Underrated Rock Guitarists

[Ken McLaren]

Tommy Gibbons, Kevin Briggs, Dimi nalbantov...(Not in any particular order)

I believe Tommy is Yngwie, Kevin Is Satriani, and Dimi Is Steve Vai...They are just as good and just as creative. Maybe one day they too will get the break that the big three mentioned above did.
KM

[denismcd]

Originally Posted by jammybastard

Oh enough of the "Cobain killed good music" b.s.
That's marketing hype, and if you can't see through it then you really need to post less and read more books about the machinations of the music business.

Here's the way I break this issue down:

There are Guitarists.

There are Songwriters.

There are very, very few who are excellent at both and those are the ones who really deserve the accolades no matter what chart position they once occupied.

Well said.

I believe Elliott Smith fits both bills. One of the finest songwriters I've heard and a hell of a guitar player.

I would also have to put Johnny Marr into this mix.

[denismcd]

A few more underrated guitarists:

1. Sterling Morrison gets very little credit for the generation of musicians he inspired with the Velvet Underground.

2. Joey Santiago's work with the Pixies has been copied over and over again... the 'unison bend'.

3. Andy Gill - Gang of Four -- the syncopated guitar that sounds like breaking glass -- amazing. Inspired Big Black and many, many others.

4. Dr. Know...the Bad Brains remain the tightest, most powerful live act I've ever seen without sacrificing musicality. Dr. Know and Greg Ginn architected the bridge between metal and hardcore.

5. Bob Mould. Great with Husker Du, Great Solo (listen to "Workbook"), and great with Sugar (one of my personal faves ever).

[MadGuitrst]

Adrian Belew

[thenoiseflower]

...also happens to be a total baddass songwriter too.

Jeff Trott

[denismcd]

Originally Posted by kafka

I'm going to nominate Chet Atkins and Jimi Hendrix as the most underated guitarists. And by "underrated", I mean that I really like Chet Atkins and Jimi Hendrix, and I concede that someone else somewhere may not be as obsessed with them as I am, and therefore they are underrated. Oh yeah, and I also mean to say that I didn't bother to read any other posts in this thread (including my own) because, well, nothing good could come of that.

So, I really like Chet Atkins and Jimi Hendrix, and everybody else should, too. And if they already do, they should like them more. Because I sure do.

Outstanding...

[Newcleardaze]

always dug Vitto Bratta (or however his name is spelled)

[spons]

Originally Posted by andychamp

Just thought of 2 more, and they can only be mentioned together: Rick Parfitt and Francis Rossi.
Not the most spectacular of soloists, but man do they boogie!(They haven't been doing much else for 44 years, so...)

Just been watching Quo at Glastonbury and you are right - especially Francis Rossi he is actually a really good player with a unique style of his own.

[Admiral James T.]

Eddie Cochran

[Tom Hakala]

there's no one as overlooked as
Doyle Bramhall ii.

[FFTT]

And the award for best performance by a highly underskilled guitar player goes to.....

Me!

[Macky]

Back in the Day, the word on the Street was
"Tony Blair"
BBC News | UK POLITICS | Blair plays the blues
These days he is a Peace Envoy and i believe he only plays the Flute and Tambourine.



Alternatively
"Bill Nelson" ( Be-Bop Deluxe)

[bitman]

Originally Posted by True North

Agreed, excellant guitar player, now a DJ on Q107 a local Toronto Rock station.

Are you a Canadian ex-pat ? How did you hear about him ?



OMG - how does someone in Keystone, Co know who Mike Hall is...... You want to talk about obscure Canadian bands this one takes the cake.

BTW - You do mean Mike Dwarf don't you

In the 'who the hell is that obscure underrated Canadian gtr player' category my choice is;

Ian Thornley

formerly of Big Wreck now on his own with 'Thronley (OK so he's not terribly creative with band names) - smoking lead player and killer pipes to boot

I have been a Dwarfs fan for ages. Up until the Method record which did not include Mike. And sucked BTW. The first song is great then just goes into suckage from there. Mike must be a heck of a writer too.

