Underrated AND Overrated guitarists


lalimacefolle
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lalimacefolle
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01/28/2002 6:55 pm
Which guitarists do you think are overrated and which ones are underrated? Please stay away from 'he sucks' I think this thread will be interesting if you bring good reasons...

I would say one of the most overrated guitarists ever is Kirk HAMMETT from Metallica... He uses techniques but he seems not to master them (timing sometimes off, not always perfectly executed with ringing open strings for example) I wouldn't mind if that guy wasn't voted 'Best guitarist' by every mag that has 'guitar' on its cover. But there are guitarist that could take his spot, come up with solos that sound as good as his, and maybe be a little more creative...(Steve MORSE is one of them, and he doesn't get half as much recognition...)

Underrated: Well, his friend, James Hetfield. That guy is an amazing rhythm player, nothing new here, but he can play awesome solos, in a LOT of styles, including country!! And it's him that makes the sound of metallica, one of rock's most influential band ever.
Also, all the guys in the studios that could chop everyone's head off with any guitar, anywhere, in any style... I had this tape by Tommy TEDESCO, and WOW, talk about polyvalence and technique!!! Well, there are lots of them out there!
# 1
jack7
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jack7
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01/28/2002 10:30 pm
over=Ace F.KISS Even i play that good.
under=Zakk W. He contiues to WOW me. And his live
stuff! he's a well rounded player for sure.:cool:
Rock-n-Roll 4 Ever
:cool: Jack 7
# 2
Zeppelin
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Zeppelin
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01/29/2002 8:14 pm
over: kirk hammet, maybe yngwie malmsteen but im not sure anymore..
under: keith richards, malcolm young, james hetfield, ritchie blackmore (he is the most underated player ever), S.R.V, who became popular in europe only after his death
"They think im crazy..
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ren hoek
# 3


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01/30/2002 5:30 pm

over: I have to say Kirk Hammet

under: I'm into powermetal and you barely hear from those guys. I know the style may not be everyones cup of tea but there are some really good guitarists. A lot of them are equals to malmsteen in speed. Well, that may be the problem. too much speed, sometimes not enough heart. Anyway I think we will find the most underated guitarists in the not so popular styles.

People seems to rate guitarists based on popularity. From what I've seen, the always present contest "who's the best guitarist" should be renamed "who's the most popular". Would Krik Hammet be on the list if he wasn't so popular! Was he consider one of the best when Ride the lightning came out.

I have to agree with Lalimace on Steve Morse. Try to listen to his remake of "Joy to the World" and you'll see.
# 4
Christoph
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Christoph
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01/30/2002 7:19 pm
I'd put David Gilmour on the underrated list. He hardly ever did anything fast, but the technique and emotion of his playing always amazed me.
# 5
Led Zeppelin
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Led Zeppelin
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01/30/2002 11:00 pm
Most guitarists who I would consider overrated I dont listen to much of their stuff so I wouldnt really be able to say.

Underrated though:

Marc Bolan (T Rex) - Great rhythm player, so of his ideas were very innovative. Pity he died so young.

George Harrison (Beatles) - The most underrated guitarist, musician and songwriter ever. Proof is that Frank Sinatra(phoney bastid that he is) used to introduce his version of George's Beatles song "Something" as "his favourite Lennon/McCartney song ever.

Keith Richards (Rolling Stones) - Something alot of guitarists dont understand is his genius. Funnily enough, his biggest fans and biggest critics are all guitarists - the critics usually made up of lead-minded players(but not all mind you)

Robby Krieger (Doors) - Great classically-styled guitarist guitarist. Very underrated but his solo from "Five To One" has been ripped off by KISS and Pearl Jam.

and
Noel Gallagher (Oasis) - Why am I the only one who thinks he is a good guitarist? He can solo, thats for sure. And he can sing and play, sing and solo at the same time(which we all know can be really tricky). which is better than alot of people can do.

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# 6
chris mood
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chris mood
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01/31/2002 4:12 pm
a lot of people may hate me for this but Eric Clapton is definetly way over rated.
# 7
lalimacefolle
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lalimacefolle
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01/31/2002 8:55 pm
Originally posted by chris mood
a lot of people may hate me for this but Eric Clapton is definetly way over rated.


