I came across this on GW.com: http://www.guitarworld.com/basics-rock- ... five-songs and began contemplating what songs formed my style today, this is a very overall intriguing topic and was wondering: WHAT FIVE SONGS SHAPED YOUR STYLE?

Smells Like Teen Spirit: Barre Chord, Power Chord, Single Notes, Alternate Picking, Rhythm, a Simple but Precise Solo, the Understanding of What You Can and Can't Get Away With in the Context of A Song, Good Understanding of When To Use Pedals.

All Along the Watchtower: My first strict song that allowed me to improve while sticking to a seemingly difficult formula.

Iron Man: Taught me a "Big Rock Song" formula in a way, my first song over 4:30 minutes

Highway to Hell: Taught me simplicity and Hot Blues Licks in the context of a great rock song.

Star Spangled Banner: Idk, some weird mixture of a formula and total improv and sometimes randomness showed me that within a solo you can literally, as long as you have a base point, you can do anything and everything you want.

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To The Threshold by Hatebreed
This song taught me just how a sick a crushing (though constant) rhythm can sound.

Banana Pancakes by Jack Johnson
This song taught me how to incorporate a little flow into my music.

What's My Age Again? by Blink 182
This one consists of power chords and a fun, easy picking technique. Though I still don't know how to transition it well (not that I've tried though- it's kind of fun to just pause right there), it's a blast.

Dirty and Left Out by The Almost
This song taught me that suspended chords are great for mopy songs, and they definetly brighten them up so as to not make them too... mopy.

Reinventing Your Exit by Underoath
I haven't actually learned this song (... it's about time, though, isn't it?), but it got me into harder music, which gave me the first taste of my affinity with electric guitars.

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"Speak the truth, and speak it ever,
cost it what it will
for he who hides the wrong he did
did the wrong thing still."
-Miss Uel

Hmm...five songs...

Let's go in chronological order here...

G&R - Paradise City : When that first lead part kicks in, to this day it takes me back to that feeling I had wanting to learn to play guitar. Slash's guitar tone sounded cool as hell to me as an 8 year old kid. The next day I picked up an old flea market Teisco guitar my mom had laying around, and a Mel Bay chord book and here I am almost 19 years later, still lovin' it.

CCR - Run Through the Jungle : Just an awesome song, and I used to listen to it over and over again. Then I would listen to it some more.

Pantera - Cowboys From Hell : Dimebag taught me to play metal, plain and simple. I could never play his solos, but I think I got the chug chug chug rhythm style down pretty damn good.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band - Deja Voodoo : KWS is a beast and I fell in love with blues because of Ledbetter Heights.

RHCP - Parallel Universe : I must have listened to this one about a thousand times when I was in the Army. The Chili Peppers reignited my passion for music with Californication, Parallel Universe was my favorite track on that album.

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