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Greatest Rock Guitarists


OSJ

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Fuck it, I'll do the duos. 

Murray/Smith

Hanneman/King

Schenker/Roth (and Schenker/Jabs)

Gorham/Robertson (and Gorham/Moore) 

Wolf Hoffman from Accept and whoever's playing with him at the time

Roeser/Bloom/Lanier

Adams/Smith (Deceased) 

Got to throw personals out there to Chelsea from Death Side/Paintbox (RIP), Randy Uchida (GISM/Randy Uchida Band, RIP) and Ake (Mob 47/Protes Bengt/Desperat)

EDIT: Bones from Discharge/Broken Bones, FFS. And PIG CHAMPION from Poison Idea!!! (Again, RIP)

Edited by Curt McGirt
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GREAT call on Pig Champion. Riffs for days and an awesome songwriter. 

As far as duos go, Ian MacKaye and Guy Piccioto from Fugazi. Go listen to Arpeggiator. 

I'd also like to add Stephen Egerton from ALL and Descendents. She's My Ex is Steve Stevens meets Greg Ginn. His guitar tone on the Breaking Things and Everything Sucks albums is just monstrous. 

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On 7/23/2020 at 4:17 PM, Curt McGirt said:

Awww I forgot about Janick. I honestly love the guy, he gets a bad rap from some but he's a fine showman and guitarist. 

I like Janick. Him and Bruce did great work on Tattooed Millionaire, and even though Maiden's decline basically started when he joined the band, he wasn't the one writing most of the songs or who decided to hire Blayze. And I really enjoy them as a three guitar attack these days.

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The one (and probably only, since I doubt I'll see them again) time I saw them live, he was ripping it up. He might be a hired gun but the guy has a metric ton of charisma. And they picked up their songwriting around Dance of Death anyway, so where's the problem? I think people have a problem with the stage moves, the posing, etc. and that he's what they consider a "third wheel" in the band. I disagree. He kicks ass. 

EDIT: Brave New World, not Dance of Death. Though I prefer Dance to Brave. 

Edited by Curt McGirt
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I really like both those records (and LOVE the live albums that followed each one)

Honestly, I think this "Bruce and Adrian came back" era has been really strong for the band overall, especially after the disaster that was the 90's

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On 7/22/2020 at 8:03 PM, Curt McGirt said:

I'd rather Yngwie be on the list than any of the Spawn of Garcia. Besides, in the words of Keith Morris, "the Grateful Dead were a country band". 

Even if that was true - who cares? Albert Lee would like a word with you.

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On 7/24/2020 at 12:33 AM, Curt McGirt said:

And Dick Dale and the Ventures while I'm at it

That it took this long for anyone to mention Link Wray and Dick Dale is somewhat shocking. I was waiting to see who would finally mention them. Far as Dick Dale goes, the dude was still amazing in his seventies. "Better Shred than Dead" are two of the greatest CDs ever put together.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Practicing a bit of thread necromancy here - not entirely sure that is wise given my post count, but what the hell...

To add responses to some of the calls that have happened since:

Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser - seriously, listen to "Godzilla," then tell me there isn't a career's worth of licks in one goddamn song.

Link Wray - Poison Ivy may not happen without him, and Poison Ivy is as good an answer as anyone and better than a lot.

Jimmy Page - I think a victim of his/their (as in 'Zeppelin's) success. Too big, and thus often discounted out of hand and not easily seen as the force that he was. My personal opinion (as if any of my scribblings are objective truth) is that his greatest strength was as an arranger rather than a player. Maybe.

Scott Gorham/Brian Robertson - So much feel and spirit in their work. The guitar work in "The Cowboy Song" has literally moved me to tears on multiple occasions, and I am not sorry. Also, "Johnny the Fox" is funky as hell.

Zappa/Belew/Vai - I have to go with Adrian Belew here. I know Zappa is a genius but he has seldom grabbed me, and I've seen Steve Vai on a few occasions and he sort of leaves me cold even as I sit there wondering how the hell he did what he was doing. Belew, on the other hand, I've never been lucky enough to see live but hearing his work with The Talking Heads, The Bears, and most of all King Crimson puts him in the lead for me among the three.

Robert Fripp - What the FUCK goes on in that guy's head? Seriously? I was fortunate enough to see the 'Crims on two consecutive nights last year and not only were the set lists different, but they had slightly different arrangements on the songs they did play twice. Remarkable, and the best musicianship I've been able to experience outside of the San Francisco Symphony. I kind of wonder how/why Fripp never worked with Alan Holdsworth...

Malcom Young - Okay, this is probably the correct answer. Going into Final Jeopardy this is the name I'd write down.

New names for discussion: Phil Campbell from Motorhead, Terry Kath from Chicago.

Concept for discussion: Are there actually any number of answers to the original question? I think it has to be multiple correct answers, which may then ask another question, "Who's the greatest -X- guitarist?" Example: I can't think of a better Eddie Van Halen than Eddie Van Halen, but for me personally Tony MacAlpine is a better Yngwie Malmsteen...

This post brought to you by Sunday Night Cocktails.

 

 

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I just got Spectres on vinyl and figured out the main riff to "Godzilla". Now I have everything they did on LP up to Club Ninja. 

Never a big Campbell fan though he was on tons of records. The duo of him and Wurzel was crushing though, check out The Birthday Party live show for a great example of that. 

This is funny because I just went down a Youtube rabbit hole watching first live Zappa and then live Crim. Zappa's funny stuff does like absolutely nothing for me, but when you put a guitar in that man's hands, he would strike down any idol before him. Just unreal. Fripp terrifies me. If I was onstage and he looked at me from his stool with that unamused British schoolteacher stare I'd feel the blood freeze in my veins. The funny thing is Belew is so goofy, you'd think that he'd be like Jim Carrey to Fripp's Tommy Lee Jones -- "I cannot sanction your buffoonery."

Have we not brought up John McLaughlin? Because, John McLaughlin. 

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Also -- and damn us for not bringing up about a thousand blues and '50s rock guys -- but if we haven't mentioned Bo Diddley we're all fucking idiots.

EDIT: Ah, forgot it's Greatest ROCK Guitarists. Which is why I didn't bring up McLaughlin earlier. Would Buddy Guy be close enough to rock? I mean the guy won a bet by getting the longest guitar lead possible and went outside to play in the snow, that is pretty fuckin rock and roll.

Edited by Curt McGirt
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