A Brief History of Smashing Guitars

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[@CocoonMasterBrendan]

It's honestly no wonder that London Calling has one of the most iconic album covers ever. Obviously The Clash weren't the first to smash guitars on stage; however, that guitar smash on the album art is like the perfect embodiment of late 70s punk rebellion, and I have no doubt that it inspired a legion of imitators in the process

[@ikepigott]

Counterpoint - Artists always lean into certain visual cues to give a still photo a sense of motion. In this case, the motion indicated is supplied by your memory, and had there not been Townshend’s legacy of smashing guitars, the Clash cover wouldn’t have had the same impact.

[@Jaspertine]

The London Calling album cover also explicitly uses the same font-work as Elvis Presley's self-titled album. The album cover was meant to be a kind of fun-house mirror, with Elvis passionately strumming away on his guitar, mouth wide open, and Paul Simonon, holding his bass by the neck, about to ram it into the floor.

[@LuxuryPossum]

It also helps that it's the cover to one of the best punk albums of the 70s, if not of all time!

[@pensivepenguin3000]

Great but kind of misleading album cover, as that album marked a shift away from their raw punk rock origins

[@LuxuryPossum]

@@pensivepenguin3000 If anything it is a good representation of that shift, with the text on the album mimicking the first Elvis record. Both the image and the text work in concert to let the listener know "This is still punk, but we're going to try some new stuff". The Sex Pistols were dead, and the Clash needed to keep moving, experimenting with more genre's of music they enjoyed, like ska, reggae, and rockabilly.

[@thelongspring]

My favorite part of the iconic Hendrix performance is when he kisses his guitar before setting it on fire, almost as an apology for what he’s about to do.

[@hansolo9585]

Everyone who destroyed their instrument after Jimi (besides the Who) kinda missed the point of why he did it. It was performance theatre meant to usher in a new era of rock music

[@mojoblues66]

"I'm going to sacrifice something I really love"

[@tapiwataruwedzera1554]

Bipolar performances...

[@Amedeiable]

As an Italian, I can't help but point to a great local episode: when Placebo played as guests at the Festival di Sanremo, they were forced to lip sync their song, so they played along until the very end, then they smash the guitar: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qau4YY2IaL-gY9ksi=0v8rfjEe87YVpt0E it doesn't make any loud sound, because they weren't actually playing (again: against their will)

[@grahamkristensen9301]

Pete Townsend: smashes guitar Boomers: Hell yeah dude, rock and roll! Phoebe Bridgers: smashes guitar Boomers: oH mY gOd WhY sHe So AnGy?!?!?1

[@bobsbigboy_]

she wasnt angry tho was she? she looked bored and clumsy

[@thecosmicblueautie]

Gotta come up with a new approach!

[@bobsbigboy_]

@@thecosmicblueautie twin, you either DESTROY a guitar or you don't. Honestly the only other good alternative Ive seen is Alex Turner nonchalantly tossing his guitar behind him and walking off

[@pensivepenguin3000]

I don’t think it’s about the smashing of the guitar but about the artistic intent. I think the criticism with her was that it was very staged, premeditated and contrived

[@lee32476]

@@pensivepenguin3000if you don’t think any of those guys took the stage with the intent of smashing their guitar at the end I’ve got a bridge for sale if you’re interested.

[@PeanutSpring3]

I was not expecting the Louvin Brothers to be mentioned in a Polyphonic video. Neat!

[@bobsbigboy_]

also Keith Emerson abused his hammond organs and stabbed them with knives

[@insertnamehere1258]

I think he also burned an old Mellotron at one point.

[@bobsbigboy_]

@@insertnamehere1258 damn

[@2dan4me97]

@@insertnamehere1258 that's Rick Wakeman

[@insertnamehere1258]

@@2dan4me97 oops

[@MrDogonjon]

Then he simulated masturbating with a synthesize and flames spurt out of it like an orgasm. crude theatrics but at least it was rude.

[@Takato]

Yoshiki from X-Japan was famous for his drum kit destruction bits on live concerts too.

