Not necessarily the greatest guitarists ever (though many of these guys surely are), but here are two dozen of the guitarists (or guitarist pairs) that I most enjoy listening to. I've tweaked the list since I first posted it, removing a couple, adding a couple, and shifting the order a bit. As it is, these two dozen are listed more or less in order of preference, but the lines blur often enough, depending on my mood and a host of other factors.
Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin)
Randy Rhoads (Ozzy Osbourne)
Joe Satriani
Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi)
Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath)
Paul Gilbert
Slash (Guns 'n' Roses, Velvet Revolver)
Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society)
Eddie Van Halen (Van Halen)
Joe Walsh (The Eagles)
Malcom & Angus Young (AC/DC)
Steve Clark & Phil Collen (Def Leppard)
Glenn Tipton & K.K. Downing (Judas Priest)
Vivian Campbell (Dio, Whitesnake, Def Leppard)
Chris Robertson & Ben Wells (Black Stone Cherry)
Rudolf & Michael Schenker (The Scorpions)
The Brothers Van Zant (Lynyrd Skynyrd, .38-Special, Van Zant)
Steve Vai
George Harrison (The Beatles)
Eric Clapton
Keith Richards (The Rolling Stones)
Mark Tremonti (Alter Bridge, Creed)
Kirk Hammett & James Hetfield (Metallica)
George Lynch (Dokken)
7 comments:
That is a fun list to look at. They are all excellent guitarists. FWIW, in my list, I would put the Edge (U2) near the top. He is amazing!
You are hilarious.
Uh, thanks, I think, Sandra. Not sure if you are being serious, or just rolling your eyes and shaking your head at me. But, okay, sure ;-) Hilarity rocks.
I do enjoy U2's music, but more for the overall sound and for their songs. I don't mind The Edge's guitar playing, obviously, but it doesn't jump out and grab me the way the guitarists on this list do with their playing.
I suppose I was lightheartedly reflecting on how we can see eye to eye on one kind of music (hymnody)and be pretty much opposite in other areas. I'm glad you guys can have fun comparing rock guitarists.
Rock guitarists all sound alike to me. When you don't know a genre, you can't differentiate the details.
I read your comment correctly, then, Sandra. Thanks for your observations. You are quite right about familiarity and discernment. When you don't know a particular idiom or musical vocabulary, it can all sound the same. We learn a language of music in much the same way we learn the language of speach, by hearing it and being immersed in it.
So, the moral of the story, we need to immerse you in rock music until it starts to sound different to you ;-) Or not. Perhaps we should just stick to sharing good hymnody in common.
Bless you for not listing that awful Jack White. You have far greater 'Rock Guitar' wisdom than Rolling Stone magazine.
Vivian Campbell is great, but whenever mentioning Whitesnake, one should give a nod to the incredible John Sykes, who did all the guitar work for their biggest album before Coverdale ditched him and brought in Campbell and Vandenberg as replacements.
In other news, Yngwie will be by later to unleash the fury on you.
Thanks for your comments, JJV. I've never gotten into Jack White's music, although I've tried at times. I'm sure he's more accomplished than I'll ever be, but I just don't find his music very entertaining.
You're quite right about John Sykes. He could easily have been on my list.
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