Greatest Rock Guitarist: Round of 32

[SteVo+ 3,702]

Jeff Beck

vs.

Robin Trower

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Tom Morello

vs.

Ritchie Blackmore

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Slash

vs.

Billy Gibbons

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Eddie Van Halen

vs.

Mark Knopfler

[Bay 2,003]

Trower

Blackmore

Gibbons

EVH

[FSUViking 184]

Beck

Morello

Slash

EVH

[SteVo+ 3,702]

Jeff Beck > Robin Trower

Honestly I must admit I've barely heard any of Trower's work, but I doubt he's better than Beck, one of the older greats.

 

Tom Morello > Ritchie Blackmore

Blackmore is probably up there with Iommi and Page in terms of riff-writing, but Morello was just so innovative. He was doing things in the 90's that nobody else thought of doing. And his riffs kick ass themselves.

 

Slash > Billy Gibbons

Hate to vote against a classic rock guy like Gibbons, but Slash is just too awesome. His work on Appetite for Destruction is worthy of a vote itself.

 

Eddie Van Halen > Mark Knopfler

Do I really have to explain this one? While I'm not as big a EVH fan as others, he's definitely better than Mark.

[RazorStar 4,025]

NOOOOOO KNOPFLER!

[RANGA+ 1,210]

All the higher seeds...probably the easiest vote so far.

[GA_Eagle 595]

went knopfler, mostly because I wanted to give a shout out to him, since I think he's awesome but I knew he didn't stand a chance vs Van Halen.

[BwareDWare94 723]

Eddie Van Halen is NOT better than Mark Knopfler...

[Bay 2,003]

Eddie Van Halen is NOT better than Mark Knopfler...

 

Kirk Hammet is not better than Marty Friedman...

 

 

LOLOPINIONS

Edited May 11, 2011 by BayAreaBomber

[FSUViking 184]

Eddie Van Halen is NOT better than Mark Knopfler...

 

:rofl: :rofl:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wait....wait.....hold on....almost done......

 

 

 

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One more for the road......

[SteVo+ 3,702]

Eddie Van Halen is NOT better than Mark Knopfler...

 

Dude....just....no.

[Silentway 20]

LOL, noobs. Ask any single person who works at a reputable guitar shop who is better between Mark and Eddie and I guarantee it will not be "eddy vanhalen r the better the guitarplayr"

[SteVo+ 3,702]

LOL, noobs. Ask any single person who works at a reputable guitar shop who is better between Mark and Eddie and I guarantee it will not be "eddy vanhalen r the better the guitarplayr"

 

For the record, I'm not trying to be sarcastic or anything, but I really want to know your reasoning for why Knopfler > EVH.

 

LET'S DEBATE IT

[RANGA+ 1,210]

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.

 

Opinions are facts.

[Favre4Ever+ 4,476]

I know nothing about anything in this thread.... Except for the best song was the last one.

[RANGA+ 1,210]

I know nothing about anything in this thread.... Except for the best song was the last one.

 

THEN GTFO...

 

[Favre4Ever+ 4,476]

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.

 

Opinions are facts.

[Silentway 20]

Eddie Van Halen plays one style of music, bar-room cock rock. Sure he does it well but when comparing it to somebody as multi-faceted as Mark Knopfler who is a left-handed guitarist that doesn't even use a pick... come on. It's literally like comparing Jerry Lee Lewis (EVH) to Mozart (Knopfler). Knopfler has an incredible sense of tone and melody, and something that Halen doesn't understand is not just when to play but when to use pauses and silence. Knopfler's done the soundtrack to Wag the Dog, Cal, Local Hero & The Princess Bride also, so he's not just a rock'n'roll guitarist he's a composer. Sure Eddie can rip shit up, but his arsenal of playing style isn't half as broad as Knopfler's.

 

Prefer Halen all you want, that's more than fine he writes great pop songs and he's still an awesome guitarist. But this is a greatest rock guitarist discussion, not your favorite and from my experience hanging out with people that know even more about music than I do... people that know the guitar back to front feel the same way about Knopfler.

[FSUViking 184]

LOL, noobs. Ask any single person who works at a reputable guitar shop who is better between Mark and Eddie and I guarantee it will not be "eddy vanhalen r the better the guitarplayr"

 

Noobs? Lemme guess...you're 17 years old and got the world by the balls, right? Most people on this site are older than you, so fuck you and your Internet slang bullshit.

