a lot has been said about bernard's fucked up voice, and i think that perhaps we should discuss his fucked up guitar playing, in honor of the fact that i figured out how to play lonesome tonight last week. guitar heros suck, but barney is my guitar hero, and eric clapton can officially suck my balls! let us discuss instances of barney's guitar work that are special to us in some odd and disfigured way. some names, besides the aforementioned lonesome tonight: chosen time, age of consent, procession, doubts even here, perfect kiss. discuss at will. (a side note: did everyone notice in the shevchenko video how bernard turns around and gives gillian a really evil look when she fucks up near the end of ceremony? old mister grumpy-pants barney)
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well crystal, dream attack, and i always thought the guitar work on everyone everywhere was underrated.
Again one of the fundamentals lacking from Republic. Always loved Barneys guitar parts - right from stuff like Atrocity Exhibition through to Crystal
barnys guitar playing live well ummmmmmm isnt the best you only have to listen to those old JD bootleggs to confirm that thank god for the studio were he can practise his playing before recording or is ian curtis still alive and playing on the guitar tracks or more realistic was gillian?
Always remember years ago, when PC&L was being aired on Radio 1 Round Table, they played Age of Consent, and Paul Gambacchini proclaimed Barney as being "one of the greatest guitarists ever" (genuinely !). Safe to say that he's not, I think !!
Originally posted by Sloppy Giuseppe Always remember years ago, when PC&L was being aired on Radio 1 Round Table, they played Age of Consent, and Paul Gambacchini proclaimed Barney as being "one of the greatest guitarists ever" (genuinely !). Safe to say that he's not, I think !!
If that's true then I take his (PG) point. Bernard's playing on the middle break on AOC is just fantastic. Or it may have been due to the shitload of Acid taken for the PC&L sessions.
did everyone notice in the shevchenko video how bernard turns around and gives gillian a really evil look when she fucks up near the end of ceremony? old mister grumpy-pants barney
I have'nt seen the video,but by listening to the bootleg....I don't blame him,it sounded total crap.
Originally posted by Ian Pillar barnys guitar playing live wellummmmmmm isnt the best you only have to listen to those oldJD bootleggs to confirm thatthank god for the studiowere he can practise his playing before recording
The main problem was the low quality of his equipment. Yeah he tended to miss the odd note(hendrix did it all the time),but if your using cheap equipment,the outcome will always sound like crap.
Originally posted by Sloppy Giuseppe Always remember years ago, when PC&L was being aired on Radio 1 Round Table, they played Age of Consent, and Paul Gambacchini proclaimed Barney as being "one of the greatest guitarists ever" (genuinely !). Safe to say that he's not, I think !!
I think even if he's not the most technically brilliant guitarist, he's certainly one of the more original
and if i remember correctly Barney said that his guitar playing improved much after creating Electionic and joining up with Mr. Marr, another superb guitar man.
Originally posted by Heather Kim I love Joy Division Guitar sound...Transmission,New dawn faeds...and so on...
I agree. He is not as bad as he is made out to be. Listen to the live songs on Joy Divisions "Still" and you won't find any duff notes or mistakes that don't sound good! On the other hand Stephen Morris looses the beat big time on Passover.
I can't help thinking that on more than a few Joy Division (and even early New Order - check "Chosen Time" off Movement) songs, Steve Morris's drumming tends to race a split-second too fast ahead of the rest of the instruments....either that or I must have funny hearing.....who else has noticed this?
I think, due to his shared duties as guitarist and singer with NO, Barney's playing has suffered a bit, but he wasn't some hot shot with years of expertise behind him when JD started out, so his style has developed more out of a necessity to work with what he can do. I agree on AOC, play that to anyone saying New Order doesn't have any credibility.
i don't think he'd be featured in any guitar mags, but i don't think he's particularly bad, either. he's got off moments, and very on moments...as a singer, too. and as an all-around musician.
and i thought he was going to kill Gillian with the sheer force of his glare in the Shevchenko vid. XD
I saw Barney give Gillian the evil eye too. Which is a little weird considering that Barney wasn't exactly a music god at that point either. Who does Barney think he is? Gillians hair was at it's largest circumfrance in that video I think. But that's no reason to give her nasty looks.
