Top 100 Rock Guitar Players

[LA_MERC_Cowboy_From_Hell]

I stole this from another forum ut I know there are alot of musician/music minded people here....lets debate this.


Guitar world came out with their list of top 100 metal guitarists. Check out this list. I know all the hendrix fans are gonna have kittens but read the criteria that were involved first :)

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=musicNews&storyID=4266875


here's the list

100 best guitar players by Guitar World:

1. Tony Iommi - Black Sabbath
2. Kirk Hammett & James Hetfield - Metallica
3. Angus & Malcolm Young - AC/DC
4. Randy Rhoads - Ozzy Osbourne
5. Eddie Van Halen - Van Halen
6. Jimmy Page - Led Zeppelin
7. Dimebag Darrell - Pantera, Damageplan
8. Zakk Wylde - Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society
9. Adam Jones - Tool
10. Kerry King & Jeff Hanneman - Slayer
11. Dave Murray & Adrian Smith - Iron Maiden
12. Jimi Hendrix
13. Glen Tipton & K.K. Downing - Judas Priest
14. Ace Frehley & Paul Stanley - Kiss
15. Slash - Guns N' Roses
16. Ritchie Blackmore - Deep Purple, Rainbow
17. Yngwie Malmsteen
18. Joe Perry & Brad Whitford - Aerosmith
19. Dave Mustaine & Marty Friedman - Megadeth
20. Chuck Schuldiner - Death
21. Brian May - Queen
22. Michael Schenker - Michael Schenker Group, UFO
23. Nigel Tufnel - Spinal Tap
24. Jeff Beck
25. Tom Morello - Rage Against The Machine
26. Head & Munky - Korn
27. John Petrucci - Dream Theater
28. Kim Thayil - Soundgarden
29. Vivian Campbell - Def Leppard
30. Daron Malakian - System Of A Down
31. Scott Ian - Anthrax
32. Tom G. Warrioor - Celtic Frost
33. Chris DeGarmo & Michael Wilton - Queensryche
34. C.C. DeVille
35. Marten Hagstrom & Fredrik Thorndendal - Meshuggah
36. Alex Lifeson - Rush
37. Paul Gilbert - Mr. Big, Racer X
38. Jerry Cantrell - Alice In Chains
39. Mantas - Venom
40. Jason Becker - Dave Lee Roth
41. Phil Collen & Steve Clarke - Def Leppard
42. Mikael Akerfeldt & Peter Linggren - Opeth
43. Fast Eddie Clarke - Motörhead
44. Nuno Bettencourt - Extreme
45. Warren Demartini - Ratt
46. Mick Mars - Mötley Crüe
47. George Lynch - Dokken
48. Ted Nugent
49. Jake E. Lee - Ozzy Osbourne, Badlands
50. Rudolf Schenker & Uli John Roth - Scorpions
51. Oystein "Euronymous" Aarseth - Mayhem
52. Scott Gorham & Brian Robertson - Thin Lizzy
53. Steve Vai - David Lee Roth
54. Reb Beach - Winger, Dokken
55. Trey Azagthoth - Morbid Angel
56. John Sykes - Thin Lizzy, Blue Murder
57. Hank Shermann & Michaelk Denner - Mercyful Fate
58. Richie Sambora - Bon Jovi
59. Join Donais & Matt Backhand - Shadows Fall
60. Stephen Carpenter - Deftones
61. Alex Skolnick & Eric Peterson - Testament
62. Brian Tatler - Diamond Head
63. John Christ - Danzig
64. Scott "Wino" Weinrich - The Obsessed
65. Pepper Keenan & Woody Weatherman - C.O.C.
66. Tommy Victor - Prong
67. Leslie West - Mountain
68. Vernon Reid - Living Colour
69. Glen Buxton & Michael Bruce - Alice Cooper
70. Bjorn Gelotte & Jesper Stromblad - In Flames
71. Jim Matheos - Fates Warning
72. Gary Holt & Rick Hunoldt - Exodus
73. Donald Buck Dharma Roeser - Blue Öyster Cult
74. Michael Amott - Arch Enemy
75. Robert Fripp - King Crimson
76. Andre Olbrich - Blind Guardian
77. Joe Satriani
78. Frank Hannon & Tommy Skeoch - Tesla
79. Ty Tabor - King's X
80. Mark Morton & Will Adler - Lamb of God
81. Dino Cazares - Fear Factory
82. Pete Townshend - The Who
83. Jon Schaffer - Iced Earth
84. Timo Tolkki - Stratovarius
85. Neil Young
86. Abbath Doom Occulta - Immortal
87. Kai Hansen - Gamma Ray
88. Uffe Cederlund & Alex Hellid - Entombed
89. Leigh Stephens - Blue Cheer
90. Jim Martin - Faith No More
91. Michael Romeo - Symphony X
92. Bill Steer - Carcass
93. Piggy - Voivod
94. Tony Bourge - Budgie
95. Sammy Hagar - Van Halen
96. Alexi Laiho - Children Of Bodom
97. Akira Takasaki - Loudness
98. Michael Angelo
99. John Kay & Michael Monarh - Steppenwolf
100. Nick Bowcott - Grim Reaper