I have thought the same way for years, I guess he is now, but in his time, he was a genius (I guess), the guy has understood blues like noone, and he was a white british guy!! But it always makes me laugh whan anyone tells me I'm amazing because I can play "tears in heaven" while they don't give a shoot about my 24th caprice...
# 8
pstring
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pstring
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02/01/2002 6:17 am
Over-Rated, Well I have to say most of the "Speed" guys, they are just too, one dimensional, if they even put vocals on the album, the songs are pretty lame, just not my cup of tea for more than about 5 minutes

Way Under-Rated, guys like Jeff Baxter,Rick Derringer, Jimmie Johnson, Steve Cropper, they have played on hundreds of albums, for many different and diverse artists, for many years, they know when to play and when not to play, how to play soft and loud, they add something to the music, just about everybody has heard something they have played on, but don't have any idea of who played the guitar on it, I salute the unsung heroes..............
# 9
pstring
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pstring
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02/01/2002 3:22 pm
One guy I would like to mention and include as under-rated is Peter Frampton, if he would have never recorded anything but "Comes Alive", I would still say he's a great player, he was always very melodic, and fluid in his playing, could improvise well, wrote some cool songs and has a good voice.......
# 10
chris mood
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chris mood
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02/01/2002 7:17 pm
I dunno...I always thought he was a very average blues player. Whenever I listen to those collaboration cds it always seems that the other guy(s) play circles around him with so much more depth, especially the B.B. King and Eric Clapton one. B.B's got the blues, Eric in my opinion doesn't.
As far as him being a geius during his young years, well what about Page, Hendrix, Beck, Allman, they were all growing up then and I think they all have a lot more to say musically then Clapton.
The only Clapton I can really stand to listen to is the Cream stuff, together they were great, divided they stank.
just my opinion.
# 11
Azrael
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Azrael
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02/02/2002 1:27 am
Over:

- Yngwie Malmsteen (fast but boring)
- James Hettfield (there is not one metallica song that i could not play one-handed *L*)
- Carl Logan (ManowaR) - I do like manowar - but he´s definitely not half as good as it seems
- Keith Richards (do i need to say anything about a guy who plays a five-string most of the time??)

Under:

- Jeff Beck - NOONE on this planet will ever reach his tone and feeling!
- Jeniffer Batten
- Julian Bream (classical guitar)
- Marco Tamayo (classical guitar)
- Steve Lukather (hundreds of productions would be nothing without him)
- Andrés Segovia (our all daddy)
- All the fabulous guitarists noone ever heard of - there are thousands of real great players and brilliant musicians who live a life of poverty - never recognized by anyone - those guys are realy great, for they´ll never stop making REAL music - even if that means to be abandoned


[FONT=Times New Roman]Holiness is in right action and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves. What you decide to do every day makes you a good person... or not.[/FONT][br][br]

# 12
u10ajf
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u10ajf
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02/04/2002 6:54 pm
Underated:

Alex Lifeson from Rush. Between 76 and 82 I think they were a great band. Exit stage left has some painfully exquisitely beautiful solos on it, full of interesting dynamics, tasteful vibratos and speedy runs.
Jennifer Batten; violently gothic perfectly executed stuff. Her range of styles seems to encompass everything from HEnderson to Vai but I prefer her to either.
Shaun Baxter; Jazz metal has more convolutions to it than a bowl of spaghetti, really scary shredding but plenty of musical content to it.

Over-rated
Clapton, what is the big deal? Malmsteem (He's mega talented don't get me wrong but Petrucci beats him at his own game and is more versatile and interesting to boot) Hendrix (Except Voodoo Chile which kicks sooo much ass) and vai (brilliant though he is I much prefer Satriani even though I doubt he can quite match his technique and you dont' get better than for the love of god really do you?) I expect to receive death threats...
If I couldn't laugh at myself how could I laugh at someone less ridiculous?
# 13
friskynibbles
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friskynibbles
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02/04/2002 9:14 pm
I didn't understand how good Alex from Rush was until recently when a drummer friend of mine wanted me to jam with him. *whistle*
*shrug*
# 14
educatedfilm
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educatedfilm
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02/05/2002 12:09 am
I dont know if I'm the only one who thinks this...
Under: jeff buckley, Daron Malkan (system of a down), Gordon Giltrap (this man falls into the malmsteem catogry of too much speed and not enough feel sometimes, but the intro to "fear of the drak" is astounding, it has got a FEEL to it, like something very quick and nasty is gonna happen), the guitarist (so under-rated I dont even know his name, but to be fair that's due to him being in the mighty shadow of Les claypoole), Peter buck (listen to him on "lotus")...