I have a Dwarfs video from 2000 something where Mike is back.
He is my favorite guitar player in that genre. And my favorite band from then too.

I lived in So. Cal when Stand Tall was released.
My wife took me for a drive around when Dirty Weapons came out.
She had it in the CD. I just about lost it it was so hot. She was looking at me like "Kicks, doesn't it.." with that knowing ry smile.

I play drums at church and like to warm up with the Dirty Weapons intro or the Lakeside park intro just because my wife (the bassist) and I are the only ones who recognize it.

[JamesN]

Originally Posted by guitardom

heavy question, i dig it!

seen neal schon posted first, nice check out some of there old live stuff and you get to see randy jackson rockin on bass in pink spandex!!

i am glad kurt cobain can never touch a guitar again! sorry but he ruined it for to many TRUE players, and almost single handedly ruined the future of guitar, thank goodness dimebag was around at that time!! (that'll get a rise, sorry just my opinion)

prince

john 5, dont judge by the zombie manson stuff he's done. his solo albums are quite impressive

johnny hiland, BADA**

jim matheos, fates warning, osi, AMAZING rhythm and timing chops

danny gatton, one of the true masters

les paul, this guy had CHOPS give some of it a listen sometime if you havent, its like prog'd out jazz with a flavorful twist yet recorded before me or my mom in that case was born...

ty tabor, tasty chops!!

frank zappa, da man, dweezil is quite the shredder himself!

glen buxton/ michael bruce, c'mon you gotta admit the old cooper stuff is stupidly catchy!!!

ok off my pedastal now, i would have to start thinking to come up with some more.....

You have bad taste.

[tommy_asakawa]

Originally Posted by Beyersound

Uli Rules!!!!!!! Michael Kicks A**!!!!! Can you believe Uli double tracked that solo? Few people on this planet could come close to playing that intro solo with half the vibe and tone all the way through just one time!!!!

SO TRUE! +1

Virgin Killers "Catch Your Train"

[Beyersound]

Originally Posted by tommy_asakawa

SO TRUE! +1

Virgin Killers "Catch Your Train"

[kennybro]

Jesse Ed Davis.

[the donal]

Anyone mentioned Buck Dharma yet?

Doesn't get NEARLY enough credit in my opine.

[Jazz Noise]

Neil Young- it's like he never looks at the fretboard, just listens.

Jonny Greenwood - for a fairly technical and very creative guitarist he's massively under-rated. That blender/guitar sound on Just? Idk, the mans a nutcase!

John Frusciante - quite technical and expressive but extremely melodic. The album By The Way is a powerhouse of brilliant harmonies around deceptively simple progressions.

Thurston Moore/Lee Ronaldo - noise rockers supreme, making slow shifting melodies and arrpegios out of feedback is beyond a talent. Extremely wide pallete and very imaginate. See: Silver Rocket, Rain On Tin.

Steve Albini - gets mentioned as a recording engineer (and is certainly one of my favs) but also a pretty great guitar player. 1000 Hurts has some fantastic playing.

Guy Piccioto (Fugazi), Ronald Jones (Flaming Lips). Alot of honorable mentions for this list!

[fastlanestoner]

Jim Adkins from Jimmy Eat World is totally under rated as a player and as a songwriter. Those guys are killer, still killing it, and have been around forever!

[Joe Cole]

Michael Gurley of dada.

Great tone too.

[Silent Sound]

Originally Posted by Jazz Noise

Neil Young- it's like he never looks at the fretboard, just listens.

Jonny Greenwood - for a fairly technical and very creative guitarist he's massively under-rated. That blender/guitar sound on Just? Idk, the mans a nutcase!

John Frusciante - quite technical and expressive but extremely melodic. The album By The Way is a powerhouse of brilliant harmonies around deceptively simple progressions.