[@CP-nl2zb]

"It breaks my hart to see those stars smashing perfectly good guitars" J.H.

[@jayrigger7508]

I am surprised you did not mention y John Hiatt's smashing a perfectly good guitar

[@TimBarrett-b2u]

3:51 Keith Moon: *Hold My Sticks* Jimi Hendrix: *You ain't seen nothing yet...*

[@THEGM]

Israeli rock legend (and one half of the duo "blackfield" with steven wilson) Aviv Geffen still breaks a lot of guitars on stage, it kinda became his thing.

[@Joe-em2pg]

smashing guitars sounds like a new wave band name, hope it comes to reality one day

[@Nokšė0]

Thats just pain when my stepsister says, destroy your guitar like a hippie, when im done playing guitar.

[@edljnehan2811]

Supposedly Ritchie Blackmore smashed his guitar in a rage over ELP taking the stage last at the concert. He was pissed because he thought Deep Purple should have been the last Act. Which is nonsense because ELP were the main headliners and we're absolutely huge then.😮

[@terrylandess6072]

This must be a Richie Blackmore documentary . . . .

[@collintmay]

Great vid as usual, but you completely missed the opportunity to mention the end of Spongebob's "The Campfire Song Song"

[@Bama4life23]

In my opinion, Keith Emerson is the king of destroying instruments. He didn’t just destroy his keyboards. He assaulted them. Not a guitarist but I just wanted to mention him.

[@welcometonebalia]

Thank you.

[@gearandalthefirst7027]

Hanatarash went a step farther and smashed the venue XD

[@cigarettesmokingman9471]

I think you've got the reasoning/mindset behind destroying instruments a bit wrong. Yeah sometimes its about anger, but I'd say that's kinda rare. The most popular reason is simply entertainment. Then you've got destroying instruments as the appropriate end to a show that's a bit like a runaway train. Then there is just celebration.

[@UnwrittenSpade]

While I was In Japan I went to see many many shows from tool to zebrahead. Well I went to a mindless self indulgence show there which was a crowd of maybe 20 Japanese people and then me and by buddy being the only Americans there. At the end of the show which was amazing the guitarist “steve, right?” smashed his guitar into two pieces and gave the pieces to two people in the audience. Their bassist then invited my friend and I along with our gfs at the time backstage. We all hung out a while and got pics and autographed drum sticks and all

[@simonkormendy849]

Personally, I think guitar-smashing has got to the point where it is so passe, if you do something enough times it really starts to get a bit old.

[@decrox13]

It's not though. Destruction has always been a cathartic release. It's not about "guitar smashing".

[@dudemevill1699]

I somewhat believe that George Harrison wrote the song "While my Guitar Gently Weeps" because of this barbaric trend of violence towards Guitars.

[@FelixWheatfield]

I dunno I quite liked it when Phoebe Bridgers smashed her guitar. Sure it was staged, but I got to see stage destruction LIVE on SNL, and that felt good.

[@HEAVYDIAPER]

Rock n Roll is excess? If Tony Montana was a rock and roll album it would be 'Be Here Now' by Oasis.

[@decrox13]

Oasis deserves no mention anywhere. British people overrate their music scene, that's why they're mentioned. They're about as notable as Third Eye Blind..

[@LynnHermione]

Breaking expensive equipment is such a priviledged thing to do. If you have ACTUAL stage presence you don't need dum stunts like these.

[@FTW_666]

People whining about those who smash guitars are invited to tell us what they’ve given to the downtrodden.

[@justankitty1795]

I haven’t watched the video yet but I find destroying guitars and instruments extremely disrespectful. Whenever I see someone do it I think “that guitar at could’ve gone to a kid that needed it”. To me it’s going look how successful I am that I can destroy this expensive piece of art. Maybe that’s just me though, whenever I play guitar it’s like the instrument helps me see and display different aspects of myself. A tele narrows my focus and makes me more introspective while a les Paul, or a les Paul clone in my case, unleashes my anger, rage, and aggression. I think the reason I’m so repulsed by guitar smashing is that I view them as personas of myself. Idk maybe I’m just too attached.