 

Do you pay attention to actual...ummm..MUSICIANS? The only two guitarists I've ever heard cited as the biggest influence in their lives or WHY they picked up a guitar, other than EVH is Hendrix and Page. Pick any guitar player in any band in the world and I'll guarantee you the names Hendrix, Page, and EVH will pass through their mouths.

 

Honest to fucking Judas...the two most annoying assholes on Earth are cynics and contrarians. You're well on your way to becoming at least one of these.

[Silentway 20]

^^I'm 24 years old and I play guitar moron. LOL. I like football a lot, but that's not my main squeeze and I'll admit that there's a lot of people on this board that know way more than I do about football. But there's no way to not sound condescending here so I'm not going to try; I've forgotten more about music than you'll ever know. I've owned over 1,000 cds, have even more digitally, and I hang out in indie record shops and guitar stores. Granted I'm not a very great guitarist and I consider myself a novice, but I know people who are, and I learned from people that are. And I don't listen to any musicians that cite Jimmy Page as in influence that's laughable, I'm sure people like Synyster Gates(sp?) and Slash or whoever the fuck might, but I listen to more challenging stuff I haven't listened to Led Zep SINCE I was 17. Over-played, over-hyped, self-parody'd.

 

I listen to people that cite Les Paul, Chuck Berry, Robert Johnson, Chet Atkins, Buddy Guy, etc... And as far as more modern influences sure maybe Jimi but also John McLaughlin, Allan Holdsworth, Jeff Beck, Michael Bloomfield, Robert Fripp, Duane Allman, etc..

 

And who cares if you think everyone is older than me, and fuck my slang? You said Honest to Judas, why would I take anything someone says seriously that's too superstitious to commit the almighty sacrilege. Get real dude, and go listen to something that you haven't heard 100x on the radio or VH1's greatest "Whatever the fuck," of all time.

Edited May 12, 2011 by Silentway

[GA_Eagle 595]

Hmmm. so now that we've got credentials and mudslinging out of the way, back to Knopfler vs Van Halen.

 

I do tend to agree with Silentaway about Knopfler. It really is a tough call between the two, imo. Van Halen really is a guitar icon, and part of being the "greatest" imo opinion is appealing to the masses even if the majority of those people have never picked up a guitar for more than merely fiddling with it.

 

Knopfler is a tough to sell to anyone who's only experience with him is the three radio hits that Dire Straits still has on classic rock stations.

[BwareDWare94 723]

Folks need to actually listen to Mark Knopfler before they speak their opinions on this argument. How many of you know that much about Dire Straits? Even I don't, but as a guitarist, I understand that Knopfler is more talented than EVH. You can neg my posts, but for Pete's sake, y'all could understand my opinion as much as I understand yours. If you don't play guitar, or know much of guitar terminology, you're probably going to be more exposed to popular guitarists such as EVH, Hammett, Page, etc. If you don't see my point of view, you shouldn't give me so much shit when I completely understand yours.

[SteVo+ 3,702]

I do agree that Knopfler is way underrated, and people should listen to more than just the radio hits that Dire Straits had, but still...Eddie Van Halen revolutionized the electric guitar. Revolutionized it. Nothing was the same after Van Halen hit the scene. He may not be as diverse in his skills as Knopfler, but you have to take impact and influence into account as well.

[GA_Eagle 595]

Folks need to actually listen to Mark Knopfler before they speak their opinions on this argument. How many of you know that much about Dire Straits? Even I don't, but as a guitarist, I understand that Knopfler is more talented than EVH. You can neg my posts, but for Pete's sake, y'all could understand my opinion as much as I understand yours. If you don't play guitar, or know much of guitar terminology, you're probably going to be more exposed to popular guitarists such as EVH, Hammett, Page, etc. If you don't see my point of view, you shouldn't give me so much shit when I completely understand yours.

 

I think you're missing the point. Its not what you're saying, exactly, its how you say it. Believe me you're not the only one who runs into this, on both sides of the argument. Putting down others' opinions in a matter of fact way is off putting and it doesn't lend any credence to your argument

 

back on point, we're splitting hairs on a lot of guitarists, here. You have to remember that most (all) of these guys are pretty damn talented. And they are, for the most part, attempting to appeal to as many people as possible. So even if technical prowess etc is greater for the less popular guitarist, popularity and appealing music defintely needs to count towards greatness, imo.

[Krawnka 282]

It's also up to interpretation of meaning of "greatest":

 

Most talented?

Most influential?

Most creative?

Most appealing to the masses?

Most underrated?

Most years selling records?

 

To me, it's more in line with which guitarist can do things that no other guitarist can, and how well they can do it; however influence amongst their peers should qualify them as "great"...