I'm not sure if anyone out there has much interest in music, but it's a major part of my life and something that keeps me from going more insane than I already am (for the most part). In the past year I've picked up the guitar seriously (I've been playing it off and on for many years, though; and have played the trombone since 5th grade), and have started picking apart some of my favorite artists. One thing that struck me, quite vigorously in fact, is the degree of complexity that exists in many of the old-schools artists' music: The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, etc.
Now, I always had an appreciate for artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan, and knew what I was getting into when I tried pulling apart his stuff (and man this guy is f-in good), but George Harrison? I never imagined how incredibly subtle he was with his brilliance - probably because, unlike many modern artists, he didn't overdub the hell out of himself with massive distortion and therefore sounded like a 'monster of rock'. But, when you start listening with an attentive ear to albums such as Revolver or the White Album (their best albums in my opinion) your jaw drops, and if you try to emulate the chords you wonder to yourself, "Man, these chords aren't that tough, but how in the hell did he come up with this progression?"
Everyone could probably reason that Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) was good; but again, once you start actually trying to emulate you begin wondering "How did he come up with this?". See, there's a definite difference between sounding like Page and Harrison and following their train of thought as you watch the directions they took their playing. Of course, then there's Vaughan where you really can't do either.....
