100 Greatest Guitarists

[Liu Yuante]

This thread is inspired by Rolling Stone's listing of the 100 Greatest Guitarists (in their opinion). The list can be found here: http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/ ... f_all_time

There's a lot that can be discussed from this list, I think. Personally, I'm gratified that the list seems to be pseudo-honest, drawing not just from the mainstream. Personal favorites that made the list:

My man Richard Thompson, at number 19
Robert Fripp, at number 42
Frank Zappa, at number 45
Tom Verlaine, at number 56
D. Boon, at number 89
Fred "Sonic" Smith and Wayne Kramer, at numbers 92 & 93
Greg Ginn, at number 99

Do you guys agree with the list? Disagree? Why? What changes would you make? For my part, the idea that Jack White is a better guitar player than Richard Thompson is laughable. Fripp & Zappa all the way down in the 40s is a misdemeanor at the least, as well. However, it is fairly hard to come up with new spots - everyone on the list, with a few exceptions, is pretty amazing in his own way. A very subjective ranking, doing greatest guitarists, that's for sure. But that also means there's plentyof room for controversy and discussion.

Is there anyone you felt should have been on the list that is nowhere to be found? Personally I was displeased to find that Phil Manzanera, Bob Mould and Adrian Belew had been left off the list.

Adrian

[Mitsunari]

I can't dispute Hendrix being at No.1 really. He's well deserved of the top spot, purely because of the magnitude of his talent. Peerless, imo.

I'd have liked to have seen Carlos Santana, Tom Morello and Eddie Van Halen in the top ten, Morello more so because of his astonishingly diverse style. Quite a virtuoso, one might say.

I too was somewhat surprised to see Phil Manzanera omitted. Odd.

EDIT: No Dimebag Darrell either? Even more odd, imo.

[Ricky]

Yeah I dont like Hendrix being the first . It Should be Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin. (I think I have this magazine????)

[Huang Bob]

11, 12 and 17.

These kind of lists always suck.

[Kong Wen]

These kind of lists always suck.

Agreed.

Magazines only churn out these lists as fluff so they don't have to write real articles. Everyone knows it's impossible to come up with a good top-10, top-50, top-100 (or whatever!) list of anything that will satisfy anyone. How does Jack White even get on a list of the top 100 guitarists at all? I know people who live nearby that are better guitarists than him.

The fact is that there are so many things taken into account (including randomness / personal inclination) when making a list like this (how do you determine that someone should be 99th instead of 98th?) that it can't really be seen as anything other than a commercial endeavour.

[Gabriel]

Nice to see Adam Jones' ability to get the most out of a guitar is appreciated. Didn't expect Kurt to be so high, or even be on the list...

[Lucifer]

Yeah, I was just about to say the same thing. Cobain is definitely not ahead of... uhhh--just about anyone for being a good guitarist.

That list isn't very good at all.

Though I agree that any list is going to be pretty pointless.

[Kong Wen]

Yeah, I was just about to say the same thing. Cobain is definitely not ahead of... uhhh--just about anyone for being a good guitarist.

That list isn't very good at all.

Though I agree that any list is going to be pretty pointless.

Nope. They have to juggle technical talent, artistic merit, influence, popularity, etc. They also make sure their ordering is different every time, so people will have a reason to read the lists. It's kind of silly, but it gives people something to argue about.

Maybe I will make my own list.

[Kristina]

Nope. They have to juggle technical talent, artistic merit, influence, popularity, etc. They also make sure their ordering is different every time, so people will have a reason to read the lists. It's kind of silly, but it gives people something to argue about.

Maybe I will make my own list.

You should!

I also see these as pretty pointless. . .Until the day someone can come up with an exact formula or something, it's, as Kong Wen put it, fluff.

[Adam]

Once I see the words "100 Greatest" I know it's gonna be crap...let alone "Rolling Stone" in this day and age.
It should be like the top 20, 'cause at least then I'd be able to name 20 people.

As for the whole order, I'm really not surprised, I tend not to expect these lists to have any reality to them.