Originally posted by Hubert Mickle I can't help thinking that on more than a few Joy Division (and even early New Order - check "Chosen Time" off Movement) songs, Steve Morris's drumming tends to race a split-second too fast ahead of the rest of the instruments....either that or I must have funny hearing.....who else has noticed this?
Show me a genuinely tight band and I will buy you a pint in Manchester ! Show me a tight bird and I will default on the deal !!
i stopped giving a crap about technical proficiency a long time ago. the queation i ask about any musician is "does he or she do anything interesting with sound?" and everyone in NO does. hooky still insists that he is a shit player, which i dont understand. yeah, the stevomatic definately tends to race the tempo a few times, most noticably during day of the lords. but the band speeds up right along with him, so it doesn't really fuck anything up. strangely enough, it is actually difficult to play that slowly, when the natural instinct is to go faster and hit harder. steve messed up passover on still, but he is an absolute machine on shevchenko. watch him on senses and ceremony. he is the only member who does not fuck up at least once during that performance (including barney).
Dirty boy Mr Jauncey! 
I saw the Charlies in January supported by Starsailor and they were pretty tight. (Starsailor that is - the Charlies well they don't have to be!)
i've often forgotten he was a guitarist. but he's sufficient enough and moved on from those power chords that some punk bands like to play over and over for twenty years! in joy division, his guitar playing stood out and was just as distinctive as hooky's bass. but in new order, it his guitar playing seemed to have taken the back seat. anyways, i love his guitar work on forbidden city, regret and that chemical brothers song he sang on (very nice interlude indeed).
yes, I've noticed that evil look Barney casts Gill in Taras, bloody funny in context, considering he spends most of the first verse trying to 'find' the right key to sing in! Also, he is utterly freaked out by his own microphone on the start of Temptation on the same vid - appears to be well out of it, as he doesn't close his mouth for pretty much the whole gig.
Barn's guitar playing is very distinctive - I have read somewhere (and agree entirely) that it's not a milliion miles from Neil Young, in that he can make a lot from a little. The JD live stuff is remarkably intense, but I personally love the guitar stuff on Brotherhood - all that amphetamine-fuelled strum frenzy stuff off side one is so exciting to listen to from a guitar viewpoint.
Md
Ah yes, the eye....wonder how many times Barney recieved that from Ian, eh? I just remember finding that hilarious....
Originally posted by Zizou Zidane Show me a genuinely tight band and I will buy you a pint in Manchester ! Show me a tight bird and I will default on the deal !!
Tight band: Donald Johnson from ACR is the tightest drummer I have ever witnessed live - little wonder they call him "the human drum machine". There you go.
Tight bird: I live with one and am still helping her have babies... 
Slow Jam actually can be held up as an example of some of Barney's finest playing. The lyrics are crap, true, but the music just rocks. Sign me up for the Slow Jam Fan Club
Originally posted by Taboo # 7 Slow Jam actually can be held up as an example of some of Barney's finest playing. The lyrics are crap, true, but the music just rocks. Sign me up for the Slow Jam Fan Club
There is one line in there that is actually very good....."a rich man without his wealth", when he means he is nothing without his friends/family. Quite perceptive for the Barnster.
Originally posted by Hubert Mickle Tabsy, please!
Hey, Slow Jam'll grow on you like a moss, then slowly seep into your brain and take over your body...but I digress. Who knows, I could just be in a "Let's champion the song everyone else thinks is crap" mood.
perhaps barney's disgruntled/detach mood during tarasled ultimately to the fucked up throbbing gristle noises at the end of temptation. he should do that more often
i think ian gave the eye to just about everybody. remember that photograph in touching from a distance when he is standing over his daughter? he was giving the eye even then, probably because he was on the brink of divorce. i wonder if natalie curtis ever has nightmares about the eye from her very early childhood?
yeah i,ve seen the eye in touching from a distance, if you prop the book open the eye follows you round the room, try it
