Fortus disagrees with Nuno Bettencourt over Slash's guitar skills - Nuno responds

[colonizedmind]

Popcorn anyone? And not the Adler variety....

[chinese stew]

Nuno...? More like Nono...

[LA_0013]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CtzYopxvEt9/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

[Free Bird]

1 hour ago, LA_0013 said:

This.

Nuno tried to say his words were misconstrued. But as Fortus highlighted (and ignoring the click bait headline), he said what he said and it wasn’t misconstrued at all. Someone counters his opinion with a different opinion and he threw his toys out the pram like a 5 year old

He said it once, he said it twice. That should be enough to understand for everybody. Only butthurt Nuno fanatics keep arguing so replying to them makes no sense. 

[GoodOlJohnnyK]

There’s nothing more boring than a guitarist who thinks that technical proficiency means greatness.

Not that anyone cares but I received an offer to audition for a major pop act when I was fresh out of college in 2010, (again, this is actually irrelevant because this shouldn’t matter). I was in my early 20s at the time. I can say that, as hard as I practiced for the gig, the hardest part wasn’t the music - it was competing against guitarists who could do absolutely amazing things on guitar and, more importantly, look cool doing it. I was a recent college grad with no money for cool rock star clothing, so I showed up in what I thought would be a decent replacement: some ripped up jeans and a white t-shirt. A lot of the other folks there looked like extras from Sons of Anarchy, while others looked right off of a runway. Some could play circles around me, others I actually thought I was “better” then. But all of the ones who moved on had one thing I didn’t at the time - showmanship. I did my best “rock star” but I fell short.

The purpose of this story is to poke holes in Nuno’s premise that a gig like that requires a level of musicianship unattainable to a good guitarist: that’s not necessarily true. Fortus, for example, could have probably sleepwalked through his Rihanna gig. Showmanship plays a *big* part in it. And those touring guitarists often are amazing because that tends to be who gets invited to and selected for those gigs. You have to have chops. But you often don’t use them.

Nuno Bettencourt can shred up and down the neck at an incredible rate of speed, playing clean, fluid licks with exceptional technique.…

…and no one fucking cares. Because the point is that, until you write something worth a damn, all the fast licks and sweep picking and tapping don’t mean a damn thing.

The press that Nuno is getting for the Rise solo dubbing him the new Eddie Van Halen is so annoying and it seems to have gone to his head. First of all, it’s only guitar-centric media that acts this way. No one outside of hard rock or guitar nerd culture cares.

Second of all, Eddie Van Halen changed guitar playing forever not just through his incredible technical ability but also his sense of melody and songwriting. So many of Eddie’s solos weren’t actually that difficult (think Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love or Everybody Wants Some) - but damn were they tuneful and memorable! The Rise solo is…impressive, I guess? But the song sucks, so who cares? There are plenty of songs with flashy guitar playing - why has this one been falsely propped up as some sort of spiritual successor to Eruption?

Third of all, these days technical ability is overrated because as good as Nuno Bettencourt or Slash are, there’s always gonna be some dude on Instagram who can play faster, cleaner, and more complex licks, two hand tapping while diving the whammy bar with his dick. So at that point, you have to move on to songwriting chops. Nuno wrote “More Than Words,” which is a classic song that people know and remember. That’s incredible. It’s very hard to do. But Slash wrote Sweet Child O’ Mine, the November Rain solos, Welcome to the Jungle, Paradise City, Nightrain, Brownstone, the guitar melodies and solos on Estranged, the list goes on. In a competition over who is more important to rock history, it’s not even debatable.

And in terms of who could handle the Rihanna gig? Slash would walk in with his top hat and the musical director would fire Nuno Bettencourt before Slash was done plugging in his guitar. Because while Nuno’s busy whipping his hair around, Slash is an icon of rock n’ roll and his *look alone* would nail the gig. There’s no musical style that Nuno performs on those Rihanna songs that Slash couldn’t do - the idea that Slash couldn’t handle switching between reggae and dance pop is particularly absurd - and anything he does that is outside of Slash’s repertoire, like sweep picking, isn’t necessary for the gig.