[LA_MERC_Cowboy_From_Hell]

First of all "Top 100" lists are useless for anything other then pure debate so.....LETS DEBATE!

I'm familiar with about 95 of 100 on that list so I think I'm qualified as far as the topic goes. I'll start with what is right on the list.

2. Kirk/James: True inovators in "metal". While I don't agree with the concept of having teams in the list (I'd rather see each player recognizes as an individual) both deserve a spot in the top 5.

7. Dimebag: No one...I mean NO ONE plays natural harmonics like Darrel. Just listen to the end of Cemetary Gates. I can't even count how many strings I broke trying to play the last harmonic in that song. One of my personal heros. One of the top 3 shredders of all time.

11. Dave/Adrian: Twin guitar harmonies from hell. The main riff from Aces High alone earns a spot near the top. One of the tightest 1-2 punches in all rock. Metal=Maiden.

19. Dave/Marty: Another bad arss 1-2 punch. Two completely diffrent stlyes that play off each other second to none. The long dueling solo from Hanger 18 is the epitomy of this. You can listen and hear Dave's petal to the floor shredding and Marty's classical/blues based lead paterns...AWESOME!

27. John Petrucci: The king of prog rock. This is another guy that gave me fits trying to emulate. The Lord of odd time sigs without a doubt. Images and Words is one of the best pure peices of "musicians music" ever recorded.

32. Tom Warrior: Now I know most of you are going..."WHO?" Celtic Frost was a band from Sweden in the mid 80s. Without bands like Venom and CF there would be no death metal. Not a great technical player but he helped pave the road an entire sub genre of metal.

68. Vernon Reid: Remember Living Colour? They drew attention mainly because they were all black. Once you get past that initial novelty, Vernon was quite the player. Not a player with "feeling" but more of a classic shredder. Technicaly skilled.

80. Mark/Will: It's a little early to put these guys on an "all time" list but they are worthy of recognition. Listen to "As the Palace Burns" and you'll hear a wicked combination of shred, twin leads, off time rhythms. This a band to keep an eye on but you'll have to look under the radar because they are definately NOT radio friendly.

WHATS WRONG WITH THE LIST

6. Jimmy Page: Sorry...not rock. I know what the criteria said, I just don't think he is a top 10er. He deserves a top 20 spot though. I put Page in the same group of inovators as George Harrison and Paul McCartney.

14. Ace/Paul: What?? KISS are one of the anomolies of music. It's a mystery who they acheived what they did. I'll grant you Ace can at least play the guitar but Paul? KISS were inovators that they taught other tards that sometimes, if you have enough smoke and mirrors, talent can be an after thought. (I know I'm gonna get reamed for that but oh well)

26. Head/Monkey: I like Korn....great guitar players? Naw. Lame names aside, they are inovators in that they strapped what are tantamount to high tension cables to their guitars and tuned them as far down as possible and still have them actualy produce a musical note.

79. Ty Tabor: I don't know, I just never really got into Kings X. They few songs I do know never really impressed me from a guitar stand point.

98. Michael Angelo: Does ANYONE here besides me know who this guy is? He was a blip on the radar at best in the 80s and was known for his ability to play double a neck guitar (left and right handed) at the same time. Cool as hell but not much more then an attempt to gimmic his way into the spot light. He never had a band worth a damn behind him.

GOOD FOR A LAUGH

23. Nigel: LMFAO!!! That's friggin Christopher Guest! Spinal Tap is THEE best rock spoof movie of all time. If you haven't seen it, go rent it RIGHT NOW! Leave work, pull of to the side of the road, don't pick the kids up from school...GO RENT THIS MOVIE!

Sorry this was so friggin long but I love music and can ramble on about it forever. Be glad I ddin't go line for line.

[LA_MERC_MadMAX]

I was getting angrier and angrier as I went down the list until I realized it was the top 100 "metal" guitarist...lol. I was like WHAT - no Robert Johnson, SRV, EC, Chet, Joe Pass, D'Jango...lol.

