Need some opinions pls and thx

[veinbuster]

I don’t have anything to say about the original question, but I will comment on the migration to best in general.

I’ve always compared more in terms of most interesting rather than best. Interesting was largely driven by the degree to which the player did things I would like to be able to do better. BB King was captivating for a while, but turned out to be pretty easy to borrow from. Jeff Beck could easily be a life study project. Bonnie Raitt also calmly does stuff that I would have to work at for ages.

 

[Lola]

And yet, musical success doesn't always involve the best player.

It's mythology, in my humble, prehistoric, opinion. Is Clapton the best guitar player in the world? Was Hendrix? Was Beck? Was Page? When they were hugely popular, Wes Montgomery was still around. I know because I saw him perform at jazz clubs. So were other great players.

It 100% depends what you like on a purely subjective basis.

Is there a pecking order? I don't think so. All of them, every last one, produced wonderful music.

So, f@ck the competition thing. If you like it, it's good. If not, it might still be good, just not your thing.

I consider myself a very mediocre guitar player. I've also made a lot of session fees and royalties with the instrument. Screw it. I don't care what anyone thinks. Royalty checks from playing guitar and making music funded my life for many years, put my kids through college, and made my life joy instead of drudgery.

You like drudgery? Cool. I didn't and left a legit law firm I ran in order to do music.

I say go for it, if you're so inclined, and if not, fine, but NEVER sell yourself short. EVER.

It's NOT a contest; it never WAS a contest; and it will never BE a contest. Screw all that. Do what you do. Make the best music you can. And forget the BS of peer approval.

As far as which dude in a great band was better, if you have a head on your shoulders it's entirely irrelevant. If you like the music, you're in business, and if not, that's cool, too.

You sound angry. I am sorry if I asked a stupid question but I have personal reasons for this. It doesn’t really matter anymore! I detect a red flag.

 

[FragileThunder]

Not true. It is fact. Whoever is compared to me is most likely the better guitar player.

No way…I challenge you for the crown of being the best at being the worst!

 

[László]

Not true. It is fact. Whoever is compared to me is most likely the better guitar player.

I feel the same way about myself!

 

[László]

You sound angry. I am sorry if I asked a stupid question but I have personal reasons for this. It doesn’t really matter anymore! I detect a red flag.

I'm not angry at all! Not even a little bit. Sometimes I like to express an opinion emphatically, and that's all it was meant to be.

I'm opinionated as heck, though!

And it wasn't a stupid question. I thought it was worth discussing in a serious way.

 

[Geo408]

Malcolm on rhythm guitar was the bomb! Angus on lead guitar was the bomb! They were equally important in the band. There is no way to say one was better than the other. Together they were unbeatable in the riff-rock domain. I believe that if you took out either one of them, the band would’ve never been as successful as they were. Sorry, that’s the best I can offer! They were an unbelievable live band…I saw them three time…just awesome.

 

[archtop]

I'm not sure you could say which is better, only that Malcom + Angus together were the best. No 2 other guitar players have ever meshed so well to create a singularly iconic sound.

 

[jxe]

imagine being 9 years old, hearing ‘back in black’ directly after that white brick pink-floyd album, then finding out both bands had dead singers.

 

[JasonE]

Hang on...those are the only contests I ever win!

[insert 'laughing until tears roll off my face' emoji]

Seriously, some stuff can be measured. Other stuff is pure opinion. 'Who's the better guitar player' is pure opinion.

I had a very long reply typed up to this. I decided not to post it. The bottom line was when people ask, what's the best...? My first question is for what? The guitar player question is no different to me. Who's the best guitar player? For what?

 

[WEDGE]

My first guitar hero was Ace Frehley. By most standards a sub par ‘guitarist’ but he made me smile at his playing and made me want to play. equally as much as far better players. I put Malcom and Angus In this category.

 

[11top]

Ehhh… you could do a lot worse.

Maybe, but I did a HELLUVA lot better. In fact, I over-achieved.

 

[Daryl Jones]

Not true. It is fact. Whoever is compared to me is most likely the better guitar player.

No way…I challenge you for the crown of being the best at being the worst!

Hee-haw! Yis are pure neophytes in the "that guy plays bloody awful" category next to yours truly...I even make ME cringe much of the time! In that Cheech & Chong movie where Tommy is wailing away on the strings and the motorcycle is belching fumes and wilting the wussy neighbor's flowers, even the motorcycle sounds much better'n' me sometimes! I'm actually surprised they haven't asked me for a personal me playing photo to put on the packaging for the Cry Baby pedal...

But for a vote on the original subject, I have to say I "like" Malcom better. Angus is the show-off and the maniac persona for sure, and Mal is the more laid back "just play" dood. So I guess it's a tie, they are both best at what they bring to the table.

 

[alantig]

My comment was never a let's whip out the tape measure and drop our pants and see who wins.

Hang on...those are the only contests I ever win!

I only show 'em enough to win.

 

[Lola]

Oh boy I thought I was in trouble. I didn’t want to show my face around here today.

I am really sorry if I misconstrued your statements that you made @LSchefman. Sometimes we all jump the gun. Pls accept my apology on behalf of my misunderstanding.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

What’s the “ best “anything“

imagine being 9 years old, hearing ‘back in black’ directly after that white brick pink-floyd album, then finding out both bands had dead singers.

Imagine "discovering" Jimi Hendrix at age 13... in 1973.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

And to Ms. Lola's question: I think these questions are interesting because of the answers they bring. When a kid at TGP asks these questions, I understand where they are coming from... when I was younger, even being brought up in a house full of musicians, when I got into guitar it quickly changed into a gun slinger contest. That was the mentality of MANY people, and even the magazines pushed it with voting and polls, and "who's #1" type stuff.

But when someone asks it now and it's someone middle age or older, I figure they are past the stage where they are truly asking the question as if it were a competition, and are perhaps asking more to gain the perspective on others. You can learn something about a player by the way they answer these questions, after all. Like... who thinks that the song is everything, and locking down a solid rhythm sets the tone for the whole song? Vs. Who things the lead is what makes the song? Vs. Who thinks that whoever wrote the song is the really important one. etc., etc.

And, the "it's not a competition" posts are always present. To which I'll add a question. If it really WAS a competition, what would be the standard for telling who was best? Would it be, who's the fastest? Who plays the most complex leads? Or what? Certainly not "who made the most money or is the most famous," though... because let's not forget that Taylor Swift probably makes more money in one year than Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix put together made in their lifetimes. So we can't really just by who's famous or how much money they make. SO what would be the standard?

The answer to that is probably back to what Les and others said... it would just be opinion anyway. And while I'd LOVE to have some guys here say "Howie, you are the baddest guitar player on the planet" and it really would mean the world to me to hear that, if they really thought so... I'd rather have Taylor Swifts money.

 

[László]

Oh boy I thought I was in trouble. I didn’t want to show my face around here today.

I am really sorry if I misconstrued your statements that you made @LSchefman. Sometimes we all jump the gun. Pls accept my apology on behalf of my misunderstanding.

My gosh, you did absolutely nothing wrong! You're my friend! That's never going to change.

 

[László]

I only show 'em enough to win.

Definitely. It's important to avoid giving anyone an inferiority complex.

 

[Sybo]

Definitely. It's important to avoid giving anyone an inferiority complex.

Smart man

 

[Lola]

@DreamTheaterRules you are a bad a$$ed player. Your tone is something to die for. So consistent and beautiful. Let’s put it this way! It’s ear candy.