Most Over Rated Guitarist

  • Thread starter Thread starter Roel
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Down with Virtuoso's Up With Songwriters!

I never have cared for Virtuoso's, I just can't get into it. I like listening to great songs, not how fast a guitarist can play various scales.
Some of my pet hates are :

1. Yngwie Malmsteen
2. Paul Gilbert
3. Eddie Van Halen
4. Steve Vai
5. Joe Satriani
6. Nuno Bettencourt etc.

Bass Virtuoso's also:

1. Billy Sheehan (tapping for a bass? Get Over It!)


It's like listening to Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston, these people just kill a song by over playing/singing. It's not what music is about to me.
 
Via is skill over substance. What blows me away is the guy who plays conservatively 99% of the time & then out of the blue just 'scales' away into something melodic. That's where it's at! A simple melodic line will stick in your head long after a shred of 20 notes has vanished. I'm not at the right post to say this but David Gilmour has always been one of my favs....bend & shake.
 
Michael hedges used this harmonic tapping technique quite a lot.It's quite incredible to hear.I have not heard anyone do it as well as michael hedges.Phil keaggy comes close though.
 
"I like listening to great songs, not how fast a guitarist can play various scales. "

Arse!

"Via is skill over substance. "

Arse!

You should try to get that jelousy under control!
 
Hell, I'm jealous of anyone good enough (and/or with guts enough) to be able to play FOR A LIVING.

I'd love to get up in the morning and head to the studio, rather than head to the office.
 
Steve Via sold his soul to the devil!! I saw it in the movie Crossroads. :(~
 
how come the only reason anyone wouldn't like vai is jealousy? how come it's impossible to not like the kind of music because you just don't like the kind of music he plays? the reason why i can't play like vai is that i've never attempted to play like vai. i'd rather play like robert johnson or muddy waters, or even jimmy page. i'd rather play like doug marsch of built to spill, too, but i really want to play like myself. the guitarists i admire bend a lot and use a lot of vibrato. it seems to me that you can put more feeling into a note if you hold it for a while and make it move. i'm jealous of muddy waters, not vai. vai is overrated. where does he take you? does he make you feel anything except amazement at how many notes he can fit into four beats? muddy waters can make you cry.
 
Rather late than never, but...

I can't believe these two didn't make the list:

Stevie Ray Vaughn

Trey Anastasia(the dude from Phish)

Don't get me wrong, both have tremendous talent. SRV could play the strings off of that thing for the style he was playing. But the press this guy gets doesn't live up the the player. I know, this is like slaughtering the sacred cow of the village, but....

As for Trey, and to a larger extent his band Phish....there isn't any focus there, IMO. I like jam bands as a general rule, but only when the jamming adds to the song(Blues Traveler, for example, although Popper really likes to hear himself play some nights).
 
it's sort of like comparing beans to oranges.i'm not a heavy metal player so i don't hold them in very high esteem.i know they must have some talent but they rarely show it.every body screws up and if you listen closely you can catch it if you have an ear.are we rating for techinal movements or heart and listenability?a lot of jazz players "step out of key".some times it works some times not.throw the dice and take your chance.i'm trying to play slower.BBKing plays fewer notes than ALBERT collins but the phrasing is impecable.beans and oranges
 
How the hell can anyone name Slash as overrated?!
Eh? He outwrites most living guitarists solo-wise, maybe not outplays... but that's not the point of playing an instrument.

Who is overrated then?

Yngwie Malmsteen is overrated!
He'll probably be playing his arpeggios and scales in 550 bpm any day now, and he still won't be able to write anything pleasing or catching.
He should join a band with a good songwriter and take some direction in his playing, then he'd be awesome.

Kirk Hammett is overrated!
He wouldn't survive a second without his beloved wah-wah, and IMO most people have more musicality in their little finger than this man has in his whole body! (Ok, so Hammett is a pet peeve of mine...)

For reference, good guitarist that I like are Rhoads, Slash, Knopfler, Tipton/Downing & Friedman.
 
did i miss something? you like slash and RR but hate hammett? altyhough i personally think slash aint an excellent guitarist he's most definately at least equal to hammett. and what is it about not having feeling for a song? you think "one has a bad solo? you think master of puppets is bad? the reason i'm asking is not cuz you don't l;ike hammett ... to each his own. but you like RR who's like the daddy of hammett. and he isn't a bad player none of the guitarist mentioned are.

guhlenn
 
Kirk Hammett is overrated!
He wouldn't survive a second without his beloved wah-wah, and IMO most people have more musicality in their little finger than this man has in his whole body!

Arse!
 
how can you include george harrison?
i mean check out guitar george he knows all the chords.
 
eeEEeeEEeeEE

Hammett's vibrato sounds like a mosquito buzzing in your ear. Slash is good but could you identify him out of 20 other guitarist? But, he married a pornstar ...now that's what I'm talkin' about!!!
 
guhlenn, what can possibly possess you to say that Randy is the musical daddy of Hammett? Hammett doesn't show any of the traits, talent or technique that Randy had. In my world they're miles apart.

FYI, I like the early Metallica albums very much, I just don't care much for Hammett's solos. I think Metallica would have been alot better with someone else, just like Megadeth will suffer now that Friedman has left them.

And I do appreciate that you don't slam me for my opinion.
 
steveaustin, I can spot Slah's bluesy and often clever solos most of the time. I don't expect people to recognize his talent, but to me he's one of the best blues-influenced rock guitarists around today.
 
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