UBB.Developers Forums General Discussion Chit Chat Damn I missed all the guitar player talk

Shoot...just saw that lovely UBB/vB thread and missed posting before it was closed.

Just to get my two cents in....vB is not worth my time, and a guy I know with a board smaller than mine just crashed with vB today and apparently it was a huge resource hog, but I digress.

Now Eddie Van Halen at 46 is still the greatest rock guitarist ever, but of course my opinion is biased, you can tell by my signature. But Ed is simply untouchable and the first 6 Van Halen records with "Diamond" Dave are masterpieces. Other than Hendrix, nobody has changed the instrument more, and until the freakin' Nirvana, three chord thing completely dies, Eddie will never get the recognition he deserves.

Yngwie J. Malmsteen - Have had the pleasure of seeing him life 4 times, and he takes liberties in ragging just about every guitar player on the planet from Angus Young to Eric Clapton. He has trashed Eddie Van Halen for years, but recently has shut his yapper and acknowledged his greatness and even ranked him above Hendrix. Furthermore, Yngwie is all speed, no feel, but man he is the cleanest player I have ever heard at that speed.

Randy Rhoads - Brilliant player, didn't live long enough to see him grow, but he was a genius. Of course he spent the late 70's watching Eddie Van Halen develop most the style he used, but he definitely had the neo-classical thing going, that Eddie wasn't much into.

Kirk Hammett - Sorry just gotta laugh, he blows. No offense to Metallica fans, well maybe some, they are god awful now too.

Vai - Total boring, best work was with David Lee Roth. His tone has no balls either.

Slurpee's Top 5 (because nobody cares):

1. Eddie Van Halen
2. Jimi Hendrix
3. Stevie Ray Vaughan
4. Randy Rhoads
5. Jimmy Page (sloppy as hell, but an incredible riff-writer, no denying that)

Ok I'm done.

Hey,

All that and not one mention of Joe Satriani ? I can see your point After all how can shopping mall music really be classified :b

You dismiss K.Hammett way to easily dude and I wouldn't even rank VH in the top5 - your probably not the best person to argue this with but hey

1. Jimi Hendrix
2. Stevie Ray Vaughan
3. Randy Rhoads
4. Mick Ronson
5. Jimmy Page

I would also rank Dave Mustaine (in his early Megadeth days) simply because anyone who can play those riffs which were practically solos whilst singing (albeit singing like a woman) has awesome talent.

Also if I could remember his name the guy from a small English hippy band "Ozric Tentacles" is awesome too.

Y.Malmstein I can't even listen to one of his songs without dry-reaching. If his mouth isn't bad enough his lack of inspired passion more than makes up for it.

3-chord phase - When I first started learning guitar about 5 yrs ago - learning Metallica and Megadeth riffs I would have totally agreed with you. Nowadays I'd have to say simple as the songs may be they can be just as impassioned as a Bach symphony.

btw Eruption rocks

MiShY

EDIT: bad grammar

Well, since I was a guitarist in the egotistical 80's.... my list would be:

1) Badolato
2) Rhoads
3) Van Halen
4) Malmsteen
5) Satriani
6) Lynch

And no, i didn't really rate myself above them, that;s just how the 80's were.

Old one: How many guitarists does it take to change a lightbulb? All of them. One to change the bulb, and the rest to go "*pfffft* I coulda done that SO much better......"

--mark

"Yngwie is all speed, no feel"

Puh-leeeeease! NO feel? Come oooon. There are several pieces of his I still listen to (ok, once in a great while), precisely because they have so much feel. I still have some Alcatrazz somewhere, too...

I never understood what the big deal was with Eddie. (Oh I can feel the flames coming on now!!!!!)

Kirk Hammett--I'll give you that Metallica has sucked for years but some of Kirk's phrasings are out of this world to me... will stand up as classics no matter what.

Nice mention of Dave Mustaine. Except "singing like a woman". WTH? Totally juvenile lyrics of course but the guy managed to keep belting out the rhythms way way past Metallica. Nice intensity.

I've enjoyed some Pantera for that sheer cleanliness + speed + intensity but we're not talking soul.

Soul: Gilmour. Old Gilmour. I can't think of any other guitarist that could have me hanging on a single long note because it's so perfect, so well-timed, so raw and emotional.

