200 greatest guitarists in rock

kim thayil.

universally overlooked due to staying in the background while chris cornell took the spotlight, thayil is often unfairly written off as 'that guy with the beard' in soundgarden. if you listen to more than their later singles it's clear that the man had his own technique and approach to the instrument.

his use of alternate tunings was not random, it wasn't done to fit in with the grunge scene, he was doing it long before 'dropped-D' because a standard phrase in every guitar player's vocabulary. his lead style is also quite unique varying between traditional styles and chaotic noise in a way that not many people are capable of reproducing. rhythmically he would alter between off time sludgy metal riRAB and psychedelic sounRABcapes with ease.

he's also directly responsible for the reissue of the guild s-100 guitar (their SG knock off)
 
Cobain? seriously? top 200 songwriters maybe. Brian May after Pete Townsend? for shame.
This is your opinion so I should shut the **** up :)

thanks for taking the time to make that list, overall it's pretty good.

(not a bad attempt at an insult followed by a compliment I must say)
 
Another thing is originality.

I can pretty much tell when it's Gilmour, despite the imitators, but I'm never gonna say "hey this sounRAB like a Petrucci solo" unless someone tells me, because of his complete lack of a trademark sound.
 
Michael Hedges (if you know him) is a damn underrated guitarist, but I guess he's not exactly rock. Still though, poor guy, doesn't make it to any list at all. Maybe a special mention? :D
 
And Boon didn't corabine his influences to create his own style? I'd say he did. And yeah Mascis has a lot of indie influence so I might move him up a bit.
 
Not the first time I've heard that, and won't be the last. :p: But in all honestly, I think John Petrucci is one of the most complete guitarists of our time. He's not just a guitarist he's a musician. He knows that knowing when not to play is just as important as when to play. I would honestly use him as a model guitarist when teaching students about discipline and not being a Yngwie Malmsteen show off type.
 
Again I tried not to show any genre preference and made sure every genre has a representitive or two.

Lists with metal and prog guitarists usually neglect punk and alternative guitarists, and vice versa, most of these are subjective, so I tried to do the most fair list I could.

These lists also tend to be skilled based, for me that's a small part of the criteria. But influence, impact and popularity are also very important, however I won't confuse popular artists (Billy Joe Artmstrong) with popular guitarists.
 
No ****, Sherlock? That's why I said "I don't think he'd ever have gotten anywhere as a guitar player" and not "It's a known fact that Neil Young gave up songwriting because he knew his guitar playing ability would carry him for the rest of his life."
 
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