2. music
  3. 1251761987

Rolling Stone top 100 Guitarists - Howe/Van Halen

OK, I just listened to The Yes Album for about the millionth time and I have one question; how on earth did the dudes at Rolling Stone put Steve Howe at number 69 on their list? I realize they tend to be a holier than thou (or smarter-than-thou) bunch, but come on. Didn't this guy win like every guitar award from musician magazines in the 70's? I was shocked as I read through the list and saw the names ahead of him. I just assumed he would be in the top 10 for unbelievable technical skill alone. The guy is simply amazing. I don't want to start a debate on some of the extremely questionable picks, especially in the top 10, but this guy is one of the all time greats.

To me it's like forgetting about Stan Musial because he played in St Louis instead of NY, LA or Chicago. Still one of the all time greats.

That brings me to the most amazing slight on that list: Eddie Van Halen at 70??? Didn't he basically invent speed metal? His tapping technic along with the rest of his unbelievable arsenal should put him in the top 10 if not the top 5, I mean come on. Because they didn't like Van Halen's pop/Rock they shun him down to 70?? I'm not a huge Van Halen fan but I think they had 2 great albums (Van Halen, 1984) and his playing on those alone should get him in the top 10.

I kept thinking that with the exceptions, IMO, of Jimmy Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Kirk Hammett no one else could play all the music of all the other guitarists as well as VH could. George Harrison, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton or The Edge getting through 'Eruption', 'Ain't Talkin' Bout Love' or 'Hot for Teacher'? I don't think so. I can't think of anything Van Halen couldn't play extremely well, both artistically and technically.

Most the "Greatest" lists are BS, but this instance seemed really egregious to me.
macdadtexas
ptmconsulting
1,000 posts
 
I think these ratings are seriously tilted toward guitarists as "composers" of rock classics rather than players. John McLaughlin at #49 as an example. But that doesn't explain Pete Townsend at #50 or Richie Blackmore at #55. But why the hell is Jonie Mitchell on this list at all (at #72) unless they are looking at compositional skills as well as playing skills? And she precedes Trey Anastasio!!!

David Gilmour at #82 or Tommy Iommi at #86 - rediculous.

Maybe this list was just composed to stir up some controversial discussions, like this one.
martykl
3,578 posts
 
PTM,

I guess that you've gotta have a gal on your list:

Jonie Mitchell is a good choice for that role because she is considered the queen of alternate tunings. You can make a case that she was first on that bandwagon (Ritchie Havens might disagree). There is no doubt that she was deep into that approach very early on and -IMHO- that it was a significant contribution to the SOTA of pop/rock guitar.

Bonnie Raitt, Joan Jett, Susan Tedeschi, Joan Armatrading, and a few others probably fought it out with JM for the "distaff" spot on the list, but lost because they had no similar "signature" distinction.

Marty
martykl
3,578 posts
 
One more thought:

I suspect that these lists are built with an eye toward the future. That is, the authors don't want to set themselves up to look foolish. Sins of omission are better than commision (except for political correctness.)

Add a female to prevent sexist critiques. Cover ethnicity. Nod a little to non- manistream (i.e. non blues/blues based) styles. Mainly, however, they want to stay in the middle of the fairway. Add the very famous, very influential, or very hip/cult choices. It becomes easy for guys like Howe, Buckingham, or Terry Kath to slip between cracks like these, because pop and prog players are effectively subject to a quota.

That approach explains (for me) a lot of this list.

Marty
tfkaudio
591 posts
 
I would actually put Joni Mitchell higher on the list. A great guitar player. Maybe had she windmilled, leapt over the mike stand, and smashed it she might have finished ahead of Pete at #50. But alas she just played it.

As for #50... I've often said that Pete Townshend is nowhere near the technical master of the guitar that, say, Eric Clapton is - but anyone who'd rather listen to Clapton than Townshend is bonkers.

Maybe they need 2 lists - a skills list and an adrenaline list.

Yeah, let's have more lists.

Cheers
chashmal
605 posts
 
Eric Clapton might be the most over rated player, and musician, in history.

Maybe one day he will send over a nice fat check to Freddy King's family to compensate for what he stole.
More to discover