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Their’s Go to Eleven
Friday, August 29th, 2003Rolling Stone ranks the 100 greatest guitarists.
No time for a real critique. But I’d put Mark Knopfler higher. And where’s Rich Robinson? Yngwie Malsteem?
47 Responses to “Their’s Go to Eleven”
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Kurt Cobain??????? i’ll give him a brilliant artist..but guitarist?!?!?! I can play 75% of nirvana songs on the guitar, and i don’t even play guitar..its simple shit, not much musical talent there really.
My, Rolling Stone sure knows the names of a lot of boomer guitarists, don’t they? Where’s Brinsley Schwartz? There’s stuff on Graham Parker’s SQUEEZING OUT SPARKS that sounds like nothing anyone else played.
They also seem to scant rhythm guitar, else Pete Townshend, the most _propulsive_ guitarist ever, would be higher.
“Bod” Diddley is only #37????
Doh! I fell right into their trap!
Laughable, it was.
Tom Morello #26???? Yea right. Anyone who has seen Rage in concert knows this guy can play!
Steve Vai and Joe Satriani – not even on the list. And how about Megadeth’s Marty Friedman – not a famous name, but listen to the leads in Rust in Piece – he’s fantastic, very unique. Let’s not even mention that there are no bass guitarists on this list – no Stanley Clarke, no Geddy Lee, Jon Paul Jones or Jack Bruce. Kurt Cobain! Damn thing is a joke!
I love Joan Jett, she’s one of my favorite artists, but she’s not a great guitarist. I can think of 100 players better than her. I get annoyed by these lists put out be Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly and everyone else largely because they are so subjective. Personal taste factors into it so much as to make the lists meaningless.
I think Eddie Van Halen, Pete Townsend, and Brian May were all ranked too low and Eric Clapton(though not by much) and Kurt Cobain (ridiculously), too high.
This shit is exactly why I don’t read Rolling Stone.
it’s just a popularity contest.
well, as if I didn’t consider R.S. to be musically before…
I mean, I’m as much a fan of the White Stripes as the next guy, but Jack White has no business being ranked higher than David Gilmour or Robbie Robertson for chrissakes. Same with Johnny Ramone—good punk songwriter, but a better guitarist than Eddie Van Halen?!? And WHAT is Randy Rhoads doing picking up the slack at 85?!? What the f*ck. What a totally transparent attempt by R.S. to try and remain hip and relevant.
I would venture to add a few names to the list:
Alex Lifeson(Rush)—this man’s absence alone is enough to render this list worthless.
Joe Satriani—failure to include this man is inexcusable
Steve Vai–have they seen the movie Crossroads? no one shreds like Vai, exept maybe Satan himself.
Vito Bratta(White Lion)—No, seriously. In an era of 80’s pop-rock excess, his solos were the most tasteful and technically proficient. I should know—I own the entire White Lion catalogue.
see you later R.S, it’s been real. I’ll keep the Britney cover photo and you can keep your 5 star review of the next 50-cent album.
Apparently the average age for a Rolling Stone contributor has dropped to 17.
Mark Knoffler definately ought to rank higher. And no mention even of virtuoso Leo Kottke. Must not be room for acoustic guitarists.
Dammit Radley, would you please improve your spelling? In one short little post, you have two absolute cringers, “Their’s go to Eleven” and “Yngwie Malsteem”. (that’s “Malmsteen”). Can we all chip in and buy you a spell-checker??
The best guitarist is one that doesn’t need to fill out whole songs with runs, fills and other crap or otherwise has to prove to the world that he or she in fact, knows how to play the guitar.
Where’s Phil Keaggy???
Proof once again that I did right by giving up on RS years ago. I bet Gilmour is laughing his ass off that Cobain was listed way ahead of him.
Unbelievable. Looks more like a list rewarding the 100 greatest record labels who currently buy advertising in Rolling Stone.
I read it twice, Satriani really ISN’T there! Billy Idol’s guitarist kills about a third of the list with technique and originality, as does C.C. Deville, big hair and all.
I’m sure Ted Nugent will fire off a missive deploring his being left out. Remember, he is the “Self Proclaimed Worlds’ Best Guitarist”!
Utterly worthless. You could pick names out of a hat and do better, except in this case the hat was apparently half full.
Regards to all,
Frank W.
