If you’re a long-time fan of the MHB, or just someone who is very observant, you may have noticed there are some very major, and very subtle differences between the songs on Twilight Hour and Endless Day. There are the obvious changes, such as the addition of all that sweet instrumentation, but there are other more subtle changes, too.
Over my many years of music listening I’ve grown rather fond of hard rock music. I’d even go as far as to say that it is my favorite genre of music. In the 90s bands like Alice in Chains, Collective Soul, The Offspring, and Helmet (to name only a few) influenced my musical style and tastes very heavily. As a guitar player who feverishly listened to all of these bands and tried to figure their songs out, I picked up on a common thread among many of them. I couldn’t quite find the low chords that they played in their songs!
It became clear after a while that many of the groups tuned their guitars down to alternate tunings to play their songs. This practice is almost standard procedure for hard rock bands now. Pretty much every modern hard rock band uses this practice to some degree. Some tune down one string for some extra “fatness.” (Fall out Boy) Others tune down all the strings just a little bit to get the needed girth. (Our Lady Peace) But more common nowadays is the combination of both, or an extra fat, super-low tuning that in some cases requires special guitars and really thick strings. (Nickelback, Staind, Chevelle, Korn, etc.) (Read more…)
