Alexi's gear/rigs are up for auction

[Whiteknuckle Deathgrip]

I'm totally a self confessed fanboi, and I'd kill for one if those JVMs.
Also imma still be here in 10 years going YAYAOWOWOW MOTHERTRUCKERS!

 

[dthmtl3]

I'm a fanboy of the music. Unless some new amazing bands appear, I figure I will be listening to COB for a long time.

 

[CharIie]

I disagree. Deep purple is boomer music. Don't just think of the leads, please also include the riffs.

I'll agree on Deep Purple, but Steve Morse is so much more than that. Deep Purple is simply what he does for a living, but listen to Steve Morse Band or Dixie Dregs, those are fantastic.







Not many guitarist are this versatile, especially lot one like Laiho.

And I'll agree with Arcane, Mäntysaari is probably the best guitarist I can think of in the younger generation. But he too won't be remembered after his death unless he joins some big name band. And even so, look at Kiko Loureiro (Megadeth's phenomenal guitarist). Not sure he'll be remembered either. That's just how it is in today's world. People will remember David Guetta, Daft Punk, Billie Eilish and other weirdos.

 

[Whiteknuckle Deathgrip]

I'll agree on Deep Purple, but Steve Morse is so much more than that. Deep Purple is simply what he does for a living, but listen to Steve Morse Band or Dixie Dregs, those are fantastic.







Not many guitarist are this versatile, especially lot one like Laiho.

And I'll agree with Arcane, Mäntysaari is probably the best guitarist I can think of in the younger generation. But he too won't be remembered after his death unless he joins some big name band. And even so, look at Kiko Loureiro (Megadeth's phenomenal guitarist). Not sure he'll be remembered either. That's just how it is in today's world. People will remember David Guetta, Daft Punk, Billie Eilish and other weirdos.

I agree. Steve Morse is fine but he too will
dissppear into obscurity one day. I know I will never forget Alexi. I realize of course that 99,9% of people won't even know who he was. But we select few, the HC, will be here eternally. I know a lot of metalheads and maybe one or two other guys i know, really dig Bodom but the rest of them were only into AYDY era stuff. Fckn posers
I'm fine with having them to myself, because I can still talk to you guys about them.

 

[CharIie]

Steve Morse could indeed disappear from people's mind too, but the chances are lower than for Laiho is what I meant.
And yeah, I'll never forget Laiho. Heck! He is the reason I picked up the guitar and turned to metal music. My life would have been totally different if not for Bodom. But as you said, 99.9% of the people will forget.

 

[drawnacrol]

To say Alexi Laiho wasn’t influential is a massive disservice to him. When he died there was endless comments from famous players praising him and how the early albums were responsible for being the guitarists they are today. Guys like Matt Heafy(Trivium), Christian(Necrophagist, Obscura), Teemu(Wintersun, Imperanon), Herman Li(Dragonforce), Buzz(Unearth), Petri(Norther) and countless others cite Alexi as a big influence. Nevermind the thousands of us bedroom players who idolised him growing up.

Alexi kicked up a storm in the metal scene with Bodom’s blend of 80s metal, death metal, power metal and shrapnel shred. For nearly a decade there was a mini genre called Bodom clones and used as a way of marketing new bands to audiences.

 

[<Arcane>]

This.

The number of condolences was enormous. For the first two weeks I had saved all the posts on Instagram from well-known bands, musicians or Youtubers in an album and here I come to over 150. And a large part of them almost always wrote along with what a great influence Bodom or Alexi had on them. In addition, there are the condolences of all the music magazines, festivals and instrument manufacturers.

Then I also only have to look at the news. In Germany, every well-known magazine has reported on Alexi's death. Even small local papers.

Honestly, I didn't read half as much about EVH.

The only ones who haven't lost a word about Alexis death (at least not publicly) are the really big bands of the 70s and 80s (Metallica, Maiden, Manowar,etc..) or all this Nu-Metal nonsense.

Bodom was the first metal band to achieve commercial success with harsh vocals. They were also the first band to become so successful with neo-classical elements and the mix of guitar/key solos.

and as Drawnacrol said, there is a small musical subgenre through Bodom. Which band of the last 20 years can still claim that?

Bodom is like Dark Souls. Everything that came after was either a Souls-Like game or was compared with Bodom.

 

[rj rl]

Honestly, I didn't read half as much about EVH.

there was a shitton more stuff about Eddie. If you google "tribute to Van Halen" it's 1 million results, "tribute to Alexi Laiho" is at 200 thousand.