Perry,
Which may explain why Andres Segovia or Django Reinhardt are not on the list while Johnny Ramone made it, right? After all, all of those ‘runs, fills and other crap’ only proves that Segovia and Reinhardt were a couple of wankers, not serious guitarists like Joan Jett or Jack White.
RS may have come up with a semi-interesting list of ROCK or POP guitarists, but the headline says “100 Best Guitarists”, so leaving out classical, jazz, folk and country guitarists is further proof to me that RS are a bunch of out of touch, crass boomer nincompoops, still clutching their Doors albums as talismans, who know as much about guitarists as I know about quantuum mechanics. They need to stop making lists like this and leave it to magazines that actually put MUSICIANS on the cover.
My god that list is totally pathetic. What a load of total crap. Where is Gary Moore for instance? Kurt Cobain was shit guitarist and a pretty lame “artist” as well. Can you say style over substance?
No Satriani (who taught Kirk), Vai, Vandenberg, Liefson or Nugent? I mean give me a bloody break guys?
Oh btw the author didn’t even manage to spell Queen right!
Rolling Stone’s latest load of bollocks….
Radley pointed me to their idiotic list of Top 100 guitarists. Lets put it this way, Queen’s name is mispelled. It gets worse from there….
Here is a short list of guitar players that are better than Kurt Cobain:
Lee Ritenour
Larry Carlton
Steve Vai
Chet Atkins
Keb Mo
David Mustaine
Pat Metheny.
Steve Hackett.
Kenny Wayne Shepherd.
Stanley Jordan.
Feh to the RS list and feh to the RS.
Anyone ever listen to Armik? That dude is one of the best I’ve ever heard.
Some other BIG omissions (i.e. others that are way better than Cobain):
1. Jeff Healey
2. Walter Trout (blues-rock)
3. Jeff Watson (Night Ranger) Really.
4. Joe Bonamassa (blues-rock)
5. Frank Hannon (Tesla)
6. Mark Kendall (Great White)
7. Chris Duarte (blues)
8. George Lynch (Dokken)
9. Brian Setzer (Stray Cats)
10. Eric Johnson
11. Mike Petrucci (Dream Theater)
Joe Sims –
‘Great’ guitar players only exist so that other guitar players have someone to compare themselves to. 99% of people listen to songs, not guitar players, and guitar players often forget that..
Jack White might not be a great guitarist, but he sure as hell writes a catchy song and quite honestly, that’s the most important thing to music. Similarly, Kurt Cobain inspired more kids to pick up a guitar and learn than any obscure great guitarist that you could ever name..
Sometimes it takes brilliance to realize that the only thing you have to do is keep it simple.
Ok, beating a dead horse a little, but not to have Joe Satriani on the list shows how totally silly the whole list is.
And Robert Johnson at #5?!? Talk about cult of personality. He may be commonly known as the grandfather of the blues, but I hardly think that makes him #5. I’ve listend to RJ. His guitar work is what I’d expect from blues music that is 80 years old, extremely simple and direct. Certainly far from great.
Would have at least been nice if they’d qualified it as greatest rock guitarists, slightly leavened by a sprinkling of non-rock guitarists that people who have never listened to anything other than rock have heard of. Maybe that’s implied. It’s still be a weird list.
You think that “the Nuge” might have been left off the list because of his politics? Nah, that would be a silly thing to suggest.
Perry,
I think you are talking about great songwriters. Remember, we’re talking about great _guitarists_.
Hey, Kurt Cobain wrote more great songs than Sartriani, Vai, and Malmsteen combined. So did Jack White, for that matter (and he’s not even done). Shredding does not a great guitarist make. Playing with emotion does. That’s why Jimmy is number one.
that was absolutely the worst list of all time. clearly, it was based on pop culture icons, not musicianship. Where the hell is alex lifeson? I don’t recall seeing joe satriani or steve hackett. Robert Fripp plays base, not guitar. and i hope there is no order to the numbering. David Gilmour at 82? someone is smoking crack. well, everyone at rolling stone is smoking crack, but we knew that already.
i posted that last post withotu reading of the rest of yours. steve vai and phil keaggy–nowhere to be seen. damn boomers.
What inexcusable crap!!! Alex Lifeson is not on the list! Well, Rolling Stone magazine has probably never heard of Rush.
So far no one has mentioned Tony MacAlpine, Russ Freeman or Brian Setzer. Or how ’bout Doc Watson, Eric Johnson or Mark O’Connor (yes fiddle, but have you heard him play guitar? Whew!) And, good grief, how was Joe Walsh missed?
