Who is the most innovative electric guitar player in history?
Submitted by Purplehaze.1970 on Tue, 01/18/2011 - 09:00
I tried to include guitarists from most genres, if I left out your favorite, I'm sorry! Your opinion is greatly appreciated.
Again, There are plenty of people that would disagree that grunge isn't a guitar style. Just like earlier when you said all Kirk Hammett does is show off with the wah pedal. Some people think he's quite good, when actually he's sloppy. Perhaps I should change the title to "most influential" rather than innovative. Because you can't argue that all of these guys haven't had a huge amount of influence. I did say he just plays powerchords, thats just what my ears tell me. The truth is that innovators create. And when I say create, I mean he made it mainstream. I know good and well there are people before him. Look at any guitarist, there are people before him doing things that he or she may use, but they make it FAMOUS, WELL KNOWN. If you can say that Kurt Cobain did not make Grunge well known, then I'll take him off. I mean if you ask the majority of fans of the grunge genre who comes to mind first when you say grunge, it would probably be Nirvana or Cobain. And I apologize if I was a little bit defensive, but I didn't exactly appreciate how brash you were being.
Grunge isn't a guitar style, though, it's just heavily distorted guitars using feedback and angrily bashed-out powerchords that had already been done by Neil Young and punk bands as early as 1971 (MC5's Kick Out The Jams album, for example).
As for the most influential thing: even then your list wouldn't be that great, because you'd still be missing out on all-genre giants like Andres Segovia (who is probably the greatest guitarist of all time), Django Reinhardt, Chet Atkins, Paco de Lucia, etc.
Are you trying to tell me that making something mainstream = inventing it???? That is probably one of the stupidest things I've ever read. Elvis Presley made rock and roll mainstream, but hardly anybody credits him with inventing it. And Kurt didn't make grunge well known, Neil Young did. And as for the 90's grunge explosion: Nirvana made grunge huge then. Not Cobain by himself.
So because a lot of grunge fans would probably remember Nirvana/Cobain more than Pearl Jam or Soundgarden, this obviously makes Kurt one of the most innovative guitarists of all time right? Not because he invented the MUSICAL GENRE grunge, which isn't a guitar style, but because he made it mainstream, right? So he should be #2 behind Elvis Presley, who made rock and roll popular lolz!1!!!1
Sorry if I seem a little bit brash, but your posts are just waiting to be torn apart.
How do you reach the conclusion that all I know is rock??? Sure I really appreciate Rock and all that but c'mon. And sure you could go into details about how there were people before Cobain, but face it, he MADE it popular. Without Nirvana, do you think Grunge would be nearly as popular nowdays? There are plenty of people who love Malmsteen. Your opinion that he is "Ritchie Blackmore on steroids" is your opinion, just like I have my opinion. You absolutely have the right to continue your unwarranted attack on my lists, however I it just makes no sense. Obviously you have different tastes in music than me. A group you may think is revolutionary, I may think is complete garbage. There are plenty of people out there who would probably hate my list, and plenty who would agree with it, so for God's sake would you just chill out? And who do I think I am? I think I'm the one who created this poll, and I think your the one who decided that they just wanted to start an argument. It's fine if you think some guys should be up there and some shouldn't, but at least go about professionally. "What the hell is Kurt Cobain doing here???" Well, what the hell are you doing here?
You came to the conclusion that all I know is the blues because I mentioned one blues guitarist, I'm just using the same logic.
So because he made it popular, he obviously invented it right?!?!11! Chris Cornell, Neil Young, Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, pfft who cares Nirvana had the first #1 grunge album in America, they obviously invented grunge LOL KURT COBAIN 4 TOP 10 GUITARISTS!!1!1!1!1one!. ~.~
And my opinion on Malmsteen/Blackmore is shared by others, and it's essentially true. Yngwie is just like a more skilled version of Ritchie, since Ritchie had already been bringing classical influence into rock. 'Unwarranted attack'? Shit, so when I'm accused of being biased and narrow-minded after I make a suggestion for your list and I defend myself, I'm just a big bad ol' meanie? Get over yourself. If anything, YOU attacked ME.
