# I honestly think Tosin Abasi is Overrated :I



## prog2djent (Jul 9, 2013)

*mod edit: we have an AAL megathread for a reason*

... now don't get me wrong he has a relatively fresh approach to the guitar, and I was a massive fan of the first album, especially tracks such as On Impulse, Point To Point, Song Of Solomon.

But it was after my guitar teacher pointed a couple of things out that I started to listen to the music and Tosin objectively ....

"its a bit repetitive I think"

"not really a fan of his phrasing of notes"

Now my guitar teacher isn't some backwards thinking blues guitarist who hates virtuosity, I would say his style is very close to Jeff Loomis.

But I ran through the 1st and 2nd album, watched a bunch of demos and listened to other guitarists and realised,

the songs basically consist of 3 or 4 ideas, repeated atleast 20 times, on clean, add some layers, still the same idea going, then add distortion, same riff. Done. And the songs that are most different are the ones where Misha had a hand with, on the first release.

Tosins vibrato is absolutely non-existent for the vast majority of songs. I think vibrato really separates the good from the great, with the big name shredders and metal players, they may lack the fineness of note choice Tosin uses, but they have amazing vibrato, always in tune, very musical when gentle, and awesome sounding when aggressive. I think Tosin's is just embarrassing, it reminds me of what I was like when I was 14 practicing fancy shapes as fast as I could and then finishing off with really sour vibrato, 

 6:45 onwards.

I also went to a clinic that Tosin had a couple of weeks back, and he was asked what he was working on and what to improve and how he goes about it, and he basically said that he doesn't need to improve technique at all, and he just invents new things. 

And that just really rubbed me off in the wrong way, like, REALLY, you have nothing to improve? Like your less than clean sweeping picking, messy alt picking and stiff/robotic phrasing? If he concentrated more on certain things instead of his little pyrotechnic guitar gimmicks then maybe he would be more recognized outside of the djent/modern prog scene where the vast majority of fans fawn over him.

There are a wealth of youtube 7/8 guitarists (or in a similar style) who have absolutely beautiful note choice, chord progressions and ways of phrasing passages or individual notes that are so musical its like being surrounded by the sound waves, and yet are as technical, if not more, than tosin, with sweeping that matches that of necrogphagiost, fusion esque legato, monstrous picking, yet they go so unrecognised. Such as Sergay Golovon, Zytecki of Disperse, the guitarists of Polyphia and Corelia, almost every artist on Jam Track Central.

I am absolutely blown away by these players, and _really do_ feel like giving up guitar, when I watch Tosin, I feel like I'm watching a circus act or majic tricks and always think "that could be cleaner", "that was out of tune/sloppy". 

Yet there is massive, massive hype around him and his virtuosity, when other have taken the style he was a founded of and taken it so far, and are unrecognized. I know this sounds asuming, but I find most Tosin worshippers are people who have just got into lead guitar in metal/prog, and while it used to mean you would be into Steve Vai, Loomis, Gilbert, Malmsteen, the big name of this genre is Tosin, and they are wowed by his little thumping technique or multiple finger tapping which as Govan would say "lots of notes with very little effort".

I remember showing someone Christian Muenzner of Obsucra, who I think is the most forward thinking guitarist in metal today, and has opened my eyes to a lot of tasteful fusion players and people who *really* approach the guitar in interesting ways, and they said "he is trying to copy Tosin"... its just so frustrating how the scene is dominated by someone so arrogant and gimmicky and that everyone loves him, and that if you don't play a certain way for modern metal, or even play an 8 string, you are somehow not worthy.

Maybe if Tosin had mastered the six string first, like every other advanced guitarist still uses, his playing wouldn't be so wonky and stale.


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## myampslouder (Jul 9, 2013)

Flame shield activate!


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## Danukenator (Jul 9, 2013)

prog2djent said:


> *objectively ....*
> 
> *"not really a fan of his phrasing of notes"*










Youtube shredders go unrecognized because they don't put the effort into touring/branding/getting out there that Tosin did. Being able to play hard stuff fast doesn't mean one will become famous. 