Oh well - not a metal head...jazz/blues/classic rock for me thx :) Although I do listen to G&R, but dats 'bout it.

[Iccey]

I think that Head/monkey shoud have been Higher on the List

[LA_MERC_LaTech]

I agree with the first 2 on the top 100, but AC/DC? NO...not no, but NO. They didn't do anything but capitalize off other people's genius (see first two on the list). Jimmy Page before Jimmy Hendrix?! WTH? Who made this list! Ok, actually, except for Angus and Page, I agree with the top 10.

Mustaine should be a little higher...then again, he did mooch off of Metallica (likewise may also be true)

And it's good to see Sammy Hagar on the bottom of the list...BAH TO HAGAR!

[LA_MERC_JESTER]

you know the only thing about these lists is that most of the people who make these, have little to no clue how to play so they often miss out on the fact that some of these guys are far more tech. than others, like for example nuno bettencourt, just let the average joe pick up a guitar and a tab from any of his songs, and try to run with it..... yeah right, also CFH-- you hit it right on the head Dimbag is so freaking tough to follow that I gave up even tring to hit those octives........

[IamTylerDurden]

Tom Morrello should have been WAY higher than #25... no one on that list is half as inovative as he is!

[LA_MERC_YellowDog]

Ok, now I was familiar with some of the not so well know bands in the list, mainly some of the "death metal" Morbid Angel, Entombed, and Opeth...Well i dont listen to Morbid, or Entombed any more, but I must say that Opeth is on the most complicated bands I have ever heard that has rose from the Death Metal Sceen. This band has some of the heavyest grinds, but at the same time some of the most sophisticated melodys I have ever heard.

[LA_MERC_Cowboy_From_Hell]

Originally posted by LA_MERC_IamTylerDurden
Tom Morrello should have been WAY higher than #25... no one on that list is half as inovative as he is!

Whats your address so I can come slap you. What is inovative about a guy who plays drop D barre cords and uses a Digitech Wammy petal? Aside from tha fact I think him and Zak are sub humans (because of their politics) he's a mediocre guitar player at best. The yard stick I use is "If I can play it note for note....you ain't that good.....BECAUSE I SUCK!"

Scott

[roXet]

tom morello *is* innovative, no matter if you can play his stuff or not, the quesiton is, *did* you play like that before you heard him do it?

[[lag]DikDstrdly]

Well, I gotta say that for the most part, I agree with CFH, but with a few differences.

As for my boy Dime's harmonics, he's a master of them but he copped quite a few of those licks from George Lynch of Dokken. Just ask him and he'll tell you ;-) Same goes for Zakk Wylde. Granted, they took it farther than where they found it which makes all the difference. As for the end of Cemetary Gates, the little secret to that lick and many of his other wild screams is to dump the tremolo just before you hit the harmonic then bend it up. Dime is also a master of the Whammy pedal, so dont knock Morello for using one, lol.

As for Morello, his whole shtick is in making weird ass noises, not notes. If you call that innovative, then so be it.

I too remember Michael Angelo, and Im really suprised that he made the list. He was fast and flashy, but his gimmick only got him 15 minutes of fame.

Im dissapponted that Steve Vai and Joe Satriani placed so low on the list as they are truly gods of the instrument.

It's a travesty that Adam Jones from Tool placed that high. Not that he's that bad, he just isnt in the same league as those guys.

Page, yeah but only top 20. Dime and Zakk should be higher, and Randy Rhoads should be on top, or at least tied with Iommi. If it weren't for Randy and Iommi, over half of that list might've never picked up a guitar...


Hey CFH how ya liking Damageplan brother?

[IamTylerDurden]

Originally posted by LA_MERC_Cowboy_From_Hell
Whats your address so I can come slap you. What is inovative about a guy who plays drop D barre cords and uses a Digitech Wammy petal? Aside from tha fact I think him and Zak are sub humans (because of their politics) he's a mediocre guitar player at best. The yard stick I use is "If I can play it note for note....you ain't that good.....BECAUSE I SUCK!"

Scott

Yea your talking to the wrong person about this crap cus I think its moronic to be upset about people who form a band to preach theor politics for preaching their politics... They choose to start that way, and then they got big, and they were still doing it. Sounds like they knew what they were doing to me.

Also, innovative is using a wrench, toggle switch or whatever else you need to get the job done.. I mean yea, he uses a whammy... but have you really listened to all the sounds and tones he gets. Plus that band in general was on of the first on the scene to do the whole rock/rap thing and they are still the best... they have the most tight sound compared to any of those other jerks out their.

Your talking to someone who is SUPER picky about music and Metalica and especially Lars can eat me!

But I'm still down with you Scott =)