[@samanthaking4334]

I think the point of it tho is to be rebellious and detached. To act out in protest of the establishment in a rage. And the guitar being such an important part of the artist and the show adds on to the rebellion. Although I think this has been lost in most modern guitar smashing

[@guillermo3564]

Unless there's technical issues that couldn't be resolved that sets a guy off and he breaks #1 or #2 simply because he's pissed, no one is destroying top tier instruments. Most of that is planned mayhem and the budget models are the ones that are being destroyed. The majority of budget guitars at that price range are junk and definitely something that you shouldn't waste money on buying it for a kid. They're actually doing the industry a favor by keeping that crap out of circulation.

[@justankitty1795]

@@guillermo3564 I really disagree on the junk guitar thing, sometimes a junk guitar are the only thing some people can afford. Also like a $200 bullet Strat is still a good instrument. All the guitars I have are less than $500 and play amazing. The point I’m trying to make is that a junk guitar could still be used by a kid who needed it despite it not being made super well made. Hell Tim Hensons first guitar was a cheap ass bullet Strat.

[@justankitty1795]

@@samanthaking4334 I totally agree, if someone wants to smash guitars go for it. It’s just something that does not sit well with me personally.

[@C00LTRANE]

Smashing a guitar is herecy, except maybe smashing a Squier Bullet

[@madatlas3806]

First Act is basically made for it, if you'd even consider that a guitar 😂

[@jimmylepog5133]

In order to destroy an instrument you must get hurt, that's rock & roll, that's why green day or pheobe bridges look so stupid doing it.

[@averageotaku1993]

Hendrix is a hack. He’d be nothing without The Who.

[@Printknight528]

You have to include Green Day’s smash at I heart music fest

[@mohhie]

biedny zniszczony defil 2:04

[@ohmpoingpoing]

I was expecting Prince's while my guitar gently weep to appear here somehow.

[@knightsonofjack]

I smashed my first guitar and threw it in a bonfire

[@JuanAlejandroRaveloUrbaez]

"The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely." All art is quite useless. OSCAR WILDE

[@HalfpennyTerwilliger]

The first time it happened doesn't feel very rock'n roll as his rage was about seeing that no one cared about his guitar being broken but him. And every time it happened next, it wasn't "a reprensentation of what rock'n roll's all about" either. Every subsequent events where just doing either what was expected or going for shock value to get noticed. It's not rock'n roll, it's marketing.

[@decrox13]

You sound lame

[@Thekowaikaiju]

WHO? hehe

[@billschlafly4107]

Destroying instruments is cliche AF at this point and what's the next generation gonna do next? Smash the computer that's responsible for fixing their crappy music?

[@TopsideCrisis346]

I think the reaction to Phoebe's guitar smash demonstrates the weakness and timidity of GenZ. These kids are the opposite of "punk" - they're conformist, dependent, easily swayed by the media, ready to kowtow to their corporate and government overlords, completely unable to exercise the very freedom they claim to have, and moreover, critical of those who truly think for themselves and reject the status quo. They've accepted the culture that's been spoonfed to them by our modern culture, one that may have found its roots in the hippie movement, but has over the course of the last three decades been distilled into a quasi-religious paradigm, an unholy fusion of Marxism, paganism, and Darwinian atheism, that has infiltrated the halls of power, and used its own status as a non-religion - or perhaps more appropriately, an anti-religion - to push traditional Western ideas out of the public cultural space, to usurp and subsume all in its path in the name of Woke. It seems the time has come for Punk to destroy its own child - and Punk may be the only thing that possesses the power to do so. #WakeUpFromWoke

[@blujazz10000]

An excellent analysis. Thank you. Here's to hoping.

[@decrox13]

Oh my god, I love guitar smashing. Phoebe Bridger's is weak and timid. She should not be smashing guitars. Lame "female rage" feminist marketing nonsense. It was so lame.