Nuno’s a dickhead because all of his false modesty (“Slash is a hero of mine!”) doesn’t make sense when the clear premise of what he was saying was “this gig is so fucking tough that even the best guitarists like Slash can’t do it - but I can! I’m more than rock n’ roll, I’m a *real* musician!” Only to walk it back like a little bitch once Fortus disagreed (and disagreed incredibly respectfully).

For him to then knock Fortus makes even less sense. “I’ve never heard of you outside of the Rihanna camp and as a replacement player in Guns N’ Roses.”

Well no one knows Nuno Bettencourt outside of Extreme. And no one under, say 42 knows Nuno Bettencourt at all except for maybe some older shredders working on their skills at your local Guitar Center.

Furthermore, Fortus has played THE EXACT SAME GIG! Before Nuno! The amount of nerve to then turn around and slam the guy who just did your exact gig, and then try to big time him by saying you’ve never heard of him, when Nuno himself hasn’t been relevant since 1991 is staggering.

So on the one hand, he’s talking some bullshit about Slash. Then he tries to walk it back and say he’d never do such a thing and deflects and tries to turn it on Fortus. So he’s talking out of both sides of his mouth and it’s all bullshit.

Sounds like Double Talkin’ Jive to me.

I wish Axl would let this home fuck have it on stage.

[Lio]

Quote

Because while Nuno’s busy whipping his hair around,

This made me LOL, it is how I remember Nuno exactly!  Nice hair.

[Lethalis]

Poor Richard Fortus, getting himself caught up in these discussions. First defending Slash and then defending his own comments.

It's a waste of time.

Nuno isn't worth it lol. Just ignore him.

[El Guapo]

Nuno is trying very hard to come across as this humble and likeable guy most of the time, but sometimes this other, probably way more honest side of him, rears it's ugly head.

He' more like Mustaine or Yngwie I guess.

[PatrickS77]

22 hours ago, MaskingApathy said:

Tbf Nuno is way more well known and respected in guitar circles than 4tus, he's kind of right in saying that he's only heard of 4tus in the context of replacing him in Rhianna's band and being the other guitarist in GnR (I thin that's true for most people). Personally I think 4tus should've kept his mouth shut to begin with, his reaction of "oh you're wrong because I know Slash and I play with him every night" comes off as him sucking up to Slash and trying to look supportive when honestly I'm sure Slash doesn't even care about what Nuno said (and he probably fully understood what Nuno meant anyway).

And?? That's irrelevant to what he said. Fortos both knows the gig and has played with Slash and thus knows both better than Nuno. He is in a position to give a qualified opinion. Whether Nuno has or hasn't heard anything from Fortus is absolutely irrelevant in this context. And you don't knock somebody's reputation, just because he called you out and you don't have any way to counter what he's actually said. Only losers do that.

Edited July 24, 2023 by PatrickS77

[MaskingApathy]

5 hours ago, Free Bird said:

Responding to Nuno's post is one thing but keep saying the same shit to every user reacting makes him look like a moron.

 

4 hours ago, Free Bird said:

I certainly not. But I still don’t see the point in replying to every comment.

I agree with this for sure. Just be quiet and move on.

[bojan]

3 hours ago, GoodOlJohnnyK said:

There’s nothing more boring than a guitarist who thinks that technical proficiency means greatness.

Not that anyone cares but I received an offer to audition for a major pop act when I was fresh out of college in 2010, (again, this is actually irrelevant because this shouldn’t matter). I was in my early 20s at the time. I can say that, as hard as I practiced for the gig, the hardest part wasn’t the music - it was competing against guitarists who could do absolutely amazing things on guitar and, more importantly, look cool doing it. I was a recent college grad with no money for cool rock star clothing, so I showed up in what I thought would be a decent replacement: some ripped up jeans and a white t-shirt. A lot of the other folks there looked like extras from Sons of Anarchy, while others looked right off of a runway. Some could play circles around me, others I actually thought I was “better” then. But all of the ones who moved on had one thing I didn’t at the time - showmanship. I did my best “rock star” but I fell short.