So there.

CTH - I've got all the Metallica albums up through that god awful "Reload" and Kirk Hammett's playing is so uninspired and generic, I can't see how you can not dismiss him.

Not putting EVH in the Top 5 is just wrong man. The guy single-handedly changed the face of the instrument in 1978. Nobody has a more drastic effect on the instrument and its sound, other than Hendrix than Eddie. All guitar sound and technique of the last 20 years goes back to Ed, that cannot be denied. While hair metal was scary, it was a direct decendent from Van Halen, and because it was, people forget how original, how powerful, and how important Van Halen was. They were ALWAYS above trends and the garbage that other hard rock bands were doing.

I haven't been impressed by a rock band in a long time, certainly not in the last 5 or 6 years. Nirvana didn't bother me actually, but the trend they set was what bugs me. It was a reason to be a bad guitar player. The sound of the today's hard rock band is so generic, the same distorted sound, the same heavy cymbaled-driving beats. Yawn, yawn, yawn.

I was only mentioning players I saw in that other thread, must have missed Satriani. I like Satch, "Surfing With The Alien" is an excellent album.

Mark - Wow a mention of George Lynch, most of the world has forgotten about that dude. BTW, that joke has gone around forever, but is timeless.

Scats - if Eddie ain't a big deal to ya, then you need to put the first 6 VH albums on again, because that's where it all started. Yngwie is a good player, a terrible songwriter, and has yet to realize it ain't 1984 anymore. "Evil Eye" is his shining moment.

Mustaine is cool, (pretty much responsible for the first two Metallica albums) but that last Megadeth record was just god awful, actually all of them since "Countdown to Extinction" are pretty poor. "Rust In Peace" and "Peace Sells" are classics though.

I second that! Rust in Peace is a must have in my collection. What was up what that last album? The songs I heard from it were 'Suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked' - Homer J

Used to play the world's MOST awesome air guitar.... till I laid it down one day and now I can't find it.

My favorite..

the one who made it possible for all the rest..

Les Paul

Heheheh, oh too bad, Nav.

I'm not saying Eddie's... bad, I mean geez... but for some reason I never came across anything that had me fully "ooh, aaah, yeah." I mean, to say VH was "ALWAYS above trends"...

...Jump! Yeaaaah go ahead and jump!... :rolleyes:

(You realize I'm also teasing the hell out of you right?)

CTH, started learning with Metallica & Megadeth too.... and.... Anthrax. Of course quit after a few years so that's all I can play. Greeaaaat. :rolleyes:

Hmmmm gotta think of one no one else did..

Rik Emmett
Craig Chaquico (his solo new age stuff, not the stuff w/ Jefferson Starship)
Chris DeGarmo
Eric Johnson
Greg Howe
Paul Gilbert

The list goes on

You forgot Earl Scruggs

You all forgot Dock Boggs.

Stanley Jordan
Steve Vie
Rye Cooder
Ahmed Zappa
Slash

In no particular order:

Eddie. I can still remember the first time I heard Eruption. Simply amazing. Never had the pleasure of seeing him live, but I have all his CD's. I particularly like his playing in 'Hot for Teacher' (funny because I don't think the song is great, just Eddies playing is so amazing in that one).

Hendix. He was about a decade ahead of his peers stylistically. Absolute, unabashed genius. I wore out at least a half dozen Hendrix LP's over the years. Current fav tune: 'Voodoo Child'.

SRV. Another amazing player. Pure emotion flowed from his fingers. Till they bled.

Satriani. Amazingly clean. Amazingly fast. My current fav Satriani tune is 'Cool #9' off his self titled CD. If that tune does not satiate the guitar god worshiper, nothing will.

Pat Metheney. If you ever get a chance, go see the Pat Metheney Group in concert. Even if you are not a fan of that style of music. It is a magical thing. No other way to describe it. He's another one of those rare players that has a direct connection between his thoughts and the fretboard.

Django. Just imagine what he could have done if his left hand was not crippled. Scary.

Damn, I have so many more favorites: Jeff Beck, Jerry Donahue, Will Ray, John Jorgenson, Carlton, Robben Ford, Bireli Lagrene, Michael Hedges, Clapton, Brian Setzer, oh and of course, Townsend and Page.

