Rolling Stone Editors Pick 100 Greatest Guitarists

[Dusty Chalk]

But I still have to say that jimi Page still deserves one of the top spots...

Yeah, he should be in the top 10, no doubt. But my reasons for admiring him are entirely different from yours -- he took the guitar places. He was a path-forger.

Listen to, for example, "The Rain Song" -- practically cinematic in its evocation of various different aspects of rain -- drizzle, downpour, sheets, you name it. Masterful.

Gilmour belongs in the top 10 as well -- known to make a grown man cry with a single note. The compilers of that list must not like rock'n'roll very much. They're those people in the back of the auditorium with drinks in their hands too busy talking to each other to listen to the concert going on full-tilt on the stage.

[DariusNYC]

Without endorsing the list as a whole or giving it much credence, I always really liked it, because it had a lot of choices that would piss off the "technical chops" school of music appreciation, who I have always strongly disagreed with. Folks who think fancy fretwork speed and agility are what makes a great guitar player, for example, as opposed to contribution to the music. Great to see Cobain so high on the list, and The Edge. Dead on. Great from my perspective that they omitted someone like Steve Vai. I know this is a somewhat inflammatory post. And I'm not trying to endorse the exact choices or order of the list -- lists like this are more valuable for the writing that accompanies the list in the actual article, which we're not seeing. Should be an enjoyable read, not some official ranking. But what can I say? The very choices that pissed the "musicianship" crowd off on this list are my favorite things about it.

[Dusty Chalk]

Great to see Cobain so high on the list, and The Edge. Dead on. Great from my perspective that they omitted someone like Steve Vai.

And you -- high. Higher than high. The Edge? Easily the most over-rated guitarist ever anywhere. He sucks. All his riffs are variations on "Pinball Wizard". Cobain may be an excellent songwriter -- you've had this discussion before, albeit with someone else -- but that doesn't make him a great guitarist, and he's good enough, but hardly the cream of the crop. This is a list of greatest guitarists, not "people you like" or "people that can write a great song" or "people whom I admire greatly and just also happen to be guitarists", they are being judged based on one thing -- their ability to play a guitar. Admittedly, you can't rip that out of context, but you're going to the other extreme -- you're placing context above all. It's not more important than the ability to play the guitar, it's just context.

You guys who hate Vai probably haven't really listened to him, you picture some wanking fool a la Malmsteem, but Vai can actually do a lot of different things. He's actually quite silly.

[kexodusc]

Without endorsing the list as a whole or giving it much credence, I always really liked it, because it had a lot of choices that would piss off the "technical chops" school of music appreciation, who I have always strongly disagreed with.

Whatever sadistic pleasure you derive from pissing off the technical chops crowd really shouldn't influence the absolute question of greatest guitarists.

Folks who think fancy fretwork speed and agility are what makes a great guitar player, for example, as opposed to contribution to the music.

Yeah, so? If the list was 100 greatest contributions to music, 100 greatest songwriters, or 100 most popular influences in music it'd be different. It's not.

I dare say we sub Cobain with another scruffy looking, sarcastic heroin addict into Nirvana, but keep Cobain singing and writing the music and the impact of the music and band is not diminished at all. Was it his guitar playing or song writing that made him great. Easy question to answer...take his song writing out of the equation and have him just play guitar for another band...how far does he go? I don't know, but I'm sure most people who pick up a guitar because of Nirvana learn pretty quick that he's not top 100 caliber. If this list is a popularity contest, fine, if it's a greatest guitarist list, it's flawed.

Great from my perspective that they omitted someone like Steve Vai. I know this is a somewhat inflammatory post. And I'm not trying to endorse the exact choices or order of the list -- lists like this are more valuable for the writing that accompanies the list in the actual article, which we're not seeing. Should be an enjoyable read, not some official ranking. But what can I say? The very choices that pissed the "musicianship" crowd off on this list are my favorite things about it.

Let's strip away the supporting casts and put Kim Thayil, Glen Buxton, and Steve Vai on stage and see what they can do? I know who I'd put money on to consistently get the biggest, most favorable reaction in front of any and every crowd.

Seriously, Kurt Cobain, and Johnny Ramone on the list of greatest guitar players is as absolutely ridiculous as having Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan in the list of 100 greatest singers. They made the list for reasons having nothing to do with the word guitar.

[SlumpBuster]

I don't know, but I'm sure most people who pick up a guitar because of Nirvana learn pretty quick that he's not top 100 caliber.

This is an interesting point though. Is the overall "greatness" of a guitar player enhanced by his/her ability to get people to pick up a guitar? I think it is. I listened to all the noodlers through junior high and high school: Satch, Vai, Malmsteen, Eric Johnson, ect. I always wanted to learn to play, but only so many hours in a day, right? Plus, where do you begin when you can't mimic your guitar heros because they are playing so damn fast.

Well when I got to college, a buddy of mine started to teach me to play. He was totally Kiss Army and I was really into punk. The DIY ethos of punk ("Yes, you too can play!) got me moving. Frankly, it was Green Day's Dookie, specifically Basket Case, that got me to finally pick up a guitar.

But, Teen Spirit was the first thing he actually taught me. Then it was the collected works of Mick Mars (Motley Crue), CC Deville (Poison), culminating with Paul Stanley. I would play Stanley's rhythm part and he would play lead. Not one of those would end up on a greatest list. Conversely, we then started learning from my Naked Raygun, Social Distortion, and Green Day records.

Which leads me to my other point, is it really fair to compare Cobain to Hendrix or Gilmore? I don't think so. Cobain was trying to do something entirely different than those guys and should be compared to other punk or hard rock guitarists. It like Roger Ebert's philosophy regarding movie reviews, they should be judged within the perameters of what they set out to accomplish, Titanic doesn't get compared to 40-Year Old Virgin. "100 Greatest Guitar Players" is bogus already because there are no jazz or classical players on that list. Hell, Charo is better than half the cats on that list! To be meaningful, I think the list would need to be tailored so that your not comparing apples to oranges.

[nobody]

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