Also, a big part of the reaction to Aleksi's passing is the sudden and tragic nature of his death. Same with Dimebag, same with Randy. Had they died natural death into their 70s, far fewer people woulda noticed.

Bodom was great, one of the best bands in its niche, but their influence on metal is extremely limited. Power metal was already huge way before COB, neoclassical is all Yngwie (plus, us on this forum love to overemphasize the neoclassical elements - they were all but abandoned after just the 2 first albums), melodeath was also already the big thing due to the Swedes. Sure, Aleksi came up with a very cool blend of all of the above, but has it really spawned a whole new genre? I don't think so. Very few bands try to do that style (not least because of how hard it is to pull off convincingly)

At least that's the way I see it, and I love COB and Laiho as much as the next guy

 

[CharIie]

Plus, one cannot ignore today's culture of "being in" on something. When people see someone paying tribute to someone else, they feel the need to do so to. I most cases, it is absolutely not sincere. Think about how all those young people less than 20 years old twitted about the death of Sean Connery. I mean, how many of them do you actually believe saw a movie starring Connery? It's just trendy to pity the death of a celebrity.

I agree with rj rl on what he said. Malmsteen and Swedish Melo Death bands did it all before Bodom. But Laiho was great at combining the two. So great at it, that indeed, not many (if none) have manage to emulate. But that's still not enough to be remembered by the masses. Most people of our generation never heard of him, and most of those who did never cared for his music. Of the few people left who knew Bodom and liked it, only a few adored it to the point where they will remember Laiho. It's a sad, sure, but it's the truth.

 

[Ragehead]

I don't really care who remembers who. For most people music is something like fast food anyways, good today, bad tomorrow already. Alexi will for sure be remembered by those who care for Metal and enjoy his music, and that's not too less. It's also hard to estimate like something like that is seen...Deep Purple gets called "boomer music" here (again, fast food thinking I guess), many probably don't even know they still release albums and tours, yet they're here after over 50 years filling still arenas in their 70s, and there are not only "boomers" in the audience. I got into Purple in my late 20s and don't want to miss them since. So many bands after them were influenced by them and good music is good music, no matter how old. Same with classical music without it COB wouldn't have sounded quite the same in the early years.

Alexi will be remembered, and not just by this fan forum.

 

[drawnacrol]

Do I need to point out we are taking about Alexi on an active message board in 2021?

I’m not sure where you guys were 2000-2010 but Alexi was the Yngwie of our time then inspiring and bringing together countless of guitarists and music fans. He was leading the way of the “next generation of guitar heroes”, bringing back virtuosity and rockstar image that had nearly vanished after grunge and nu-Metal. Maybe if you didn’t use YouTube, MySpace or old message boards you would have missed most of it but it was an exciting time.

 

[Juggler]

I grew up with his music for 20 years and so did many others. He brought us through some dark and as well good times. His music is part of the soundtrack of our lives. We can only forget Alexi when we forget our own life.

 

[Sinthoras_96]

I grew up with his music for 20 years and so did many others. He brought us through some dark and as well good times. His music is part of the soundtrack of our lives. We can only forget Alexi when we forget our own life.

Very well said. I will listen to his music until the end of my life.

 

[Works0fheart]

Do I need to point out we are taking about Alexi on an active message board in 2021?

I’m not sure where you guys were 2000-2010 but Alexi was the Yngwie of our time then inspiring and bringing together countless of guitarists and music fans. He was leading the way of the “next generation of guitar heroes”, bringing back virtuosity and rockstar image that had nearly vanished after grunge and nu-Metal. Maybe if you didn’t use YouTube, MySpace or old message boards you would have missed most of it but it was an exciting time.

This x1000. Maybe some people here may have missed the hype in their areas, but CoB was certainly turning the music world on it's head for the majority of the 2000's. I'd go as far as to say that CoB (and maybe a handful of other bands) were the main band to really bring back traditional shred into metal and make it popular again whereas it was dead for years due to nu-metal and the like. I mean no disrespect to anyone with this statement, but Alexi's influence was massive between 2000 - 2010 (at the least) and to say otherwise is just not correct.

 

[rj rl]

bring back traditional shred into metal

If there was one thing metal never had a lack of, it's shredders. Even the supposed 'dark age' of metal (90s) had virtuosos in abundance: Dimebag, Michael Amott, Jeff Waters, Timo Tolkki, Chuck Schuldiner, Jeff Loomis, John Petrucci, Muhammed Suicmez, even Roope himself, whom I always rated as much as Aleksi in terms of technical abilities. Shred never really went anywhere for it to be brought back.