The purpose of this story is to poke holes in Nuno’s premise that a gig like that requires a level of musicianship unattainable to a good guitarist: that’s not necessarily true. Fortus, for example, could have probably sleepwalked through his Rihanna gig. Showmanship plays a *big* part in it. And those touring guitarists often are amazing because that tends to be who gets invited to and selected for those gigs. You have to have chops. But you often don’t use them.

Nuno Bettencourt can shred up and down the neck at an incredible rate of speed, playing clean, fluid licks with exceptional technique.…

…and no one fucking cares. Because the point is that, until you write something worth a damn, all the fast licks and sweep picking and tapping don’t mean a damn thing.

The press that Nuno is getting for the Rise solo dubbing him the new Eddie Van Halen is so annoying and it seems to have gone to his head. First of all, it’s only guitar-centric media that acts this way. No one outside of hard rock or guitar nerd culture cares.

Second of all, Eddie Van Halen changed guitar playing forever not just through his incredible technical ability but also his sense of melody and songwriting. So many of Eddie’s solos weren’t actually that difficult (think Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love or Everybody Wants Some) - but damn were they tuneful and memorable! The Rise solo is…impressive, I guess? But the song sucks, so who cares? There are plenty of songs with flashy guitar playing - why has this one been falsely propped up as some sort of spiritual successor to Eruption?

Third of all, these days technical ability is overrated because as good as Nuno Bettencourt or Slash are, there’s always gonna be some dude on Instagram who can play faster, cleaner, and more complex licks, two hand tapping while diving the whammy bar with his dick. So at that point, you have to move on to songwriting chops. Nuno wrote “More Than Words,” which is a classic song that people know and remember. That’s incredible. It’s very hard to do. But Slash wrote Sweet Child O’ Mine, the November Rain solos, Welcome to the Jungle, Paradise City, Nightrain, Brownstone, the guitar melodies and solos on Estranged, the list goes on. In a competition over who is more important to rock history, it’s not even debatable.

And in terms of who could handle the Rihanna gig? Slash would walk in with his top hat and the musical director would fire Nuno Bettencourt before Slash was done plugging in his guitar. Because while Nuno’s busy whipping his hair around, Slash is an icon of rock n’ roll and his *look alone* would nail the gig. There’s no musical style that Nuno performs on those Rihanna songs that Slash couldn’t do - the idea that Slash couldn’t handle switching between reggae and dance pop is particularly absurd - and anything he does that is outside of Slash’s repertoire, like sweep picking, isn’t necessary for the gig.

Nuno’s a dickhead because all of his false modesty (“Slash is a hero of mine!”) doesn’t make sense when the clear premise of what he was saying was “this gig is so fucking tough that even the best guitarists like Slash can’t do it - but I can! I’m more than rock n’ roll, I’m a *real* musician!” Only to walk it back like a little bitch once Fortus disagreed (and disagreed incredibly respectfully).

For him to then knock Fortus makes even less sense. “I’ve never heard of you outside of the Rihanna camp and as a replacement player in Guns N’ Roses.”

Well no one knows Nuno Bettencourt outside of Extreme. And no one under, say 42 knows Nuno Bettencourt at all except for maybe some older shredders working on their skills at your local Guitar Center.

Furthermore, Fortus has played THE EXACT SAME GIG! Before Nuno! The amount of nerve to then turn around and slam the guy who just did your exact gig, and then try to big time him by saying you’ve never heard of him, when Nuno himself hasn’t been relevant since 1991 is staggering.

So on the one hand, he’s talking some bullshit about Slash. Then he tries to walk it back and say he’d never do such a thing and deflects and tries to turn it on Fortus. So he’s talking out of both sides of his mouth and it’s all bullshit.

Sounds like Double Talkin’ Jive to me.

I wish Axl would let this home fuck have it on stage.

"two hand tapping while diving the whammy bar with his dick" - priceless 😂😂

[Russel Nash]

all of this can be settled with a good 'ol guitar duel. I bet my money on 4tus on this one.