Over:yep, you guessed it... Malmsteem (yes he maybe be fast, but is about as intresting to listen to as someone touch type at very high speeds), Via (i just dont get it, it's cheese, and "for the love of god" is hardly an amazing piece of work emotionally... the outro sounds like some sort of delay effect.. in a net shell, it sounds like the music you'd hear for those crappy b-movies, where the cop has just had his partener killed on his last day before retirement, told to hand in his badge etc etc, and is on the seafornt figuring out revernge at sun set), Satraini ("surfing with the alien" CHEEEEEEEESE!!!), paul macartny (Sp) (maybe it's because of his last single.. bloody give war a chance or whatever it was... seriously it makes you look very cynically at his whole career, when they were all for PEACE AND LOVE MAN!! when maybe it was all just because it was selling well at the time)...

this is all my oppinion, and I'm not having a dig at the gutiarists I've said are over-rated....*listens to "jazzy sensation"-afrika bammbata*
# 15
markdeaton
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markdeaton
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02/05/2002 4:52 am
Underrated: Vivian Campbell, Jake E. Lee, Rowan Robertson, Craig Goldie

Overrated: Kirk Hammet, the guy from Creed, those two clowns from Korn, Mick Mars, Jimmy Page
# 16
u10ajf
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u10ajf
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02/05/2002 1:23 pm
I'm no vegan I love cheese, especially the stuff with garlic in it. If you can write music so great that you can write off music Midnight ,echo or crushing day as cheese then I'm really impressed. Personally I rate sufing with the alien as one of the best albums I've ever heard.
Besides, the best thing about many B movies is the music, can't wait for the weepy endings , you know the heart warming father meets long lost son, alien erupts out of son's backside and showers everyone with deadly spore encounters.. Such Pathos.

Here are two more underated votes:

the hellecasters (3 tremendously talented players)
Ed Wynne from Ozric Tentacles (Curious Corn is one of my fave albums)
If I couldn't laugh at myself how could I laugh at someone less ridiculous?
# 17
Thomas Schellhous
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Thomas Schellhous
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02/05/2002 9:22 pm
I have been severely threatened for voicing this opinion before, but I honestly think that Jimi Hendrix wasn't that good. However, I haven't heard everything from him.
Also, other overrated guitarists include: Eric Clapton, Eddie Van Halen (most overrated guitarist ever), Ace Frehley, Angus Young, and Kurt Cobain (I like Nirvana, but come on, he was no guitar whiz)

Underrated: Randy Rhoads, James Hetfield, Dimebag Darrel, Kerry King, Jeff Hanneman, and (on a less heavy side) Jesse Cook, whose amazing accuracy and mastery of technique along with his style variety ranging from flamenco to classical amazes me.
Rhoads was a great musician, Hetfield is the driving musical force of Metallica and a great player who is sometimes overshadowed by Kirk Hammett's popuarity, and Pantera and Slayer may not be the most musical bands in the traditional sense, but they still have talent.

# 18
educatedfilm
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educatedfilm
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02/06/2002 12:30 pm
"I'm no vegan I love cheese, especially the stuff with garlic in it. If you can write music so great that you can write off music Midnight ,echo or crushing day as cheese then I'm really impressed. Personally I rate sufing with the alien as one of the best albums I've ever heard.
Besides, the best thing about many B movies is the music, can't wait for the weepy endings , you know the heart warming father meets long lost son, alien erupts out of son's backside and showers everyone with deadly spore encounters.. Such Pathos."

Heh..lol... Midnight is OK, it's nothing amaizing (it reminds me of some of the dance/ trance music... and in my oppionion there's loads of solo guitar classical/ celtic stuff which a lot better) ... the album is definetly the worst thing I've heard (seriously)... I mean Stach is a great guitarist technically, but really he's got that talent where he can like write catchy mobile phone ring tones,nothing too deep... do you know what I mean?
There's no serious emotion on that album... I mean listen to "hope" by REM,, one of the best pieces of music I know, that's because it conveys emotion well (it's slow and not very technical)...
Secondly the reason I dont like b-movie music is it's predictability, and the fact it avoids putting anything new to you... and it lacks any feeling of sencerity or like this is due to a real experience (be it sad or happy)... it just has that horrible artificail taste with it... I mean if you wanna do something and get really fast at it and not convey any emotion, you may aswell take up basket weaving or touch typing...

That's all just my oppinion so dont lose anysleep over it...:)
# 19
u10ajf
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u10ajf
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02/06/2002 2:49 pm
Typing.. baskete weaving? There might be some truth in that! Raw technical practice is a very bad substitute for inspiration, truth is I spend a lot of time just practising technique, just like I used to practice touch typing, it keeps the hands occupied so you don't realise how bored you are. At least that way you know you are improving on some level. I feel that technical prowess is the only way to objectively separate guitarists but that doesn't mean I prefer mindless shred to listen to. All this shredding can be so dull, every now and again I go through phases of just wanting to give up and do something else, come to think of it I'm a bit short on baskets. Boo hooo.... anyone sell new lives? Too bored. Come on somebody, inspire me!
If I couldn't laugh at myself how could I laugh at someone less ridiculous?
# 20

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