BTW, here's a great site for those wanting to master air guitar

Scats - Guess you've never heard "Eruption" then. And every band has a "Jump." While certainly not the band's greatest moment, it isn't a bad song, and isn't meant to change the world. That song ironically is part of the reason VH parted ways with David Lee Roth a year later, he didn't think Ed should play keyboards on anything, and was losing a bit of power in the band.

"Hot For Teacher" not a great song?? Man I've been a VH fan since I was 10, 20 years now, and I would put that song in my Top 10. Hell even that Dodge commercial I've been seeing is ripping of Al's intro drum work from that song. That song is just classic-VH, with or without the video.

DCF - Ahmed Zappa plays guitar? Sure you ain't thinking of his very VH-influenced brother Dweezil, who is a good player? Stanley Jordan is a bass player BTW.

El - I've seen VH 13 times, only once with Dave unfortunately. (Hopefully they're actually back together but nobody's talking). Even on their last tour with Gary Cherone, touring for a bad album (VH 3), the band played stuff they hadn't played live since Dave was in the band, and it sounded stellar. Sammy's ego wouldn't allow him to sing much of the Dave era. :rolleyes:

Other good 80's players, some were in awful bands:

Reb Beach
Warren DiMartini
Brad Gillis

Pantera - the solos off cemetary gates and shallow are pure soul imo.

K.Hammett sure the guy is a pentatonic freak but some of his solos were good. Although I think Hetfield writes all the rhythmns ?

I refuse to listen to any Metallica since Master Of Puppets because they went so lame.

Same with Megadeth. Every album after Rust in Peace was awful too.

Yngwie - amazing player tho wouldn't know soul if it bit him in the ace

Slash wrote some wicked solos too, tho again a total penatonic freak.

But then its the mindless learning of major/minor scales that destroyed imo the soul out of Satriani/Vai's music. It's dull, ineffective and mundane. Sure when I hear some of their stuff my jaw drops. But thats an envy for the talent of the playing not the song writing.

Eric Johnson - Yea forgot about him. He's awesome.

EH - his music just doesn't float my boat. I know the guy pioneered some techniques but I hate his music. I find it soooo annoying. It's like having Whitesnake on my personal stereo for a day.

Well after all that I guess I won't be seeing anymore of slurpees hacks LOL

MiShY

Details details..LOL

Yup it's Dweezil, and he learned from WATCHING Eddie.. Too cool, I like Van Halen, Van Hagar, and beyond.. well.. Suck it up Eddie and Alex, BRING BACK DAVE! He was the reason people came deal with it..!

I think though Steve Vie is by far and away one of the best. Eddie is good, great even but he is sort of stuck in a rut..
And let's face feelings aside, Van Halens days in the sun are over..

Now for Metal guitar, METALLICA! no comparison, they will endure.. I think they will be the equivelant of the Stones in longevity.

"..grain of sand, off to never never land.."

To really date myself, favorite metal band.. "Quiet Riot"

"Well I'm a axe grinder, pile driver.."

When Dave returns to VH this summer, all will be right with the world again. If bufoons like Kiss who were a no-talent act to begin with can make a huge splash after 20 years, than Van Halen, who has sold 10X as many records, can certainly do it when Dave returns. Hell, VH had all their #1's after Dave left, unless you wanna count the "Best Of" album that went straight to #1 in '96.

CTH, I like your take on Metallica, you can have more of my hacks. Metallica's fire went out years ago, now they sit around covering Bob Seger tunes...and badly.

DCF - It's Vai BTW. Quoting "Metal Health" huh? Ah, the good 'ole days, huh?

Pantera has some good tracks and they are huge VH fans, so I'll let them be. I still think their only good album is "Vulgar Display Of Power" though. "Cemetary Gates" is a great song, so is "I'm Broken" to mention a couple others not on "Vulgar Display." Of course, they often try to deny their glam years, which is ridiculous. Just deal with it and move on.

Yea seeing Diamond Darrell and Phil rocking it Glam style is a funny site to see. I saw a bootleg vid of one of their early gigs ROFL At least it was entertainment :pD

btw couldn't agree more with u about Kiss

btw(2) I luv whose the best guitarists arguments

MishY