[GoodOlJohnnyK]

What’s ironic is that, again contrary to Nuno’s point of view, I would argue that someone like The Edge from U2 is a vastly better and more influential guitarist, and he’s never shredded a day in his life.

It’s not about technical skills, and it never was.

[Rovim]

7 minutes ago, GoodOlJohnnyK said:

What’s ironic is that, again contrary to Nuno’s point of view, I would argue that someone like The Edge from U2 is a vastly better and more influential guitarist, and he’s never shredded a day in his life.

It’s not about technical skills, and it never was.

like the great Ginger Baker said: "it's not how fast you play, it's what you say". Having said that, Nuno is a monster guitar player and his abilities don't end in just great technique. He has a unique feel as well imo.

not my thing though, I can't get into his note choices or Extreme's music, but he is an exceptional talent, no question imo.

Edited July 24, 2023 by Rovim

[Beto 22]

7 hours ago, GoodOlJohnnyK said:

There’s nothing more boring than a guitarist who thinks that technical proficiency means greatness.

100% agreed

 

Someone should tell Slash this. Its what he's tryin' to do at least since 2010.

And not doin it right .

In technical proficiency Nuno is and always was better than slash

[Ratam]

At same time he overrate to Rihanna he underrate to.Slash.....

[Powderfinger]

On 7/23/2023 at 2:16 AM, Blackstar said:

“Slash is one of the greatest rock guitar players of all time but I guarantee – and he’d be the first to tell you – that if he jumps up and he’s got to play a clean intro to Rude Boy from Rihanna, it ain’t happening.”

What am I not hearing? This tune he refers to doesn’t contain anything anything a crap guitar player like myself couldn’t do. 

[Old_school_gnr_fan]

If I were Nuno Bettencourt, I wouldn’t be patting myself on the back for performing with a no-talent like Rihanna.

I don’t hear Slash bragging about that Super Bowl halftime show with Fergie and the Black Eyed Peas (where are they now?).

[GoBucky]

13 hours ago, GoodOlJohnnyK said:

There’s nothing more boring than a guitarist who thinks that technical proficiency means greatness.

Not that anyone cares but I received an offer to audition for a major pop act when I was fresh out of college in 2010, (again, this is actually irrelevant because this shouldn’t matter). I was in my early 20s at the time. I can say that, as hard as I practiced for the gig, the hardest part wasn’t the music - it was competing against guitarists who could do absolutely amazing things on guitar and, more importantly, look cool doing it. I was a recent college grad with no money for cool rock star clothing, so I showed up in what I thought would be a decent replacement: some ripped up jeans and a white t-shirt. A lot of the other folks there looked like extras from Sons of Anarchy, while others looked right off of a runway. Some could play circles around me, others I actually thought I was “better” then. But all of the ones who moved on had one thing I didn’t at the time - showmanship. I did my best “rock star” but I fell short.

The purpose of this story is to poke holes in Nuno’s premise that a gig like that requires a level of musicianship unattainable to a good guitarist: that’s not necessarily true. Fortus, for example, could have probably sleepwalked through his Rihanna gig. Showmanship plays a *big* part in it. And those touring guitarists often are amazing because that tends to be who gets invited to and selected for those gigs. You have to have chops. But you often don’t use them.

Nuno Bettencourt can shred up and down the neck at an incredible rate of speed, playing clean, fluid licks with exceptional technique.…

…and no one fucking cares. Because the point is that, until you write something worth a damn, all the fast licks and sweep picking and tapping don’t mean a damn thing.

The press that Nuno is getting for the Rise solo dubbing him the new Eddie Van Halen is so annoying and it seems to have gone to his head. First of all, it’s only guitar-centric media that acts this way. No one outside of hard rock or guitar nerd culture cares.

Second of all, Eddie Van Halen changed guitar playing forever not just through his incredible technical ability but also his sense of melody and songwriting. So many of Eddie’s solos weren’t actually that difficult (think Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love or Everybody Wants Some) - but damn were they tuneful and memorable! The Rise solo is…impressive, I guess? But the song sucks, so who cares? There are plenty of songs with flashy guitar playing - why has this one been falsely propped up as some sort of spiritual successor to Eruption?

