Top 20 Favorite Guitarists
My favorite guitarists ever based on technical skill, songwriting, innovation, composition, rrdiversity, personal meaning, energy, emotion, experimentation and knowledge. Album is the rrbest representation of the guitarists best album, not the bands best album. |
| 21 | | Honorable Mentions
For those Who didn't make the list
Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains), Tim Roth (Into Eternity), Adam McGrath (Cave In), Rivers Cuomo (Weezer), John
McLaughlin (various), B.B. King (solo artist), Joe Satriani (solo artist, various), many many more. |
| 20 |  | Converge
Jane Doe
Kurt Ballou (Converge, various) (Genre: Metalcore/Punk)- DISSONANCE. FUCKING UGLY, FAT RIFFS AND GIANT PILES
OF SLUDGE. |
| 19 |  | Megadeth
Rust in Peace
Dave Mustaine (Megadeth) (Genre: Heavy Metal/Thrash Metal)- Mustaine is fucking fast guys. Though he's a bit of a
dick he's one of my faves. |
| 18 |  | Death
Symbolic
Chuck Schuldiner (Death) (Genre: Death Metal/Thrash)- RIP CHUCK! |
| 17 |  | The Faceless
Planetary Duality
Michael Keene (The Faceless) (Genre: Death Metal)- Though Akeldama is my favorite Faceless album, PD (while being
far from a perfect record), showcases Keene's insane playing. His riffs are immense. |
| 16 |  | Pink Floyd
The Dark Side of the Moon
David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) (Genre: Progressive Rock)- Though he lacks the technical skill, Gilmour writes some of the
most powerful riffs and guitar lines ever. While "Animals" is my favorite from Floyd, "Dark Side" shows Gilmour's
fantastic composition skills and most interesting experimentation. |
| 15 |  | Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada
Efrim Menuck (GY!BE, various) (Genre: Post-Rock/Experimental Music)- LISTEN TO THE END OF MOYA. |
| 14 | | Wes Montgomery
Smokin' at the Half Note
Wes Montgomery (Solo Artist) (Genre: Jazz/Bop)- The best guitarist of the classic jazz era. Guy is insane. If you are in
any way a fan of jazz, just listen to "Four on Six" and be fucking amazed. Love this guy. |
| 13 |  | YES
Close to the Edge
Steve Howe (YES, various) (Genre: Progressive Rock)- Guy is a fucking genius. Messes with both classical and jazz in
his guitar work. Listen to anything off of Close to the Edge or Fragile to get a taste of this guy's playing. Love him. |
| 12 |  | Nick Drake
Pink Moon
Nick Drake (Solo Artist) (Genre: Folk): Unexpected huh? Listens to the thick tone/riffs in "Road" and you'll understand.
Clean, vibrant, and smooth are words that best describe the playing of legendary folk artist Nick Drake. Also plays in
the sexiest drop tuning that turned me gay on my first listen. |
| 11 |  | maudlin of the Well
Bath
Toby Driver (various) (Genre: Avant-Garde/Metal/Experimental Music)- It's not even him as a guitar player, but his
composition makes him the best musician on here. Oh. And the "Birth Pains" solo. Fucking Driver does everything right. |
| 10 |  | Opeth
Morningrise
Mikael Akerfeldt (Opeth) (Genre: Progressive Death Metal/Blues)- God, I love Akerfeldt. On "Morningrise", which is far
from their best album, Mikael combines beautiful acoustic guitar lines with high pitched electric harmonies, into one of
the most complex guitar albums ever made. Gorgeous shit. |
| 9 |  | Symphony X
The Divine Wings of Tragedy
Michael Romeo (Symphony X) (Genre: Power Metal/Neo-Classical)- Romeo. Is. Fucking. Sick. He's fast, ridiculously
well versed in classical music, and plus, he's fat! Nah but he's wicked technical and one of my favorite composers ever.
Brilliant player. |
| 8 |  | Protest the Hero
Fortress
Luke and Tim (Protest the Hero) (Genre: Prog Metal/Mathcore)- Im going to group these two together, as their
orgasmic dual leads and impeccable timing helped create one of the sexiest guitar albums ever in "Fortress". These guys
are a whirlwind of sweeps and tapping solos. |
| 7 |  | Al Di Meola
Elegant Gypsy
Al Di Meola (Solo Artist) (Genre: Jazz/Jazz and Latin Fusion)- This guy is fucking insane. One of the most well
respected musicians in the world, Di Meola is the best and most inspiring jazz guitarist in existence. His lightning fast
speed and constant dabbling with latin music is compelling enough to make him one of my favorites. Some of the
melodies he creates are eargasmic. Awesome player. |
| 6 |  | Led Zeppelin
Physical Graffiti
Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) (Genre: Hard Rock/Blues)- Page is not the most gifted player in terms of skill. Not at all.
But fuck. He was a brilliant producer and composer, some of his arrangements were phenomenally put together and the
way he made guitar work sound on each record was literally flawless. While far from my favorite Led Zeppelin album,
"Physical Graffiti" is Page's finest hour in terms of composition and diversity. He was a true legend and figure who
wrote some of the most badass guitar parts in the history of rock n roll. |
| 5 |  | Cynic
Focus
Paul Masvidal (Cynic) (Genre: Technical Death Metal/Jazz Fusion)- Masvidal is a fucking beast. His solos are among the
most unique that I've ever heard. He combines crushing death metal riffs with melodic jazz passages and its fucking
AWESOME. (Sorry for my lack of articulation). |
| 4 |  | Dream Theater
Images and Words
John Petrucci (Dream Theater) (Genre: Progressive Rock/Metal)- Though DT has grown off me for the most part, there
is no denying Petrucci's virtuosity. He's fantastic. He lacks the emotion, but fuck is his playing sick. "Images and
Words" and "Train of Thought" have his best guitar work. |
| 3 |  | Between the Buried and Me
Colors
Paul Waggoner (BTBAM) (Genre: Progressive Metal/Experimental Music)- Wank, wank and more wank. His skill is
unreal, his knowledge even more so. His firm grasp of jazz and blues is mind blowing, and he's perfect live. A brilliant
composer and nice dude overall, Paul is the mind behind the 'wank', but even you don't like BTBAM's approach, you
have to respect the sheer technical skill and composition of Paul Waggoner. |
| 2 |  | Metallica
...And Justice for All
Kirk Hammet (Metallica) (Genre: Thrash Metal/Heavy Metal)- In terms of technical skill, he's the weakest player on the
list. Most of you are convinced he 'sucks' anyway, so no point explaining in depth my views on Hammet; long story
short his riffs inspired me to really get serious with the guitar. "The Shortest Straw" has my favorite solo of all fucking
time. Don't mess bitches. |
| 1 |  | King Crimson
Red
Robert Fripp (King Crimson) (Genre: Progressive Rock/Jazz Fusion)- Jaw dropping in his innovation and diversity as a
player. Some say he lacks a certain emotion and is too indulgent, but his charm as a composer and player gets me
every time. He also composed my favorite album of all time, "In the Court of the Crimson King". Though not my
favorite album by King Crimson, "Red" features some of Fripp's best work, and "Discipline"is a close second. |
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