Classical guitar making which gives these instruments (lutes, early romantic guitars) a type of "inner" vulnerability, lacking in the modern guitars. (In fact there are people who claim that a performer's interpretational style is psychologically related to the instrument's aesthetic; and that this can even be observed in contemporary recordings, e.g., Bach's lute works as performed on lute(with convincing expressive phrasing), versus the markedly different interpretations of these works on the modern classical guitar. Alternately, the Spanish repertoire such as Moreno Torroba, would be completely unfitting, for a lute or early-guitar sound aesthetic.) Even amongst parlor guitar players, there are some that consider
What Is Life Harrison performances" (just three of which date from the ex-Beatle's solo years) and described the track as an "exultant song of surrender", abetted by Harrison's "pumping fuzz guitar" and the song's "singalong magnetism". AllMusic's Richie Unterberger similarly praises "What Is Life" for its "anthemic" qualities, "particularly snazzy horn lines", and a guitar riff that is "one more entry in the catalog of George Harrison's book of arresting, low, descending guitar lines". Writing in the book "1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die", author Tom Moon refers to "the upbeat single 'What Is Life'" as an example of how Harrison "grabs