Third of all, these days technical ability is overrated because as good as Nuno Bettencourt or Slash are, there’s always gonna be some dude on Instagram who can play faster, cleaner, and more complex licks, two hand tapping while diving the whammy bar with his dick. So at that point, you have to move on to songwriting chops. Nuno wrote “More Than Words,” which is a classic song that people know and remember. That’s incredible. It’s very hard to do. But Slash wrote Sweet Child O’ Mine, the November Rain solos, Welcome to the Jungle, Paradise City, Nightrain, Brownstone, the guitar melodies and solos on Estranged, the list goes on. In a competition over who is more important to rock history, it’s not even debatable.

And in terms of who could handle the Rihanna gig? Slash would walk in with his top hat and the musical director would fire Nuno Bettencourt before Slash was done plugging in his guitar. Because while Nuno’s busy whipping his hair around, Slash is an icon of rock n’ roll and his *look alone* would nail the gig. There’s no musical style that Nuno performs on those Rihanna songs that Slash couldn’t do - the idea that Slash couldn’t handle switching between reggae and dance pop is particularly absurd - and anything he does that is outside of Slash’s repertoire, like sweep picking, isn’t necessary for the gig.

Nuno’s a dickhead because all of his false modesty (“Slash is a hero of mine!”) doesn’t make sense when the clear premise of what he was saying was “this gig is so fucking tough that even the best guitarists like Slash can’t do it - but I can! I’m more than rock n’ roll, I’m a *real* musician!” Only to walk it back like a little bitch once Fortus disagreed (and disagreed incredibly respectfully).

For him to then knock Fortus makes even less sense. “I’ve never heard of you outside of the Rihanna camp and as a replacement player in Guns N’ Roses.”

Well no one knows Nuno Bettencourt outside of Extreme. And no one under, say 42 knows Nuno Bettencourt at all except for maybe some older shredders working on their skills at your local Guitar Center.

Furthermore, Fortus has played THE EXACT SAME GIG! Before Nuno! The amount of nerve to then turn around and slam the guy who just did your exact gig, and then try to big time him by saying you’ve never heard of him, when Nuno himself hasn’t been relevant since 1991 is staggering.

So on the one hand, he’s talking some bullshit about Slash. Then he tries to walk it back and say he’d never do such a thing and deflects and tries to turn it on Fortus. So he’s talking out of both sides of his mouth and it’s all bullshit.

Sounds like Double Talkin’ Jive to me.

I wish Axl would let this home fuck have it on stage.

This is 100% true. I've been friends with the some of the Steel Panther guys for a while, and remember a great story Russ Parrish told. He was teaching at the Guitar Institute of Technology in Hollywood, walked into the auditorium and asked everyone if they knew how to play Eruption. They all raised their hands. He then mentioned that thousands of 15 year old boys in their parents garages are also playing Eruption. He told them to put their guitars down and learn how to write songs. Speed may boost your ego, but nobody outside of guitar nerds either care or want to listen to that. Songwriting ability and melody matter more than anything. 

[El Guapo]

23 minutes ago, Old_school_gnr_fan said:

If I were Nuno Bettencourt, I wouldn’t be patting myself on the back for performing with a no-talent like Rihanna.

I don’t hear Slash bragging about that Super Bowl halftime show with Fergie and the Black Eyed Peas (where are they now?).

Rihanna is good at what she does, might not be your style but it's good music.

[Draguns]

On 7/23/2023 at 5:40 PM, vloors said:

You failed right there being 31 years old so probably have no idea. Extreme were huge in the early 90s selling more than 10 million records. Being on the freddy mercury tribute. Had lots of radio play with other songs like Hole Hearted, get the funk out and yes more than words. 

Nuno is a highly regarded technical guitar player and alot of players consider him up there amongst EVH capabilities. More people know Nuno then who richard is (barely anyone even at the gnr shows).

