Originally Posted by: Dr_simonIn terms of impact, and I'm not talking about absolute contribution to global music theory, how many people have heard music by RR relative to CP ?

Oh, I completely agree with you. Sorry if I the way I spoke was a bit convoluted, I'm simultaneously studying for a French test I have in about half an hour. What I was meaning to say is that RR was not the musical genius that someone like Charlie Parker or Miles Davis was. Also I think Rhodes worked in a genre with (as Ian from Spinal Tap says) more selective appeal. CP worked in a genre that many more people could appreciate musically.

At the end of the day music is about opinions, it is not a quantifiable entity. Consequently to say one is "better" than the other is a bit of a misnomer.

Again, totally agree, and it's what I was getting at (albeit in a roundabout Stupid McStupid way). I just meant Rhodes and Parker were working in such different fields of music that their influences one modern music are incomparable. Every time I hear a diminished run in a metal solo nowadays I think of Randy Rhodes. Parker was working in a more mainstream (but certainly not less respectable) field and thus effected mainstream music.