[@ChainsGoldMask]

Krist novaselic throwing his bass in the air and it coming down on his head. 😮😂

[@spooley]

Then getting a kick in the ass from Kurt who didn't know why Krist was running off stage. Ah, MTV iconic moments

[@pensivepenguin3000]

I’m convinced that explains why he became a wacko right wing nut job later in life lol

[@ecurewitz]

Ouch

[@puncturedbicycle7264]

You know you’ve made it as a rock n roll star when you can easily smash a guitar that tons of people kill for just to own it

[@blackaciddevil]

This is a bad take. Plenty of impoverished artists have taken to smashing their instruments during a performance. And nobody is killing for a guitar, if they really wanted a guitar that badly I’m sure they could walk into a guitar center and steal one, supposedly that’s how Motley Crue acquired their instruments.

[@evandylan]

Well considering I smashed the shit out of my Ibanez bass into my Fender amp, it’s worth it 😎

[@puncturedbicycle7264]

@@blackaciddevil chill it’s just a figure of speech (Reaching a level of success in which money is no object or concern for you) lmao

[@lucianojocy]

That's your bar? Becoming rich enough to afford being extravagant? Doesn't sound "rock'n'roll to me.

[@puncturedbicycle7264]

@@lucianojocy I think guitar smashing is cool but personally I won’t do it. I love my guitars too much to do that Besides I just think that once money is no longer a problem you can just focus on the music, writing, touring, and performing. Rock n roll is supposed to be fun, fast, and loud and having a good time in general but you can’t be any of those things when rent is due a week and you only got 10 dollars to your name. And then you’ll spiral into drugs and alcohol and you know how that story goes

[@LuDux]

"We break stuff as protest against consumerism" "Then what? "We buy more stuff at supermarket and break it as protest against consumerism"

[@madatlas3806]

I thought the same thing 😂

[@baileywatts1304]

"Excess ain't rebellion. Are you drinking what they're selling? Self-destruction will not hurt them, your chaos won't convert them They're too happy to rebuild it. You can never really kill it"

[@alfonsalenius2482]

​@@baileywatts1304cool quote, who said it?

[@kostibulished]

@@alfonsalenius2482 It's from Cake's Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle.

[@baileywatts1304]

@@alfonsalenius2482 It's from CAKE's Rock and Roll Lifestyle

[@AlienToppedPancakes]

I feel like there's something so self-destructive about smashing a guitar, almost like self-harming. Like it's the one companion you've had through thick and thin. It's literally the instrument you use to communicate your feelings and speak you inner dialogue through in a desperate attempt to be understood by anyone. And you symbolically strip yourself of that!!! How Pete Townshend explain it really strikes a cord; that no one seemed to see him, to see the frustration and sorrow he felt by losing something he held dear. That no one put the same devastating meaning into the situation... It probably could have been fixed. But while IN that moment, there's nothing els to do but to make a big, loud and violent scene out of it. Making sure everyone else sees the hurt you're going through. No matter how much you're simply hurting yourself in the process. Metaphorically leaving another cut open to spill your blood and heart out for anyone to notice and feel the traumatic devastation with you... I'm surprised that no one has captured an artist weeping over a broken instrument, but I suppose the genre of rock isn't exactly the vibe for that. At least not on stage.

[@doctorrobert1339]

Great comment, love it

[@delaneymcdermed2399]

This is like the best comment on youtube

[@AlienToppedPancakes]

A cursory internet search did show a few incidents of musicians morning a broken instrument during a show. E.g Frank Iero, of My Chemical Romance fame, seemingly having a pretty emotional reaction to breaking the headstock off his guitar. Sitting on the edge of the stage and ending it by swinging the guitar around above his head. Mirroring Pete Townshends reaction in a lot of ways... Got to sympathies with it, losing a "friend" like that.

[@WilliamHaisch]

I heard in interviews that Nirvana was upset that the tour manager wouldn’t buy Dave a better set of drums that could stand up to the rigors of touring… so the lads in Nirvana decided to destroy all of their gear on stage so the managers would be forced to buy them new gear that wasn’t pure garbage. 😂 Kurt is quoted as saying the reason they smashed their guitars was to avoid an encore. No gear, no encore! 😂

[@CamInABand]

Was this the 1991 Rotterdam show?