But a group that's super-influential and a group that you or I like are not always going to be the same thing. Many people consider Led Zeppelin to be one of the most influential groups of all time, but I can barely stand them. Their stuff bores me to tears sometimes. You don't have to like my choices, but I'd appreciate it if you actually attempted to take in what I'm suggesting and listen to my posts, rather than accuse me of being biased and then act all 'whoa, chill out man' when I defend myself.
Again, if anyone started the 'argument' occurring now, it's you. And if my posting tone seemed aggressive to you, get over it. I want a serious answer for my question other than you claiming Kurt invented grunge, which is:
a.) ENTIRELY false
b.) Not a guitar style anyway.
So even if Kurt invented grunge, how does this make him an innovative guitarist? You yourself said he just bashed out powerchords all the time. How is that AT ALL innovative?
Well you just love hating on my lists. Excuse me if I tried to make this as broad of a range as possible. I wouldn't learn anything from this list if it was just blues. I have a good idea of what your list would look like:
Who is the most innovative guitarist ever?
1. T-Bone Walker
2. B.B. King
3. John McLaughin
4. Les Paul
I mean jeez you act like your open to any style of music but when it comes down to it all you know is the blues. Now I love blues, but there's plenty of music out there, and I'm not saying I like all of it but its out there. Am I a tad biased towards rock? yea maybe but don't act like your not biased towards blues either. And what is Kurt Cobain doing here? Did you read the title. It said innovative, not skilled. Is Kurt Cobain just some drugee who only can play powerchords? Yes. Do I like his music at all? No, I hate it in fact. Did he almost single handedly create grunge music? Yes he did. And thats why he's on my list. You said T-Bone walker should be on the list. If you give me some good reasons, I'll put him on, because I can give a good reason for every other guitarist on here. Thats why I added Malmsteen earlier. I don't like him but the cat who wanted him on here gave a good reason. So, lets here it. I haven't necessarily been inspired by T-Bone Walker, but maybe I missed something.
So because I claim your list to have narrow choices (which it does - no blues, classical, flamenco, jazz, fusion, country, bluegrass, Indian, Hawaiian, Brazilian or folk guitarists? Just rock ones?), I love hating on your lists? You're hilarious.
And no, I wouldn't say that. Don't accuse me of things. Who the hell do you think you are?
AND WHO ARE YOU TO SAY I'M BIASED??? First of all, how did I act like I'm open to all styles of music? Second of all, how the fuck do you reach the conclusion that all I know is the blues, when I only mentioned one blues guitarist?
And what is Kurt Cobain doing here? I know the list said innovative, I can read.
You're claiming that KURT COBAIN invented grunge? Forget all the bands that released records before Nirvana made their breakout, forget about the other ones that were popular and influential when Nirvana were popular, forget about Neil Young, who is often credited with laying the foundations for grunge, hell forget everything else about grunge, you think it's KURT COBAIN who invented it? You're deluded. And besides, grunge is not a guitar style. And Neil Young had been using the same powerchords and distorded guitar sounds YEARS before Nirvana and the rest of the grunge scene.
T-Bone Walker should be here because he is often credited with being the first musician to perform with an electric guitar and he basically created the electric blues style of playing, which quickly replaced the acoustic blues style and influenced all, and yes, I mean ALL the blues guitarists that came after him, which includes B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Albert King, Freddy King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Elmore James, Earl Hooker, Mike Bloomfield, Peter Green... the list goes on. AND his influence extends to rock music, with Chuck Berry, the pioneer of rock and roll guitar, calling Walker his biggest influence, and HENDRIX HIMSELF calling Walker his childhood hero. You know all the tricks Jimi did on stage, like playing with his teeth, behind his head and back and between his knees? That all came from T-Bone.
And a side-note on Malmsteen: Sure he introduced the neo-classical genre into metal, and was hugely skilled, but can you name me any other performers as big as Malmsteen who play in the same genre? Nobody, that's right. He created a genre that hardly anyone plays in, and his style is essentially Ritchie Blackmore on steroids, as Ritchie had been bringing classical influences into rock in the early 70's. Why is Yngwie on here?
Really narrow selections here. I'd have to say T-Bone Walker would probably be the most innovative.
By the way, what the hell is Kurt Cobain doing on here?
Neo-Classical Metal....You know I really hate that genre just speed and I don't think it is all that original, but alright fine.
Put on Yngwie Malmsteen he's the one who pioneered the Neo-Classical Metal genre (also known as shred metal I'm pretty sure).