And to be frank, Aleksi was such a fantastic writer, be it a lead or a riff, it's stupid for us to fixate so much on his technique to begin with. Writing was his strongest side and music of such quality is hard to come by, unlike a lot of the stuff from the guys listed above

 

[Conti]

If Alexi had stayed at the top of his game for much longer he would be way more influential. In those 1998 videos his playing is unmatched. He already started slipping by 2001 and after 2004-05 he was no longer anything special really. I don't know how he fell so far skill wise but for a lot of people it was massively disappointing to go from looking up to this guy as the God of guitar to being better than him. Alexi's death is so weird to me because it's almost like that part of him I looked up to died a long time ago. It's been so weird over the years hearing people still refer to him as a guitar wizard and one of the best metal guitar players when it clearly wasn't the case for a long time. I hated going to shows and having to stand there and root for the guy not to constantly mess up.

I guess Alexi did say himself he wasn't exactly a role model.

 

[rj rl]

^ ha, I was gonna mention Alex Skolnick and Dallas Toler-Wade but they're more 80's and 00's guitar heroes.
but yeah, I feel the same way about Aleksi's skill. Something was up with his right hand, it was often out of sync, or he could be picking the wrong string, or no string at all like that time he played Downfall with some kids. Maybe it was lack of practice, maybe his injuries, maybe he hung the guitar too low, who knows, but what a shame, their early lives were so tight

 

[drawnacrol]

If you compare his playing in the Young Guitar Passage to the Reaper video and the Alexi 100% or Alexi Are You dead Yet lessons you can how his playing slipped in just a few years. Lifestyle and injuries were to blame but on the other hand if Yngwie bounced back after a car accident and Jeff Loomis was an alcoholic around his solo albums what was really stopping Alexi from getting back to this early playing ability.

If there was one thing metal never had a lack of, it's shredders. Even the supposed 'dark age' of metal (90s) had virtuosos in abundance: Dimebag, Michael Amott, Jeff Waters, Timo Tolkki, Chuck Schuldiner, Jeff Loomis, John Petrucci, Muhammed Suicmez, even Roope himself, whom I always rated as much as Aleksi in terms of technical abilities. Shred never really went anywhere for it to be brought back.

And to be frank, Aleksi was such a fantastic writer, be it a lead or a riff, it's stupid for us to fixate so much on his technique to begin with. Writing was his strongest side and music of such quality is hard to come by, unlike a lot of the stuff from the guys listed above

Dimebag was an 80s player. Muhammed Suicmez was an 00 player. Michael Amott quit carcass to form a rock band in the mid 90s while Jeff Walker moved Carcass to the unpopular Death n Roll sound. Jeff Loomis has said the 90s were a nightmare for him and almost ended his metal career since nobody was interested in him shredding. Stratovarius didn't really get popular until the 00s. Dream Theatre almost broke up in the 90s because their label didn't want them playing technical prog and tried to push them towards a more mainstream sound.

The 90s was awful for metal bands but all these guys stuck through it. Chuck did amazing things during the 90s though, what a legend and is similar to Alexi with how quickly his sound evolved from album to album. it is worth pointing out that 90s shredders like John Petrucci, Jeff Loomis, Timo Tolkki etc didn't have that rock start persona that the 80s guys had which is something Alexi definitely brought back and now its almost disappeared again with Djent.

 

[Sinthoras_96]

I personally don't care if he was technically sloppier than many other great guitarists after a while.
Maybe it's because I don't play an instrument myself and therefore never experienced to become better than him or something like that.

But I know that he was at least to me the best composer out there. Pretty much any other band becomes boring to listen to after a while for me. Take Dragonforce or Arch Enemy for example. They have great guitarists for sure, but the music simply doesn't do it. It doesn't touch me emotionally. Every song kind of sounds the same.

Also you should never underestimate that he was doing guitars and vocals at the same time, which is something many other guitarists would completely fail to do. Herman Li even said in his tribute video that this fact is reason enough that Alexi was better than himself.

 

[CharIie]

Pretty much any other band becomes boring to listen to after a while for me.

You should listen to Cardiacs. I went through a phase when everything I listened to sounded dull, boring and repetitive. Then I discovered Cardiacs and they changed my (musical) life. The album Sing to God would be a nice place to start if you're curious enough to give them a try. Or Guns (a bit more 'mainstream' though, but still as quirky as their other albums).