Thurston Moore/Lee Ronaldo - noise rockers supreme, making slow shifting melodies and arrpegios out of feedback is beyond a talent. Extremely wide pallete and very imaginate. See: Silver Rocket, Rain On Tin.

Steve Albini - gets mentioned as a recording engineer (and is certainly one of my favs) but also a pretty great guitar player. 1000 Hurts has some fantastic playing.

Guy Piccioto (Fugazi), Ronald Jones (Flaming Lips). Alot of honorable mentions for this list!

Thurston Moore/Lee Ronaldo are definitely underrated for what they've contributed to music! John Frusciante and Larry LaLonde are also both amazing guitar players that don't get the credit they deserve probably because of the shadows their bass players cast! Don't forget some of the female guitarist like Marnie Stern (whom you could argue isn't a great guitar player, but definitely has a unique style all her own) and Orianthi Panagaris.

Crazy thing is, in my lifetime I've heard so many amazing guitar players from local bands that absolutely blew my mind, only to see them once and never hear from them again. Those guys are underrated. Some of them have spent decades honing their craft and churning out some amazing work, but never got the acclaim from the media that these other "underrated" guys get.

[jakey1]

Originally Posted by Joe Cole

Michael Gurley of dada.

Great tone too.

+ 1.

Are they still going?

I saw them prob 18 yrs ago when they supported Crowded House on the UK leg of the Together Alone tour.

Awesome gig all round...Dada were brilliant, Corwded House were their supreme live selves. (simply one of the greatest live acts ever when hester was around).

Other underated:

Glenn Tilbrook (Squeeze)
Lindsey Buckingham.

[Boschen]

Bonnie Rait


Jourma koukonen

[litepipe]

There are some guitarists here in NYC that should be well known because they really have something special.

Adam Levy
Ryan Scott
Jim Campalingo
Teddy Kumpel

Look these guys up. You can catch them here in clubs or sometimes on your backing other artists. Amazing playing.

[hrryniu]

Gregory Skawinski(Kombii, ex-ONA)
Peter Lukaszewski(Ptaky)
Both from Poland

[Ragan]

Xan McCurdy of Cake.

His tones/taste/licks are absolutely top shelf. A joy to listen to.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Gearslutz App

[Jazz Noise]

Originally Posted by Silent Sound

Thurston Moore/Lee Ronaldo are definitely underrated for what they've contributed to music! John Frusciante and Larry LaLonde are also both amazing guitar players that don't get the credit they deserve probably because of the shadows their bass players cast!

I think Sonic Youth get sidestepped because their music neither suits the virtuoso types because it's not considered technical enough - or at least doesn't suit their definition of technical - but because it's also too confrontational for alot of the types who would focus more on songwriting.

I think John Frusciante gets downplayed because he's not afraid of a I-IV-V or a i-VII-VI-V. Infact, he's the master of them. The album By The Way is pretty much John sprucing up some fairly classic chord progressions, and he does an awesome job of it!

[doorknocker]

Originally Posted by Jazz Noise

I think John Frusciante gets downplayed...

By whom? Tons of coverage, Rolling Stone 'Best of...' lists, etc. A HUNDRED Guitar Player, Guitar World, Guitarpolitian, whatever articles.

Well-known to millions of kids and grown-ups. A great player for sure but underrated? I don't think so.

I think that unknown or little known players, however deserving, can hardly be considered underrated because in reality they are not rated at all.

IMO, the term 'underrated' -if you really need to use it - is best used for musicians that may not be primarily known as guitarists even though they are fantastic players.

Bruce Cockburn would fit that description for me. A killer guitar player but hardly ever talked about as such. Maybe Glen Campbell fits it too because he was a megastar and household name for a long time but maybe not known to be the über-player he is by his fans.

But then again, how important is that really?

[AllBread]

I have to add David Gilmour to the list simply because I don't think that it's possible to rate him highly enough!