Do Artists have the right to criticise their own bands?

Motley Crue

Recently Classic Rock published an interview with Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell. He is currently on tour with Thin Lizzy, and has also played with Sweet Savage, Dio and Whitesnake among others....

Now, first of all, he's not the most popular person in the world. Here is RJD (may he RIP) wishing Campbell had died a horrible and disgusting death - and that's the light version, if you've never seen this video, you should watch it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOwZBo8FQvo

Even though Campbell told Classic Rock he hadn't spoken to Ronnie in 25 years (that's some grudge) this particular matter had apparently been apologised for - as in Dio apologised to Campbell before he died.

In the interview he is quoted as saying

I’ve been in Def Leppard for 20 years and if I’m honest it’s not a terribly challenging job for me as a guitar player. Phil Collen plays most of the widdly parts and I do what I do. But this job has reignited my love for guitar playing

By doing this has Campbell stepped over the line? Having joined as a replacement for Steve Clark he has the awkward position of being in a dead man's shoes when playing older material but Campbell has contributed to the band and solely composed some material so shouldn't he consider his 20+ years in the band and not blast his band members.

Leppard are apparently heading out on a full US stadium tour this Summer and Campbell has said he would consider not going in order to remain with Thin Lizzy.

My question is, if you're a musician in a band, should you do everything in your power to be respectful to your fellow bandmates in front of the press? Where is the line? Should Joe Elliot consider sacking Campbell over a criticism like this. Your thoughts?

Jambo221

I don't see what's wrong with what he said, compared to Lizzy it's not particularly challenging to play considering that Collen is the lead guitarist. I think what he was emphasizing was that being with Leppard is not about technical challenges, but more about enjoying the music, the true essence of playing music.

I find it more insulting that he'd consider not going on tour with his main band to stick with a band that is essentially a side project, but at the same time he was most likely just discussing his options.

If you're in a band though, you do need to be very careful about what you say in interviews as it affects the public's perception of the band, especially if each member presents conflicting views or show's a lack of faith in the bands direction.

But sometimes certain people get taken down a few much needed pegs :P
http://www.metalinjection.net/latest-news/gene-simmons-gets-owned-by-paul-stanley

slavetothegrind

Classic Rock Revisited: DEF LEPPARD is a great live band. However, you don?t show off much in this band. Your playing is very straightforward and Phil Collen takes way more solos than you do. Your thoughts?

Vivian: "You are right. From a guitar point of view it is a very easy sort of a gig. It is not as challenging because I am not the only guitar player in the band. In DIO, I had a guitar solo in every song. With LEPPARD, I may play 35% of the solos. A lot of what we play are classic hits. It would be very inappropriate for me to play the solo to 'Photograph' when Phil Collen is right there and he was the one who first played it. Plus, I couldn?t play like that ? I can?t play like Phil. Part of what makes DEF LEPPARD work is that Phil and I are very different guitar players."

Classic Rock Revisited: What is more important to you: Being a guitar player or a guitar hero?

Vivian: "It is more important to me to be a musician. I think it is fair to say that I am not nearly as proficient of a guitar player now as before I joined DEF LEPPARD. I say that only because this gig does not require me to exercise that particular muscle as much. Having said that, I feel I am much more of a complete musician. I know a lot more about writing songs and a lot more about the studio craft than I knew before. I am also a much, much better singer from being in this band. I feel more complete as a musician. As a guitar player, although it is not as technically challenging, I am okay with that. I spent my time in the '80s spinning my wheels trying to pay homage to the great technical gods of guitar playing. I would much rather play like Mick Ronson than Yngwie Malmsteen."

Classic Rock Revisited: When you joined DEF LEPPARD you really knew you were leaving the guitar hero thing behind.

Vivian: "I was glad to leave it behind. Around the time I played with WHITESNAKE I accepted that I couldn?t compete with those guys as a guitar player. I also knew that I was no longer there musically. As a kid, I just wanted to play guitar. I didn't make the distinction between pop, blues, rock or heavy metal. I was attracted to anything that had a guitar solo. You get drawn into hard rock and heavy metal because it glorifies the instrument. You don't hear a lot of guitar solos in pop music. As a teenager trying to write songs, I would write riffs. If I had a cool riff then I thought I had a song. I wasn't thinking about the melody or the lyric; I was only thinking about the riff. I thought it was all about finding something to lead up to the guitar solo ? that is all there was.

"When I started playing with DIO we would sit around and write riffs. It was all about the guitar-hero thing. There were a lot of fresher bands out than DIO, like VAN HALEN. I always thought VAN HALEN were a lot more interesting than DIO. They had a sense of humor and they had a very fresh sound. Eddie Van Halen was doing things no one else had done on the guitar before him. David Lee Roth is a million miles away from Ronnie James Dio in terms of vocal ability and what they were singing about but David Lee Roth was interesting and he was perfect for VAN HALEN. Ronnie was very, very rigid and set in his ways. What he was doing was not just heavy metal, it was classic heavy metal. He would only write about certain things. He had very, very strict boundaries in which you had to work. As a result of that, I sort of got burned out on heavy metal. I remember being on the road with DIO and buying all these different cassette tapes. I would buy ARETHA FRANKLIN, ELVIS PRESLEY, PETER GABRIEL ? anything but hard rock. I listened to a lot of soul music at that time. If I was listening to guitar music I was not listening to Yngwie, Shenker or Van Halen. I was listening to Jeff Beck, David Gilmour or early Eric Clapton.

"Later on, I found myself in a very competitive situation with Adrian Vandenberg in WHITESNAKE. We would try to one-up the other one. It was all very technical and it was all very flash. We were not a very good band. We looked good on paper but we sounded horrendous on stage from where I was. No one listened to anyone else in the band. It was all flash; there was no substance."



i don't think he was being in any way disrespectful, his role in def leppard isn't musically challenging. i am a big fan but difficult to play it aint!

if he doesn't tour with leppard he will have left the band.
maybe he needs tthat challenge at this stage of his life.

i still don't know what went on with him and dio, had seen that footage before and thought it rather venomous! what could campbell have done to deserve that hate?

nice one on the kiss footage jambo:D

another interesting interview here
http://www.bravewords.com/news/156215

greendom

He wasn't criticizing the band as such just his position in it. He was more critical of Whitesnake and Dio than Def Leppard.

He's expressing a certain dis-satisfaction with the role he has in the group. I'm sure John Paul Jones did the same with Led Zeppelin, stating that he was bored with playing bass all the time.