Bands And Albums.

I hate Neil Young. I hate his voice. I hate his playing. I like some of his songs, though I have successfuly lived this long without ever singing one or even playing one at a paying gig.

I have never been impressed with U2's Edge guy. If it weren't for his effects, I doubt anyone would ever listen to him.

Cobain was not a musician. He was a songwriter, & a poor performer.

Jerry Garcia was one of the most overrated guitarists I ever heard. To me, he was the epitome of slop (even more so than Jimmy Page!), & if it weren't for the drugs at his shows, no one would care about him.

Your Neil Young claim has been with him since his days with Buffalo Springfield. In the 70's people said Neil and Carlos Santana both played the same riff over and over, yet Young has influenced countless players. IMO he is a master @ his style. Used feedback in a genre that did not welcome NOISE. Check out: Like a Hurricane.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Obfci1CIqq8

Jerry Garcia is probably my favorite steel player. Never saw him live, but his Jerry Garcia Band recordings are stellar.

IMO there are so many players that get God status now that are not good, I prefer to focus on those that appeal to my ears.

jorge


http://www.iamnotjerry.com

there is no real anwser to this but, who do you think is the worst/most overated guitarist of all time? my choice is 100% kurt cobain. dont get me wrong he was good at writing riffs but thats all he was good at.

Cobain is a good good choice. I think he himself would wholeheartedly agree with you on that.

Mine is "The Edge." That guy is so pedestrian it's amazing that so many people consider him an "influence." I'm not even sure he is quite pedestrian. Maybe just barely ambulatory.

Billy Joe Armstrong, John Mayer, basically all "guitarists" on MTV...

Even though I am prog/metal/jazz fusion FANATIC, I completely have to disagree with you about John Mayer being a bad guitarist. Honestly, spend about 20 minutes on Youtube looking up some of his stuff. I promise you will change your mind...

Okay I'm going to go out on a limb here and put down my most overrated (behind Cobain who I actually agree with) and then my most underrated (which will get me flamed).

Overrated: Tom Morello. Yup - I said it. The almighty Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave guitarist. The dude's riffs can usually be figured out in less than 5 minutes, and what can't be is probably some oddball special effect where he is just trying to make his guitar sound like an alien spaceship or something. That said I do love both of the bands he's played in for other reasons and I do LIKE his guitar playing - but to treat him as the guitar god that many people have I just can't understand.

Underrated: Mark Tremonti. Again - probably going to get me slammed - because yeah the dude play(s/ed) with Creed. That said his stuff with Alter Bridge is GOOD guitar work, and live with AB he has done some AMAZING guitar performance work which to be frank rivals some of the greats. Even with Creed despite what anyone may think of the band's commercial popularity, overplay on the radio, hatred for With Arms Wide Open, or opinion that Scott Stapp is a complete moron - some of his guitar work if you sit down and try to actually do it was pretty impressive. Even their most radio friendly hit Higher isn't the easiest little riff to play on just one guitar at first glance.

there is no real anwser to this but, who do you think is the worst/most overated guitarist of all time? my choice is 100% kurt cobain. dont get me wrong he was good at writing riffs but thats all he was good at.

lol i dont quite recall anyone ever referring to kurt as a great guitarist. he himself has been quoted as saying he is not very good.

hands down, no way around it....KEITH RICHARDS...

I never considered Cobain a guitar player. He played some rhythm guitar and sang, but I don't think of him as a guitar player. Did Johnny Cash play lead guitar? Can't say I ever heard him play lead, just sang and played rhythm I think. A long time ago a guitar player friend of mine went to see his hero Leslie West live for the first time. He said it was the most disappointing performance he'd ever witnessed. Jerry Garcia played some lead, but again I don't think of him as a guitarist. I beg to differ on Angus, I think he's particularly awesome, but it's a matter of taste. To me Neil Young is a singer/songwriter first and foremost. I don't listen to his guitar playing. I've never been crazy about the Rolling Stones guitarists (except Mick Taylor). I think they are over-rated. As much as I like Eric Clapton, I don't consider him the God that so many people think he is. I guess he's over-rated IMO. I mainly listen to blues greats. There's a lot of people who think Hubert Sumlin is the bomb. I saw him live and I've played with much better guitarists than him IMO. Definitely over-rated. There's been a few guitarists who I saw live who were much better than I thought they would be. One is the lead guitarist from the Ventures (sorry I forget his name). He was easily one of the best guitarists I've ever seen live. It's hard for me to say who is the most over-rated guitarists. It depends on the genre I guess. Are you talking about lead guitarists? Accoustic? Rhythm? Stevie Ray Vaughan's older brother Jimmy is one hell of a great rhythm guitarist, probably the best I've ever heard in the blues, but I'm not blown away by his lead playing like I was with Stevie.