People around here don't seem to be raging Tosin fans so I'm not sure why this warranted a thread.

EDIT: Master the six string first.  How's MyLesPaul treating ya?


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## MetalBuddah (Jul 9, 2013)

you write all of this yet your profile name is "prog2djent"


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## bhakan (Jul 9, 2013)

Does your new favorite guitar player happen to be Ron Jarzombek?


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## Curt (Jul 9, 2013)

I am not a fan of Tosin, either. Javier, on the other hand, is a favorite of mine.


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## Daf57 (Jul 9, 2013)

I enjoy listening to Tosin and AAL - never really tried, or see a need, to analyze it too critically.


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## Forkface (Jul 9, 2013)

I think that's what happens everytime someone shows up and does a "relatively" new thing. Before Tosin the only guys I can think of that used 8 strings were Meshuggah (of course, in the "commercial" sense), and let's be honest, time signatures aside, they were just chuggin' on the 8th string  (imma get bashed so hard for this) 
After Tosin everybody realized that you could use 8s in a more musical sense, but yeah, I agree with you to some extent.
Kinda reminds me of Eddie Van Halen (more bashing!! ) guy shows up, does some tapping and everybody loses their minds. I think Eddie is overrated, but I wasn't there when he started the revolution of shred, to call it something.

He might be repetitive, but he's still one of the best guitar players around


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## zuzek (Jul 9, 2013)

I expect this post will get a lot of "Ok bro. /10 char" replies, but you know what.. I somehow completely agree with you and didn't really realize how I felt about Abasi before. I don't think I could ever play Abasi's stuff because it possesses a level of technical wizardry that won't be easy for me to obtain. The other side of that coin is that I don't really care to except for being able to say that I can play something so technically proficient. I have the utmost respect for people able to play his stuff, but I don't recognize the soul in his compositions. It's extremely rare that Abasi's phrasing or chord progression choices make me smile and think "this is what music is about", because while his writing is ridiculously sophisticated, it is never sensual or elegant.

I liked listening to AAL because of Koperweis.


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## Curt (Jul 9, 2013)

Also, he does often come across as arrogant. It doesn't matter how talented you are, if you are an arrogant asshat, you need a reality check.


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## MABGuitar (Jul 9, 2013)

The only thing I agree here is the part about his vibrato... But that's probably because I feel it was the only thing you said that wasn't objective. The rest is just your opinion on what you and your teacher think ''good'' phrasing or musical.

The songs may be repetitive, but I have and still listen to the albums on repeat for hours on end sometimes and I'm still not close to get bored of it. I think it's because what they go for in a song is more of an ambiance or mood rather than a story or whatever. When I listen to an AAL song I feel as if I'm looking at a painting or at a scenery. That's the beauty of it in my opinion, that you don't need complex songwriting to achieve such result.

In short, AAL songs makes me feel complex emotions that no other bands has (I think that comes out weird haha).


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## MetalBuddah (Jul 9, 2013)

At least AAL songs aren't as repetitive as pop songs


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## SDMFVan (Jul 9, 2013)

I totally agree, but it's also mostly subjective. He's excellent at what he does, but what he does doesn't do anything for me.


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## Forkface (Jul 9, 2013)

MetalBuddah said:


> At least AAL songs aren't as repetitive as pop songs


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## The Reverend (Jul 9, 2013)

I guess that's the beauty of music: Its subjectivity.

You may hear whizpops and loud cadoodles from Tosin, while I listen to Guthrie Govan and am forcibly reminded of elevator music.


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## MetalBuddah (Jul 9, 2013)

The Reverend said:


> I guess that's the beauty of music: Its subjectivity.
> 
> You may hear whizpops and loud cadoodles from Tosin, while I listen to Guthrie Govan and am forcibly reminded of elevator music.



I'm glad I am not the only one  Love me some Govan though...


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