Saying that he should have just owned up and said he worded it wrong instead if being defensive. He came off very immature.

Personally I also see them both as sell outs playing for Rihanna.

I grew up around that time period. I wouldn't say they were huge. They were a one hit wonder with More Than Words. Other than that Extreme wasn't that big back then. 

[Subtle Signs]

8 hours ago, GoBucky said:

This is 100% true. I've been friends with the some of the Steel Panther guys for a while, and remember a great story Russ Parrish told. He was teaching at the Guitar Institute of Technology in Hollywood, walked into the auditorium and asked everyone if they knew how to play Eruption. They all raised their hands. He then mentioned that thousands of 15 year old boys in their parents garages are also playing Eruption. He told them to put their guitars down and learn how to write songs. Speed may boost your ego, but nobody outside of guitar nerds either care or want to listen to that. Songwriting ability and melody matter more than anything. 

What songs has Fortus written on the level of More Than Words, Hole Hearted,Hip Today,Get The Funk Out,Rest In Peace or Rise?

[LA_0013]

11 minutes ago, Subtle Signs said:

What songs has Fortus written on the level of More Than Words, Hole Hearted,Hip Today,Get The Funk Out,Rest In Peace or Rise?

None.

But he’s toured with Rihanna, which is what the topic is about 

[vloors]

7 hours ago, LA_0013 said:

None.

But he’s toured with Rihanna, which is what the topic is about 

Thinking about it now.... how lame is it we are arguing about who can play rihanna songs or not.

 

[GoodOlJohnnyK]

10 hours ago, Subtle Signs said:

What songs has Fortus written on the level of More Than Words, Hole Hearted,Hip Today,Get The Funk Out,Rest In Peace or Rise?

More Than Words is considered a late classic of the hair band era, just before grunge came through and wiped it away. These days, you can hear it at karaoke nights and just about every college acapella group gives it a try. Get The Funk Out was a minor hit at the time, but it was always incredibly cheesy and lame. The rest of those songs, the overwhelming majority of people have never heard and don't care about. It's irrelevant.

Furthermore, no one's debating who wrote better songs (by the way, I count only *one* song that Nuno Bettencourt should boast of writing, and that's More Than Words). It's a debate over chops, and who could handle the Rihanna gig. Richard Fortus has handled the Rihanna gig, so that's not even a debate. And if you don't think he has chops, you're not paying attention.

This is what Nuno Bettencourt is up to now, by the way:

Quote

 

Directed by EXTREME guitarist Nuno Bettencourt, "Rise: Generations On A Mission" tells the story of two young musicians living the same dream which generations of rock fans and EXTREME fans have lived and breathed for decades… creating music, playing music and sharing that passion on stage or in the audience. As a part of this, EXTREME and earMUSIC have created a space where fans, bands and musician friends of EXTREME spanning the years can come together and share their covers of "Rise". EXTREME and earMUSIC's mission is to share fans' "Rise" covers using their platforms to spread the word, reach the world and unite all generations on the journey to keep rock and roll alive.

"It is not a contest and it is not a competition, but the winner is rock ‘n' roll," says Bettencourt.

 

'Keep rock and roll alive,' and 'the winner is rock 'n' roll,' are two of the cringiest, most embarrassing things I've ever read. Grow the fuck up. If you're over the age of, say, 25 and you're still talking about "rock n' roll forever," or shouting things like "rock ain't dead," or worrying over young people not listening to the same boring guitar shredders that they used to, then you're a loser. You're going to start an 'initiative to keep rock n' roll alive?' Maybe start by writing a song that people actually like to listen to. It's that simple.

By the way - "rock n' roll" is doing just fine. Many of Extreme's contemporaries like Metallica, The Foo Fighters, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Guns N' Roses, Pearl Jam, U2, Green Day, etc. are all selling out arenas and stadiums. It's just that no one gives a shit about 80s butt rock shredders like Extreme anymore, because that shit is boring and always has been.

Edited July 25, 2023 by GoodOlJohnnyK