My "Greatest Electric Guitarists of All-Time" List
- Jimi Hendrix
- Chuck Berry
- Jimmy Page
- Eric Clapton
- Stevie Ray Vaughan
- Les Paul
- Duane Allman
- Kirk Hammet
- Jeff Beck
- Rory Gallagher
I understand I can't satisfy everybody and include everyone's favorite, but I dare you to try and make a list....this took me at least twenty minutes just sitting and thinking about it before I even started and I still didn't get to include a lot of my favorites like Satriani and B.B. King. I did this based on who had the greatest effect on music and who I thought had the greatest combination of being a fantastic song writer, innovator, as well as skilled guitar player. (So that will justify why I had Les Paul and keep some of you Batio fans off my back...I hate that guy) As for including Kirk Hammett in my top ten, I don't really like him and I don't think he is all that skilled, however if anybody can argue that he didn't affect the metal genre a WHOLE lot, then be my guest. If you feel like you want to express your opinion or give your own list, it would be greatly appreciated.
Kirk Hammett did NOT affect the metal guitar scene at ALL. He did some memorable solos, but he didn't bring anything new to the metal guitar scene that Black Sabbath had brought to the metal scene in 1970/71. He is an average lead guitar player in what is arguably the most popular metal band in history. These are my criteria for any greatest guitarists list: Originality, influence, creativity and technical skill. Hammett fares poorly in all 4 criteria. If you're going to put a metal guitarist on the top 10 greatest electric guitarists of all time list (though none really deserve it), then here are a bunch I'd put before Hammett: Tony Iommi, Yngwie Malmsteen, Randy Rhoads, Ritchie Blackmore, Steve Vai, Michael Schenker, Marty Friedman, Uli Jon Roth, Adrian Smith, Glenn Tipton, Dave Murray, Dimebag Darrell, Chuck Schuldiner and Dave Mustaine. And that's just in the world of metal. Overall, there are shitloads of electric guitarists who would kick Hammett's ass anyday.
And as for the rest of the list:FAR too biased towards rock. My top 10 would probably be:
1 Hendrix
2 B.B. King
3 T-Bone Walker
4 Lonnie Johnson
5 John McLaughlin
6 Danny Gatton
7 Les Paul
8 Pat Metheny
9 Jeff Beck
10 Eddie Van Halen
But your list is alright.
Alright? I suppose. So is yours I don't know if I would have John McLaughlin that high on my list but he probably should have been in my top ten. Eddie Van Halen is a tad high I'd probably have him at around 18. The first four are pretty justifiable. Don't agree with some of your stuff, but your list is alright. (And btw, you mentioned that Hammett was one in one of the most popular metal bands of all time didn't you? I would file that under influence. Not saying he's good, he's actually quite overrated in my opinion, but I think he is much more "deserving" than someone like Iommi).
In case you're wondering where I got McLaughlin, Johnson etc. here's a list of the greatest all-genre guitarists: http://digitaldreamdoor.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=122. I picked out the guys who are well-known for electric playing, except Johnson who shouldn't be there (whoops). I meant to put Clapton.
And as for Hammett/Metallica: I said Metallica was ARGUABLY. You could argue that Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest are just as popular as, or even more than, Metallica. And popularity =/= influence. Sure, Hammett probably influenced truckloads of teenage Metallica fans to pick up the guitar, but in the serious guitar world of serious guitar players, he has influenced hardly anyone of note. If you can name me a few big names that owe a lot to Hammett, then maybe I'll reconsider. But asides from no influence, has no versatility, little skill and little impact or originality. Iommi has truckloads of influence, has quite a bit of skill and some versatility and has HUGE impact and originality. He was the first one to tune his guitar down to what is now known as the 'metal tuning' and created heaps of memorable riffs, which is also another thing a lot of metal guitarists do today. His impact is huge, as he tuned down his guitar and created a gloomy sounding atmosphere on Black Sabbath's songs, which became the template for a lot of metal bands. His skill, while not like Paul Gilbert, Yngwie Malmsteen, etc. is still quite notable, with intricate guitar work in songs like War Pigs, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Kill in the Spirit World, etc. and Iommi has played in different styles of metal and rock, while Hammett has more or less stayed in the same vein of thrash metal for his entire career.
I wouldn't say Iommi has more skill than hammett, more versatility, though, probably. Iommi is more of a riff guitarist, while Hammett is a little bit more wild in my opinion. I don't need a list of all genre guitarists though, I'm just going by my opinion and what I hear.
Iommi is more skilled than Hammett, since Hammett simply slops his way through pentatonic scales all the time, while showing off with wah-wah pedals and tapping. Iommi is more known as a riffer, but he can lay down some mean solos if he wants to - Paranoid, Wicked World, War Pigs, etc.
And as for the all-genre list: I posted it because you were questioning my ranking, so I gave the link to where I got it from. And I'd say you do need an all-genre list, seeing as your list is biased towards rock.
And also, I don't need to be preached to on how metal guitarists don't deserve to be put in the top ten. As much as I don't like them and think a lot of them all sound too much alike, they still have a place in music history and I'm not just going to say, well screw metal, they don't deserve a top ten spot because I like the blues better (which is exactly my opinion) but I at least know its not fair. B.B. King is number 2? I love B.B. but to be honest I think he fares EXTREMEMLY poorly in creativity. If your categories were maybe Soul, Skill, Feel, and Influence, maybe I would understand, but hes only top twenty material in my opinion.
When it comes to judging guitarists, I tend to use these criteria: originality, creativity, influence, versatility/skill and impact.
King scores hugely in influence, skill, impact, originality and creativity. Influence goes without saying, he's fairly skilled, he has huge impact, originality and creativity, as he introduced soloing based on fluid string bending and shimmering vibrato into the blues, which influenced virtually all the blues guitarists after him. His weak point is versatility, as he definitely has the blues chops, but he doesn't really waver from that. But even so, his huge scorings in the other criteria makes up for it, and then some.
your list is definitely better than that of Rolling Stones magazine mate!
you got Jimi, SRV and Rory (especially this guy!) in there so ur ok!