Total Guitar has released the results of their reader poll on the Top 20 Metal Guitarists ever and it is controversial to say the least. Topping the list is Alexi Laiho of Children of Bodom in a surprise win. Alexi is known for his Olympic-like dedication to shredding and other guitar gymnastics and also hard partying which have made him a favorite of players everywhere. However, he has had a relatively brief career up to now and the number one ranking is curious. Coming in at #2 is long running prog-metal master John Petrucci of Dream Theater. At number three Slipknot's #7 Mick Thomson, which starts to indicate that this list is more about current guitarists or commercially viable artists, not who is truly great. Other notable axe-men in odd spots on the list include Dimebag Darrell at only number five, Randy Rhodes way down at number ten (ten!), Yngwie Malmsteen at fourteen and Gus G. at nineteen. The list doesn't include such glaring omissions as Dave Mustaine (although Marty Friedman is on the list at seventeen), Kirk Hammett, Vernon Reid, Alex Skolnick, Matt Pike and others while including Mark Tremonti from Alterbridge/Creed. Almost nobody is represented at all from the countless talented death metal, prog or djent styles of music that would have been more common sense choices. The ability to shred or play great rhythm parts is certainly crucial to metal, but there are other elements to being a musician like songwriting for instance that make a guitarist “great”. Greatness is not equal to how many tricks you can do like a pet. What do you think? Read their list below and leave a comment telling us who your #1 would be.
#1. Alexi Laiho- Children of Bodom
#2. John Petrucci- Dream Theater
#3. Mick Thomson- Slipknot
#4. Mark Tremonti- Alter Bridge
#5. Dimebag Darrell- Pantera
#6. Mikael Akerfeldt- Opeth
#7. James Hetfield- Metallica
#8. Tony Iommi- Black Sabbath
#9. Glenn Tipton- Judas Priest
#10. Randy Rhodes- Ozzy Osbourne
#11. Daron Malakian- System Of A Down
#12. Dave Murray- Iron Maiden
#13. Zakk Wylde- Black Label Society
#14. Yngwie Malmsteen
#15. Michael Amott- Arch Enemy/Carcass
#16. Tom Morello – Rage Against The Machine
#17. Marty Friedman – ex-Megadeth
#18. Kerry King- Slayer
#19. Gus G. - Ozzy Osbourne/Firewind
#20. Fredrik Thorndendal – Meshuggah
Dave Mustaine should be in the Top 5 AT LEAST. He roughly influenced 3 out of 4 bands of the Big 4 and is such a huge influence in Thrash Metal and how metal became what it is today.
ReplyDeleteWhere are the Korn guys?
ReplyDeleteWhy Is Michael Amott so low?
Why is Alexi on the list let alone #1