... c'est le blog des chroniques rock impressionnistes (presque) hebdomadaires, ouvertes à tous les commentaires, ajouts et désaccords... Du factuel et du subjectif pour les novices ou les connaisseurs, par l'équipe de Crosstown Traffic et un seul objectif : prêcher une espèce d'Evangile rock n' rollesque sans verser dans les querelles de chapelles...

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"I think [Satriani or any of the newer players]'ve perfected their style and that’s pretty much it in a nutshell. I just wonder where they’re going to go musically. Not just technique-wise because they’ve done that. A lot of solos I hear sound so incredible, but they sound like somebody practicing. You know? They sound a bit soulless – fiery, but at the same time, lacking in spirit and soul.[...] There’s such similarities among the guitarists. At the end of the day, there are a hell of a lot of notes being played out there and I defy the average middle-American or the average punter to differentiate between them. When you sit down and really listen, then you can obviously tell who’s got what chops going. But they play so fast and hammer-ons and all that, it’s got to the point where the human ear can’t really receive that information at that speed anymore..." (Jeff Beck)

"[Speed metal bands] have just got the wrong bit. They think that being fast and loud is the whole thing and it isn't. The guitar solos are not really difficult for a guitar player, it's just playing scales. To feel a solo and bend into it & I mean Hendrix is the best guitarist you've ever seen in your life. And he learned from people like Buddy Guy, Lightnin' Hopkins and people like that inspired Hendrix. To be influenced by something, you're gonna have to play it the same. And these guys are influenced by us, but I don't feel any kinship with them. Cause theirs is vastly inferior to ours. [...] We had gigs with the Damned & I always felt more kinship with the punk bands than the metal bands cause I mean, we had a lot more in common with the Damned than Black Sabbath. I mean we have nothing in common at all with Judas Priest. There's like the Damned, the Pistols, Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers before he fucked up again. They were great, Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers..." (Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister)

"Sandy, Russell and Boss Goodman said, 'Larry, you're gonna do the singing and you better write some songs." I was so scared I couldn't believe it. Not only was I in a recording studio for a fortnight with a real band, but it was, "OK Larry, what are we recording next?' I'd be at the dinner table writing songs. I wrote all the songs. I only co-wrote two [..] Polydor's never given me a baked bean for it. Not one fucking thing... We were in Chipping Norton and I wrote a song called "Raceway". [...] We went back into the studio. [They said] "Oh, we mastered the album over the weekend." "You can't have mastered it 'cause one of the songs doesn't have a vocal on it. it's called 'Raceway'." "It's been mastered. It sounds good as an instrumental. It's going to be coming out in a few weeks time. "Oh yeah? Well, you haven't signed me to contract yet, so I'm not going to let you put it out." [...] They never worked out the contract. They never signed me and their argument now is that I was never in the Pink Fairies. Polydor maintains that I was just a session man who never got paid. They want to give me a couple hundred quid for my "sessions" [...]. They've never even given me a fucking farthing..." (Larry Wallis)

"Dr. Feelgood have got to the stage now where we've got ourselves into a quite unique position - nobody else really does what we do, we're specialists, but I don't think we're going to get very much bigger unless there's some sort of serious accident like a major record company putting an album out for us!! So, I think it's our niche, this is where we've found ourselves in the marketplace, which is quite a nice position to be in really..." (Lee Brilleaux)

"I always gravitated towards the hard stuff, "Born To Be Wild", then Black Sabbath. I went through a big Alice Cooper phase, which was probably a major influence on my writing style later, especially after Plastic Surgery Disasters. Then, when I was 15, I discovered the used record store. [...] I got into [The MC 5] and Iggy and The Stooges. I was one of about three people in my high school who liked that stuff, but for some of us, good taste is timeless. Plus, this used record store would throw anything they didn’t think they could sell quickly into the free box. I cleaned out the free box every single day for three years. I got the 13th Floor Elevator, Nazz, Seeds - all the ‘60s stuff. I took it all home...." (Jello Biafra)

"When I was at [Anger's] apartment he outlined this idea for a film that became Lucifer Rising, that he had already started shooting in Egypt. It was then he asked me if I would like to take on the commission and do the music and I agreed to that. [...] I said to him originally that I'd like to see it but, this is a key element to the story, he said, 'I always put the music on after I've made the film'. [...] I had an idea of what Anger wanted. So I went about creating this music in my home studio and I employed a variety of instruments and effects. I had this tampura, which is an Indian instrument that produces a majestic drone. This was one I had brought back form my early travels in India and it was about 5 1/2 ft tall and it was a really deep, resonant beast. So this was the first thing I wanted to employ on it. I thought of this being quite a hypnotic, trance-like piece. Then I had a Buddhist chant that was phased: everything wasn't quite what it appeared to be. I played some tabla drums, not very well I might add, but the effect of it was really good. So that's how the whole thing started to develop. I had synthesiser and Mellotron. And right at the very end there's an acoustic 12-string cascading in with these great horns that sound like the horns of Gabriel. It was a good piece...." (Jimmy Page)