stevie once said that while he played with 100% of what he had his brother only played with 25% and if thats comin from stevie he obviously got to hear something from his brother that we didnt. i think eric clapton in the 60s was beast but eric clapton nowadays is just too soft. i saw him about 2 yrs ago and it was awesome but still left more to be desired lol but then i again i wanted to be seeing cream. as far as angus not being good, the last dude is obviously not too bright. as bob has said u can not like his style of play or genre...but come on now the dude is sick. hell i think malsteems style of play is borderline cow sh*t but is he good and worthy of praise...yes.

Billy Joe Armstrong, John Mayer, basically all "guitarists" on MTV...

u never fail to surprise me. u r not even a guitarist how can u judge? billie joe, when he was good, played grunge music. nothing but power chords and diminished 5ths with that said no, hes not a good guitarist...john mayer...quite possible the greatest mainstream guitarist out right now. when u come to me and beast up on a song like lenny or machine gun the way ive seen him do then u can talk.

lol, the hypocrisy in hating commercial music overwhelms me at times...I get why people hate it, but at the same time, all of you would give your left nut to be where they are, and if you deny it, you're simply lying for effect. I don't care how eclectic your music tastes are, if a record exec came to you and offered a huge contract, any and all of you would pounce like a cat.

That said, to even bring Ynqwies name up in this discussion is amazing at best...just wow, unless of course your intention is to point out he may be one of the top three guitarists alive..

I thought this topic was "best/worst guitarists, yet all I've read is how much you guys hate, these acoustic songwriters, who mostly use guitars as an accompaniment anyway.

Best: Malmsteen
Worst: Jeff Hanneman of slayer (takes more than 3 octave bends, and 250 BPM bursts every song to impress me)
I do love me some Slayer tho.

Yngwie Malmsteen hands down....he's unworthy of guys like Allan Holdsworth, Steve Morse, Eric Johnson, Steve Vai, Guthrie Govan, Pat Metheny; the list goes on.

Damn, a lot of people seem to hate Cobain! He's not a technically gifted player, but have you ever tried to recreate one of his more electic solos? It's just rhythmic and melodic enough to not be noise, but everytime I try it, it just lacks the chaos and the grungy twang that's kinda his signature. I always found his music very impressive, in its own way.

I guess it all boils down to a matter of taste, but personally, I loved Cobain's sloppy guitar playing.

In terms of overrated, I'd have to put in my vote for Matthew Bellamy, from Muse.

In terms of overrated, I'd have to put in my vote for Matthew Bellamy, from Muse.

Amen sir...Frankie Boyle summed up Muse on Buzzcocks the other week "Thats the first time I heard Muse & knowing how big they are they're surprisingly rubbish, like not good at all"...or summin along them lines. Pretty much exactly what I thought first time I heard 'em.

Threads like this kinda depress me tbh. I'm not a Nirvana fan but I think Cobain was way more interesting & inventive that 99% of the technically correct guitarists that are praised on forums like this. There is no right or wrong way to play an instrument. However people seem happy to ape other players, endlessly trying to copy their sound. Where's the creativity in that ?

The Edge does suck tho...

For me it's Eric Clapton. I get so sick o the blues whores calling him one o the all time greats. I've personally played with at least a dozen guitarists that quite simply smoke his ass. I can't find a single "amazing" thing about ihs playing. Sure he's good, but NOT one o the greats.

As far as Cobain, I'll take his very expressive playing over a "look what I can do" flash masters any day.

I'm still looking for this "amazing stuff from Mayer too... ain't seen sh*t yet.

David Gilmore expresses more in a single note than many guitarists do in a lifetime!

Herman Lee and Sam Totman of Dragonforce. I'd rather listen to any thing Nirvana put out than Dragonforce. I'd rather listen to Poison than Dragonforce infact.

I'd have to say Kirk Hammet of Metallica is WAY overated IMO. I am actually waiting for Metallica to realize this and insert some youth and energy into their band like a Jeff Loomis or Emil Werstler. I just think he uses effects and WAH pedals way too much. I do hink he's produced some really good solos but that was years ago.