got to have the soul....love some early santana, billy gibbons, duane allman, keith richards and of course my main man david gilmour...props to kirk hammett, zakk wylde, randy rhoads and angus young. also love slash's solo on november rain.
of yeah ritchie blackmore and tommy iommi and jimi hendrix -watch tower...should also include neal schon from journey-love after the fall...george harrison really was a master and got to include jimmy page-physical graffiti is a masterpiece-kashmir is timeless...but the master is david gilmour-the solo on comfortably numb is ridiculous!!!!
Yeah, don't get me wrong - I wouldn't put a lot of those guys in the top 10 greatest guitarist of all time list, but they are all on the top 100 which means they are all badazz. Plus...more thoughts below...
Slash is something special. His solos are not incredibly difficult to play. If you know the minor pentatonic you can play any of his solos. A trained guitarist will look at his playing and cringe. He doesn’t use his pinky hardly ever. But his solos and riffs are full of life and are very catchy. One of my top 10 guitar players for sure.
Rhandy Rhodes was on a whole other level. RIP. I sometimes what the world would be like if some of the greats didn’t leave us so soon.
I mostly agree with the Slash assessment...but I think he has some technical ability. He is far from being a top 10 guitarist IMO but he was a rock star which most of the top 10 guitarists just don't have. This, again, is what makes guys like Clapton, Hendrix, EVH and others so great - they may not have been great "guitarists" from an objective viewpoint, but they are great players from a subjective viewpoint and people can relate.
I mean, to me, the riff from Sweet Child is one of the greatest rock riffs of all time. Up there with Layla. But both are simple and cool. Richie Blackmore had some skill, but who doesn't hear just 3 power chords in their head when they think of him as Smoke on the Water is such a powerful riff.
On the other hand, honestly, Slash had a pretty minimal impact on the world of guitar playing. He didn't push the envelope all that much...he was great, but all the greatest/top 10 really made contributions that pushed guitar playing into a new realm.
Hendrix with the Wah and teeth playing and showmanship, EVH with tapping (even though he far from invented it), Satriani opened the door for solo guitarists and trained a lot of the guys who's names are being mentioned here and is the reason for more guitarists learning theory, Vai has done so much crazy new stuff. As a matter of fact all the guys listed I would say we're not ahead of their time, they were perfect for their time, with the exception of Vai. And Vai says the only guy he thinks was truly ahead of his time was Holdsworth.
But all of these guys are great.
randy bachman of the guess who and bachman turner overdrive
Taking care of business is classic! I can see someone considering him under rated.
The guy I think is very underrated actually is Todd from Big Head Todd and the Monsters - I don't even remember his last name.
speaking of soulful can't believe i didn't mention my man George Benson, dude was total badass.
Total badass.
Another guy that comes to mind as being crazy and often forgotten. - Terry Kath. That 25 or 6 to 4 solo is insane.