[@WilliamHaisch]

@@CamInABand The specific story I saw was from a show at The Cabaret Metro in Chicago in Oct 12, 1991 when Nirvana was still playing clubs after Geffen had released “Nevermind” album and the music video was on MTV but the album hadn’t gone crazy with sales yet. The video is on KZbin: “Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic Tell Old Nirvana Stories - Part 2”. The show date was pulled from the LiveNirvana site under the equipment guide. 😀

[@RockinRobin411]

I had a guitar that was no longer playable. I could have thrown it into the trash, but instead, I smashed it and put it into the bonfire as a sacrifice to Saint Jimi.

[@Donyourmom]

Based

[@soulagent79]

Townshend was an art student and a fan of Gustav Metzger's. To him the guitar smash was some kind of expressionist art performance and he started hating doing it, when it rather became a circus act after some time.

[@RetNemmoc555]

Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood smashed everything on stage at Anaheim stadium in the mid seventies. One of their equipment trucks had broken down, so they rented most of the stuff on stage. The sound kept cutting out during the first couple of songs. We could tell that Rod Stewart was getting really irritated, and at some point (I didn't really see this coming) he turned to Ronnie Wood and said something like, "You ready?" They started smashing EVERYTHING. Smashing guitars, stabbing amps with guitars, swinging mics on the cords and smashing them onto the stage. The best part was Ronnie Wood jumped up on the grand piano and started smashing the strings and mechanisms inside. If this was on film it would have gone down as one of the great guitar smashing moments in rock history. The stadium was packed, but I've never heard the story told by anyone else since then.

[@crlaw75]

Wow.

[@joermnyc]

Kurt Cobain usually always smashed a Fender, because replacement necks were pretty easy to get. Kiss would use cheap Norlin era Gibson guitars for smashing, that era of Gibson produced a lot of guitars that were better off in the trash. Phoebe Bridgers was told by Danelectro: “Good luck, these are pretty strong” (the guitar was sold at auction, it was not really smashed that badly.)

[@nomad1517]

Trent Reznor breaking his keyboards was actually pretty cool. Skrillex breaking his macbook pro and accidentally slipping and falling was hilarious.

[@MotoLen51]

All those beautiful, broken Strats and 335s make me sad.

[@mr_bassman6685]

At least you can glue Fenders/Squiers back together if you have all the pieces.

[@mojoblues66]

I agree on the 335s but Strats are cheap ass guitars. Nobody ever smashed a Les Paul.

[@ConglomerationCat]

The only person that still to this day captures my attention is Pete Townshend. His physical delivery and expression always seemed so intense and incredibly raw. Anyone else who's attempted it just doesn't look and feel right. It was always a spontaneous combustion that was volcanic. Even watching him throw it in the air, twirling it, shaking it, using it as a machine gun was captivating.

[@BobbysArchive]

I loved that him and Keith always moved around like animated cartoon characters and would make as much noise as possible while doing it, I really wish there was more footage

[@ConglomerationCat]

@@BobbysArchive I completely agree 110%. I loved the eye contact they made on stage... Pete would spontaneously do something spur of the moment and Keith would lock in with him as if Pete was jumping off a cliff and Keith held on. Great visual chemistry for sure.

[@decrox13]

This is the most ridiculous BS I've ever heard. They suck. They're a Beach Boy knock off band.

[@Lolzosaurus]

As someone who both plays the guitar and has customized a few. I cannot consider smashing one that has stories or a history attached. a guitar I customized with my dad, a guitar I wrote portions of some of my songs on,... If I had to do it, I'd smash a new factory one and hope to destroy the body so badly I can use broken parts of the body, a mold and some epoxy resin to turn one guitar body into two.

[@Riz2336]

The Jimi Hendrix Monterey pop one was classic

[@LuxuryPossum]

The great PS to Paul Simonon smashing his bass, was that he later said he smashed the wrong one. He had two Bass guitars, one he preferred more over the other, and in his fit of rage during that show, he didn't realize that the bass he was smashing was the good one. I have heard later, he would be playing his remaining bass guitar, and would lament that he should have destroyed it over the one he ultimately smashed on stage.

