Originally Posted by: aschlemanYou're probably a little jaded to make that statement... Think back to the 70's when the Stones were just getting started....... Kieth Richards guitar playing was breakthrough. No one had mixed rock and blues like that aside from Jimi Hendrix who did it in a more psychadelic way... You have to see his playing through that time period... not the one we currently live in.

If you're going to view it through the eye of today you can even say that Jimi's playing isn't anything special... people cover it all the time... Black Sabbath is also nothing special... People have since advanced what they started.... View through the time period... and see what they were doing at the point... You can't compare it to the present time.

I agree with you about Keith Richards, but I disagree about the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Black Sabbath being nothing special by today's standards. I think both bands were far ahead of their time in the way they made music, and if they had released it today instead of forty years ago, it would still be regarded as "extraordinary". I mean, okay, you've got bands like Lamb of God who have pushed the boundaries of technical rhythm guitar, but I doubt even they could come up with a great riff-based song like "War Pigs" or "Hand of Doom". And there are guitarists like Tom Morello and Steve Vai who have done some extraordinary things with modulation effects, but "All Along the Watchtower" easily stands in line with their efforts. I think you can compare musicians from past eras with contemporary musicians - but only to a certain extent.