Cobain @ 12 is bullshit. Cobain @ 12 w/ Eddie Van Halen @ 70 is laughable.
nirvana is terrible–responsible for the downfall of rock n roll as we know it–and cobain was horrible–i say we form a real list on someone’s blog and give props to all those who were forgotten–REAL guitarists.
Where in the hell is Chet Atkin?
Rolling Stone can take that tongue and shove it up BMG’s a$$.
This is why I stick to Indie Label bands for the most part.
Speaking of which, if you are a blues fan then check out Topper Price and the Upsetters. You can pick up their album on Amazon. You will not hear better Blues Harp/Boogie Woogie style blues anywhere in the world. I have seen the guy live hundreds of times and I almost turned a job down in Nashville so that I could stay in Birmingham and continue seeing Topper blow the harp.
Here is the link for the album on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000049ZE/associatizer-99/
What about John Lennon?
And Lindsey Buckingham?
There’s nothing rolling,
but plenty stoned,
with that list.
LOL!
That list totally sucks! (well, not totally, but it sucks nonetheless!)
No Frampton either. How many times did you listen to Frampton comes alive?
Geezuz.
But leaving off Satriani and Vai is beyond comprehension.
Especially when they included Zappa, the guy that had Vai play the difficult parts!
Duane Eddy
Junior Brown
Leon McAuliffe
And Danny Gatton should definately move up a slot or two.
Out of all the omissions listed here, (some IMO legitimate. . others, well, there’s no accounting for taste, is there? = ;)) one name has failed to surface and I am quite surprised.
To not even consider Steve Morse on this list is an absoulte travesty and a further indictment on what a piece of crap Rolling Stone magazine is and has been for some time.
Steve Morse is in many minds (including mine), hands down, the best all around guitarist ever to pick up an axe. He won the Guitar Player ‘Best Guitarist of the Year’ award five years in a row! So many times, they wanted others to get a chance to win the top honor, so they ‘retired’ his name by creating ‘The Gallery of Greats’ and placing him in it.
The best selling guitarists of all time would have been a more accurate title for this list.
BTW, Steve Stevens is the name of Billy Idol’s guitarist and yes, he is a complete shredder! = :) Check out his stuff with Terry Bozzio and Tony Levin. Brilliant.
I seen Lennon’s name in the comments. Maybe not everybody knows it, but his guitar idol was Chet Atkins.
I’ve never laughed so hard in my life! The huge majority of players on the list would not want to plug in to their amps in front of Michael Schenker or Gary Moore. Kurt Cobain is an absolute joke, he probably killed himself after he listened to his own “playing”. He sucked on guitar, almost as rotten as his singing! And Clapton, their are alot of people in my home town who can play circles around that bozo. RS Blows!
You really know who’s out there on guitar. How did you hear of phil keaggy and what do you know, like and dislike about him. I don’t know anyone who can do it all like him. Too bad his christian commitment lowers his exposure. Ive taken non-christians to his concerts, and the result is always the same: jaws dropped-shocked and awed. Thanks for his mention in your review. Chris.
people who say vai and other (i hate to use the term shredders)only play fast and without emotion are ignorant of the fact that they are just differnt. and should respect that. vai poors so much emotion into his music but he expresses DIFFERNT emotions other than love and anger which is what most music cunngers up, so people who say jimi is top brcause he has emotion in his music are actually saying they like blues music cause its there cuppa tea. and kirt cobain at 12. what has he done to rock and roll lets get rock music back on track and have some real good musicians back at the top, although to be fair it is more record companies than kirt that are responsible for the state of music kurt wrote some good songs, but was not a great guitarist. vai is a ( words cannot explain out of this world guitarist,) as is brian may van halen satriani and the much forgoton and amazing JASON BECKER….
If guitar bending capacity is the item i would agree on Steve Vai. However if you are concerned with musical quality I would recommend Kenny Håkansson. Each solo is a unique creation with a complexity and beuty like a mixture of Bach and Hendrix. (They played together for a short time in -68) Since he comes from a small country (Sweden) and don´t play cheep pop-stuff he is allmost unknown exept by swedish rock musicians. If you believe that all good music comes from the USA forget about it. If not, why not discover him while he is still alive? Check out his homepage http://www.kannyhakansson.se
As far as musical quality is concerned I would also give some credit to Ry Cooder and Peter Green.
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