[@ian_does_things6586]

The rock gods needed a good sacrifice in exchange for one of the most iconic album covers in music.

[@allentastic]

The guitar smash has always been and will always be the most rock'n'roll thing a person can do. You just ripped a sick set? Smash your axe, man. Your set time got cut in half by asshole promoters? Show 'em how pissed off you are. You're tired of your tax dollars going to Raytheon? Make a ruckus. Sacrificial art rules. You gotta be willing to bleed for your art, otherwise, what's the point?

[@spartenz14]

I think it's be interesting to talk about what guitar smashing has morphed into in these recent years. First thing that comes to mind is Death Grips smashing the iMacs on stage.

[@ultimadum7785]

Smashing an iMac is so unbelievably lame 🤣💀

[@spartenz14]

@@ultimadum7785 ok

[@TABBYMUSIC]

@@ultimadum7785 ok

[@makataksneeky8]

No mention of John Hiatt’s Perfectly Good Guitar?? Missed opportunity!

[@BrightLightsTonight]

I. WAS. WONDERING. about the lack of mention of this as the aging reaction.

[@stratkitten]

@@BrightLightsTonight "Oh it breaks my heart/To see those stars/Smashing a perfectly goood guitaaar"....My mom and uncle raised me on Hiatt's music :-) His daughter Lilly's pretty great, too!

[@AndyChannelle]

Saw the Manic Street Preachers at Cardiff Castle. Before the last song, the guitar tech bought on cheap Strat, so I knew Bradfield was going to smash the thing. But cheap Stratocaster’s are not what they used to be, and at the end of the song, James dutifully wielding the machine like a literal axe in crashed it onto the deck. It was fine. So he tried again and again to no avail. There is nothing sadder than watching a 50-something punk rocker banging away at a monitor wedge with a guitar someone spent time building, not because he was angry or impassioned, but because that’s what the audience - by now mostly wandering towards the exits - expected. Still, I got to say hello to Charlotte Church while James was being an ineffectual rocker on stage.

[@sarahcristina4656]

New Polyphonic just dropped! 🗣🗣

[@danielpollart]

That Clash show was anything but quiet and demure! I was in the balcony, and the floor was a seething mass of pogoing black leather that was going absolutely apeshit! Anytime I stopped dancing, I could feel the balcony flexing up and down!

[@unified_method]

70 years of cringe ... probably the most stupid and anti-music trend ever existed.

[@FORRESTtheunoriginal]

I can't believe you would make a video about guitar destruction, and not touch on its proliferation to Professional Wrestling, and how performers like Jeff Jarrett are synonymous with someone getting a guitar wrapped around their head.

[@jerryrathman5717]

@Polyphonic; John Hiatt said it best - kzbin.info/www/bejne/mmbFlpp-iNSEZ9Usi=tcIGoRChVIwIkMeu

[@lt.reubenrozeyt5716]

Only Kurt Cobain could make a song out of smashing a guitar.

[@ashura9706]

ngl Phoebe did look a bit awkward there... I see the vision, she just needed sum more emotion.

[@masudashizue777]

I wondered whether they were just cheap breakaway guitars which were barely playable. I mean, you wouldn't want to break your best-sounding guitar, would you?

[@LynnHermione]

Talking about fans as hysterical and showing a photo of women. Sexism in the first minute, a new record..

[@mycroft0078]

And as a counterpoint is John Haitt's "Perfectly Good Guitar."

[@jaccoverhaaf666]

That song always comes to mind when i see a guitar being destroyed. As a guitarist myself i would never be able to smash one

[@spooley]

Oh, it breaks my heart to see those stars Smashing a perfectly good guitar

[@Lolzosaurus]

I was looking to see if this comment had been made 😅

[@madatlas3806]

Good tune, and a good message. Love that song.

