Rolling Stones' 100 greatest guitarists list. WTF???

BB King no. 3 and no Ritchie Blackmore in the list? WTF is right.

Angus Young, Eddie Van Halen and Tony Iommi are way too low on the list. Joan Jett does not belong anywhere near a list like this. She’s a simple, three chord rhythm player. My grandmother was a better guitarist than Joan Jett. I mean that literally. My grandma played country guitar and she was a better player than Joan Jett.

Jack White, WTF?

James Hetfield should on there too. It’s his riffing, not Kirk’s leads (taking nothing away from Kirk, he’s a great soloist) that made Metallica as massively influential as it was in the 90’s.

That list, like the whole magizine, sucks. I can’t wait till my subscription runs out.

Evil: Dick Dale was on the list, but only mid-pack as I recall.

Not that anybody cares what I think, Steve Howe should be #1.


How is Rap like Porn? Both are better with the sound turned off.

And just where the fuck is Al Dimeola? Man, that guy could light up an axe.

Steve Vai isn’t on their either?

Eddie Van is #70?

Who the hell made this list?

Brian May is 39? Zappa is 45? Neil Young is 83?

Who’s #16? Johnny Ramone? That’s fucking insulting to all other guitarists in history! The Ramones were a phenomenal band, one of my favorites, but any 16-year-old could sub for him after some practice…

hrh

As far as I know, RS never made it clear what the criteria for this list were (if there were any). So the influence argument, the popularity argument, the innovation or talent… nobody really knows what they were shooting for. The DID name some very good guitarists on this list, although a lot of the placement confused me, too. They got some good obscure names, and missed some easy big ones (Albert King, for example) and some other important people. But that’s how this is supposed to work anyway.
Of course, for me, the overriding factor is just happiness that Duane Allman is so high up there. :slight_smile:

I don’t see Slash anywhere. Is this a misprint? Did the printer make a mistake? Because it couldn’t have been on purpose.

And Alex Lifeson from Rush could have made the list.

It would have been nice to see some more recognition of great session players like G.E. Smith or Waddy Wachtel.

I’m not sure he belongs in the top 100, but I would put Joe Walsh ahead of at least ten of the people on that list.

And where are the boys from Lynyrd Skynyrd? You can’t have a guitar god list without at least one of the boys from Lynyrd Skynyrd.

And did I miss seeing Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top? The guy Jimmy Hendrix said was the greatest guitarist he’d ever played with?
What is Kurt Kobain doing at #12? Did I miss the memo? Is he a guitar god now? Maybe they threw him a bone on influence alone.

And Joan Jett’s involvement with this list should have been limited to typesetting or something. What the hell? How does she make the list when much better and more successful female guitarists like Nancy Wilson from Heart or Bonnie Raitt get left off?

And what kind of list of the top 100 guitarists of all time leaves off people like Chet Atkins, Roy Clark, Django Reinhardt, Michael Hedges, or Merle Travis?

Let’s face it - if this list were accurate, the top 30 probably wouldn’t have a single artist who came along in the last 10 years on it. But the last thing Rolling Stone wants to be known as is “Dad’s Music Magazine”. So the list gets jiggered with people like Jack White, the guys from Sonic Youth, etc.

He was a better writer of melodies than you’re giving him credit for, and everybody’s been copying his stuff for ten years now. That’s pretty high on the influence chart. :wink:

No, you misunderstand. I think he’s a great writer. I’m questioning whether he’s a great guitarist.

Bob Dylan is a great songwriter. As a guitarist he’s… a great songwriter.

Where’s Yngwie Malmsteen?

Jimmy Page should be 1 not 9!

Seriously, these lists are a joke and are just a means of upping sales. Jimmy Page, Frank Zappa, Hendrix. How the hell can you really say which one is “better”? B.B. King is not a particularly good technical guitarist though he was an influential one. A lot of nonsense in these lists as they have to comport with who is perceived to be cool and who isn’t. Page, imho, had a far greater impact then Hendrix and was actually the better guitar player. So what, it is all subjective.

Where is Rory Gallagher?

I don’t know a whole lot but I do know Mick Ronson at 64 is absurd

I definitely would have started the list with Hendrix, Harrison, and Frank Zappa. Arlo Guthrie, Paul Simon, and Dweezil Zappa would probably have been included somewhere in my list as well.

But as the great FZ once said, “Rating guitarists is a stupid hobby.”

Concur. What really gets me is that Paco de Lucia is nowhere to be found. That guy should at least be in the top 5.

Also, where’s Johnny Marr?

-Apoptosis

Where’s Steve Hackett? And Howe?

Okay, don’t be dissing BB King and Lucille. He plays with soul.

I agree that Gilmour and van Halen are waaay too low. Good grief, Joan Jett ranks above them.

I thought Peter Frampton would be on the list.

And where the hell is Neal Schon? I’m still pissed at him for firing Steve Perry, but I have to admit he’s one hell of a guitar player. Ditto with the recently canned Don Felder. I sing a lot of their riffs.

FWIW, Vince Gill is a remarkably good player. And Buck Owens? Okay, maybe not Buck Owens.

WHO WROTE THIS LIST?

Okay, there’s obviously a misprint on this list. Somehow, the one I’m seeing says that Lou Reed is number 52. Um, huh? Whether he’s rated on, influence, technique, talent, songwriting, or shout-outs from the rest of the industry, there’s no way he deserves to be that low on the list.

No Django fucking Reinhardt!!!

Most clueless, pointless, worthless list ever compiled. My god.