favourite rock bands. Have all these musical experiences with the
bands been preparing me for the journey of discovery about something more significant ? i'm not sure. But i'm going to keep searching.

# Eric Johnson :: Steve Clark

i thought there must have been the guardian angels lending me a big hand in my quest of searching the guitar riffs which are similar to that of Steve's. A glance on some 'Top 10 best guitar riff', 'Top 20 classic rock riff' titles on YouTube, took me to listen on those really amazing guitar intros by some of the guitar legends over the past 30 years.

The name 'Eric Johnson' showed up in the right pane under Related Videos section. A familiar name. A name i've kind of abandoned for quite a long time, since my first encounter with his guitar work about 15 years back, through his album Venus Isle. i recall my instant surprise when seeing the cover design of his casette album. And the front tracks sounded as captivating as its album cover design. But i was so dumb in appreciating the different styles of his guitar work back then, that i just let the album covered by dust over years.


i tried listening to each of the featured guitar video of Eric. The feel is completely different now. Tracks which i found quite boring 15 years back, sound so much awesome when i listen again now. So much resemblance with the riffs and melodies of Steve Clark.

And what the fans had said about Eric Johnson :-

"It just comes from his heart.
They say tone mainly come from the player."

" ...he's playing by pure emotions and not some technical asset."

"his technic is in the feelings he gives ..."

----------------------------------

# on Eric Johnson's Art of Guitar DVD - Phraseology # :-

" ...the master of tone and feel"

"This man has music flowing in his veins... "

"Any good guitarist can appreciate the sweet tone and graceful playing of his musical virtuosity."

"His tone is OUT OF THIS REALITY! "


(being a self-taught guitar player ...)
"Seriously, he's a tone freak, he biases his own tubes, experiments with order of effects, rewires his pickups... uses different amps. There's no shortcut but he'll list a lot of what he does. You can read up on it. .."

------------------------------------------------

# on Art of Guitar DVD - Phraseology # :-

"He teaches better in this video, much slower examples and clearer explanations. He's grown so much over the years. "

----------------------------------

"I sometimes think he is channeling some very advanced musical soul from another time. "

------------------------------------------------
# on Cliffs of Dover #

"As my spanish teacher says, "'Cliffs of Dover' explica toda la felicidad en el mundo, sin palabras." Which means,
'Cliffs of Dover explains all of the happiness in the world, without words.'
So true. "


Both Eric Johnson and Steve Clark are guitar soul players. Both styles and riffs are distinctive and unmistakble. Both are guitar legends one of a kind. But Steve left just too soon.

i thought, what if Steve is still alive ? He could have taught guitar lessons. He could have made guitar lesson videos and DVD for guitar fans around the world. He could have a dedicated discussion forum website by his fans, like Eric Johnson.

But that is merely IF ONLY. It has been almost 19 years. If only Steve is still around.
- R.I.P. -

# Ah ... i Finally Found the Astro Analysis of Him ...

Astrology analysis is part of my interest; especially analysis for anyone that i find
interesting, or worth remembering, because i think it helps me to understand about a person in greater depth.

i was stunned again and again after reading a few pieces of articles about the rise and fall of late Steve Clark, the ex-guitarist of Def Leppard. And then i told myself to search for astrology analysis about Steve during my spare time.

Initial attempts of looking up the web were kind of disappointing. i didn't get a single
result that i have been looking for. Or, perhaps the key words i used were not accurate
enough. So i put it aside for a couple of days.

Today i happened to stumble upon a website on chinese astrology, which prompt users to enter birth date and time. The idea came from here. Looking up Steve's name together with the words birth time, get me a list of relevant web links.

i kept on searching. God blessed. i finally found a few websites which are exactly what i've been searching for. And now, i start reading up every tiny pieces of the analysis ....

= Prelude =

In memory of Stephen Maynard Clark( 23 Apr 1960 -- 8 Jan 1991 ), with gratitude of the inspiring foundation.

And for J, who has been the inspiration and guardian for my soul.


= Def Leppard - Too Late For Love =

# INTRO #

Musical taste is a preference. Something among the most delicate and finest thing that once planted into your memory, would follow through the rest of your life.

i used to think that i just love the rhythm of 80's rock music, more specifically, rock music with melodic tunes. That's all. i have never really figured out why i had been drawn to it.

It wasn't until my discovery of the legend name 'Steve Clark' of Def Leppard, that i began having serious thought about the real reason behind my inclination towards music of this kind. It's the rhythm coming from the keyboard, drum beat, guitars, the combination of them all, with guitar riff the strongest influence on me. The riff that have been accompanying me during lost and tough times. The riff that have been part of the reasons to bring me far in life.

The Riffmaster. Thank you for the striking and deeply-moving tunes that made the growing up lesser pain.

This is a place for all guitar-related stuffs, legends, stories, and, partly a tribute to Steve.

= Steve Clark Switch 625 =