[@baileywatts1304]

@@jaccoverhaaf666 The song that always comes to my mind when I see a guitar smash is How Do You Afford Your Rock And Roll Lifestyle

[@__-be1gk]

Guitars are too well made, it looks pathetic seeing someone hit a guitar against something over and over just for it to barely break, it looks like a child having a tantrum or copying what he thought looked cool on tv rather than some kind of expression of rage and rebellion. After all, what's individualistic and rebellious about doing the exact same thing everyone else has been doing for nearly a century?

[@freesk8]

Perfectly Good Guitar John Hiatt he threw one down from the top of the stairs beautiful women were standing everywhere they all got wet when he smashed that thing but off in the dark you could hear somebody sing it breaks my heart to see those stars smashing a perfectly good guitar i don't know who they think they are smashing a perfectly good guitar it started back in 1963 his mama wouldn't buy him that new red harmony he settled for a sunburst with a crack but hes still trying to break his mamas back oh it breaks my heart to see those stars smashing a perfectly good guitar i don't know who they think they are smashing a perfectly good guitar how he loved that guitar just like a girlfriend but every good thing comes to an end now he just sits in his room all day whistling every note he ever played well there outta be a law with no bail smash a guitar and you go to jail with no chance for early parole you don't get out until you get some soul oh it breaks my heart to see those stars smashing a perfectly good guitar i don't know who they think they are smashing a perfectly good guitar late at night the end of the road he wishes he still had that old guitar to hold he'd rock it like a baby in his arms never let it come to any harm oh it breaks my heart to see those stars smashing a perfectly good guitar i don't know who they think they are smashing a perfectly good guitar

[@JackGladstoneHolroyde]

It's amazing to see how Boomers hace grown: first smashing guitars, then the economy, and now the principles of democracy. Such a glow up!

[@CriticalEatsJapan]

I kinda have a feeling that John Hiatt may not entirely agree... ;)

[@KamenSentaiMetalHero]

I wished you mentioned Charles Mingus destroying his bass or Nine Inch Nails smashing keyboards and guitars.

[@DomyTheMad420]

yeah your end point i KINDA agree but the concept lost a huge chunk of meaning when artist and managers alike started doing it for publicity instead of [actual reasons]. especially nowadays most guitar smashings are more spectacle then symbolic, usually being devoid of reason at all. And NO, your or my favorite artists are NOT immune to this critique. I can GET and sympathize with being forced to cater to the whims of the music industry. I won't judge artists for bending to that machine in order to 'make it big'. I will however question their 50th guitar smash of this year. >.> "You're not cool, that wasn't called for and wow i sure am glad my ticket paid for some random violence woooh"

[@mykhedelic6471]

I love guitars, I'd rather destroy them with my ferocious playing.

[@bio-morph5608]

Always an enigmatic ritual. Thanks for your unapologetic illumination on this subject. Love your videos sir :)

[@memetrashcan9613]

Phoebe Bridgers makes lowkey and depressing music idk why yall expect her to be like the London Calling cover

[@BrightLightsTonight]

From the holy text "The Clash: Before and After”, by Pennie Smith, with annotations: Paul don’t like Rotosound. - J.S. Meanwhile stage right: A girl (Coleen) ran towards me chased by a New York-style bouncer (behind Paul). Before he could reach her I stepped in and whisked her to safety - leaving the stage as the kit exploded into the orchestra pit. This all happened within the space of three minutes. The whole thing felt like a scene from a movie. - M.J.

[@grindingdeviance1864]

Thanks for compiling the video, awesome job! I've seen at least 11 (by my count) guitar smashings/destructions over the decades including Ritchie Blackmore, Wendy O Williams, Paul Stanley and a local gig where one took place. I've also destroyed a few scrap ones in my time for home made movies. Always the best part of the show! :)

[@b.jammin]

Wendy-O-Williams didn’t guitar smash. The chainsaw was brutal. Loud. Efficient. Not a feat of strength. Not punching a wall. It was body horror. A scene from Scarface. And this dad-rock sausage party didn’t even get her name right in its four second throwaway.

[@AnnaDavidMerz]

It‘s not. Play some wild, rebellious guitar, take a bow and go home. Don’t - at least in this day and age - destroy anything just because you can. It’s not rock‘n‘roll, it never was. Love your videos but I kindly disagree with your last sentiment. ☺️😀

[@jswjanjan]

Always makes me anxious. 😮

[@mightyturkeyneck3498]

I'd rather have been at Monterey Pop than that effin feculent hippy soup Woodstock! Fer THAT matter, I'd rather have been at ALTAMONT than Woodstock!!🦃

[@The_Real_Shrimp]

One of my favorite Nirvana destruction performances is definitely Live And Loud when they're done playing Endless Nameless. Or in 1990 at Bogarts when he destroyed his hand built Pink mustang and split the body clean in half

[@gogbpackers12]

When Billie Joe Armstrong melted down over Justin Bieber and destroyed his guitar was in 2012. And the band mates apologized for it. There you see a complete change in acceptance of this practice.

[@naturaljoe7397]

Paul Westerberg put it best when asked why he destroyed one of his Gibson ES335’s, “you cherish the things you love. Me? I destroy ‘em.”

[@Chompingbits]

Cake said it best: How much did you pay For the chunk of his guitar The one he ruthlessly smashed at the end of the show? And how much will he pay For a brand-new guitar One which he'll ruthlessly smash at the end of another show?

[@marxman00]

Trouble is ,it always looks a bit silly and staged these days....although there's WAY too many guitars being made.. which kind of defeated the "ooh "of it. Now if they fixed one and did a full setup as part of the show ..Id be impressed !!

[@Elizabethcantsing]

my favorite thing about the Phoebe Bridgers guitar smash on snl is that a few years later when boygenius had their snl debut, Julien Baker smashed her guitar, looked at Phoebe and they hugged. I felt like it was this sweet moment of solidarity after all the bullshit Phoebe caught for doing it herself.

[@Carl_films93]

how are you gonna make a video about smashing guitars and not bring up Oliver Ackermann from A Place to Bury Strangers? Man destroys his stuff nightly and fixes it the next day.

[@nickfanning]

It’s super cringy

[@fm00078]

You're right, it's not the epitome of Rock & Roll, it's the immaturity. I grew up to & through it all, ya, I'm that old. It's "I can do better than you" low mentality.

[@landerryan1485]

Paul Stanley has special guitars setup just to be smashed. He has a large cut made at the neck pocket so they break easily. Sounds like an expensive habit? Paul and Gene both sell every guitar that they play on stage after every show. Even Paul’s smashed guitars will fetch a hefty price tag for some collectors.

[@PortCharmers]

I'm not a violent man at all, but the mere idea of someone harming my guitar on purpose sparks a blood-lust beyond reason. I like Malcolm Young and Gretsch, not beaten up on purpose, but through decades of hard playing. He loved that guitar. I imagine the craftsman who made it was happy every time he saw it on yet another album-cover, while his boss bemoaned the fact that the company hasn't earned a penny from him all theses years.

[@andrewharper1609]

I have to laugh. Since the '90's the cheaper guitars have become so well made they have to be bandsawed to actually break. It's cartoonish nonsense that's as fake as wrestling. If you have to bandsaw it's no longer spontaneous and is pure theatre. May as well focus on actually playing instead.

[@aleonimation]

i'd argue against the idea of piano smashing not being as gutteral as guitar smashing, as a ben folds fan the piano has such a long history of being a pompous/classy instrument (as its seen today) that when you throw a stool at it or kicking it like Tim Minchin, it's almost like humiliating it

[@bserum]

How much did you pay for the chunk of his guitar The one he ruthlessly smashed at the end of the show? And how much will he pay for a brand-new guitar One which he'll ruthlessly smash at the end of another show? And how long will the workers keep building him new ones? As long as their soda cans are red, white, and blue ones!

[@crlaw75]

Hendrix upstaged The Who by the mangers (who managed both acts) letting Jimi bring his own gear, as compared to The Who using rental units.

[@marcbergeron8690]

I have never seen the buzz about violently transforming a good musical instrument into garbage. It's useless pollution and I h@te it. Good musicians don't need this unclassy gesture.