Guitarists you like in bands that you don't

ICBM

proggy said:

Brian May = Great guitarist

Queen = Over the top pompous drivel.

And yet there has very rarely been a guitarist of his talent who has played so completely for the songs.

barnstorm

Joe Walsh and the Eagles. I also enjoy hearing Paul Gilbert outside the bands he’s best known for and away from G3-type settings. He seems to be able to play just about anything and he’s a really engaging bloke.

Philtre

brojangles said:

Robert Fripp in King Crimson (good with Bowie and Blondie ) 

Similar. Love Fripp and his outlook on life, but have mixed feelings about Crimson.

Voxman

AlexC said:9

Marr in The Smiths. Love his playing. Love many of the sounds and songs of The Smiths... until that wet pillock in a cardigan starts droning all over it. 
Perhaps I should invest in a piece of software which takes out the vocal line.

+1 I simply cannot stand Morrisey. 

ICBM

Mike Rutherford in Mike & The Mechanics - dreadful band. But he's good in Genesis...

Alvin

  It's mostly a problem with singers that have to high a voice for me (i realise i might be going off the original topic slightly) although i can cope with Focus as it's mostly instrumental and Jan Akkerman always seems forgotten as one of the greats .

   But then you have Budgie even if you don't know them , some of the riffs you would recognise instantly , that's Tony Bourge another who seemed to dissapear ( perhaps out of choice ? ) . I always felt if Burke Shelley stuck to bass and they had another singer they would have been much bigger . He is difficult to listen to but i try and tune him out as the music is so good .

   Would anybody be surprised if i said i can't listen to Rush ?

Dominic

Rusty Anderson or Lawrence Juber playing for that old Turtle impersonator who should have called it a day and quit while he was ahead 25 years ago

xscaramanga

I agree on Gilmour and sort of agree on Van Halen. I find most VH albums a pretty disappointing listen from a songs point of view, but Eddie's guitar playing is the sound of VH and it's incredible, so it's impossible to imagine how you can say "his playing deserved better than cock rock" when his playing singlehandedly invented the sound of cock rock.

For me the big one is George Lynch in Dokken. And Schenker in UFO. If someone made a supercut of all the solos from Strangers In the Night it would be a huge improvement on the released album. 

DeeTee

Alvin said:

  It's mostly a problem with singers that have to high a voice for me (i realise i might be going off the original topic slightly) although i can cope with Focus as it's mostly instrumental and Jan Akkerman always seems forgotten as one of the greats .

<snip>

   Would anybody be surprised if i said i can't listen to Rush ?

This is why I can't deal with Rush. Three brilliant musicians, but Geddy's voice just ruins it for me.

Philly_Q

DeeTee said:

Alvin said:

  It's mostly a problem with singers that have to high a voice for me

<snip>

   Would anybody be surprised if i said i can't listen to Rush ?

This is why I can't deal with Rush. Three brilliant musicians, but Geddy's voice just ruins it for me.

Noooooo!   I love Geddy Lee's voice.

jonnyscaramanga said:

I agree on Gilmour and sort of agree on Van Halen. I find most VH albums a pretty disappointing listen from a songs point of view, but Eddie's guitar playing is the sound of VH and it's incredible, so it's impossible to imagine how you can say "his playing deserved better than cock rock" when his playing singlehandedly invented the sound of cock rock.

For me the big one is George Lynch in Dokken. And Schenker in UFO. If someone made a supercut of all the solos from Strangers In the Night it would be a huge improvement on the released album. 

They certainly contributed great playing to some so-so albums, but Schenker and Lynch aren't great songwriters.  I think UFO and (even more so) Dokken are better than their respective solo bands. 

I agree with you about Van Halen, EVH pretty much has complete control (apart from indulging Roth a bit) so it's not as if the band were holding him back.

Philly_Q

So, a guitarist I like in a band I don't - Reb Beach in Whitesnake. 

He's absolutely fantastic in Winger but Whitesnake are shit and so - in that context - is Reb, unfortunately.

johnnythefox

yet another vote for Johnny Marr in the smiths  some great riffs but could not stand that excuse for a singer.

EricTheWeary

Philly_Q said:

DeeTee said:

Alvin said:

  It's mostly a problem with singers that have to high a voice for me

<snip>

   Would anybody be surprised if i said i can't listen to Rush ?

This is why I can't deal with Rush. Three brilliant musicians, but Geddy's voice just ruins it for me.

Noooooo!   I love Geddy Lee's voice.

jonnyscaramanga said:

I agree on Gilmour and sort of agree on Van Halen. I find most VH albums a pretty disappointing listen from a songs point of view, but Eddie's guitar playing is the sound of VH and it's incredible, so it's impossible to imagine how you can say "his playing deserved better than cock rock" when his playing singlehandedly invented the sound of cock rock.

For me the big one is George Lynch in Dokken. And Schenker in UFO. If someone made a supercut of all the solos from Strangers In the Night it would be a huge improvement on the released album. 

They certainly contributed great playing to some so-so albums, but Schenker and Lynch aren't great songwriters.  I think UFO and (even more so) Dokken are better than their respective solo bands. 

I agree with you about Van Halen, EVH pretty much has complete control (apart from indulging Roth a bit) so it's not as if the band were holding him back.

Eddie VH messed around with all sorts of stuff in Van Halen ( synths, trad jazz, blues, faux flamenco,etc) and did a bunch of side gigs ( I’m sure we all remember those songs he did with Thomas Dolby...). I’m not really sure what potential went untapped. I’m not sure that all the lyrics were totally dumb either, well maybe the Hagar era ones but Roth had his moments and understood that rock lyrics have to sound good even if they don’t read well. 

Dominic

Nuno in Extreme

dbphoto

Prince.

Philly_Q

ICBM said:

equalsql said:

Steve Morse in Deep Purple.. it's a crime for one so talented.

I've never felt he was a good fit in Deep Purple at all, but for me it's the other way round... great band, don't like his playing.

I sort of agree... I think they were a great band, but aren't any more.  I've got several of the Morse-era albums and in every case after a couple of plays they've just gone on a shelf to gather dust (or in a pile, somewhere).  Morse himself certainly doesn't contribute anything of interest.  

(On the other hand I do really like the Glenn Hughes era!  But I can't stand Hughes (or Coverdale) nowadays.)

Universal8

Frank Zappa

Haych

proggy said:

Brian May = Great guitarist

Queen = Over the top pompous drivel.

See, for me this is the other way around, I really like Queen as a band but as a guitarist I just don't like Brian, which is sacrilegious, I know. 

DeeTee said:

Alvin said:

  It's mostly a problem with singers that have to high a voice for me (i realise i might be going off the original topic slightly) although i can cope with Focus as it's mostly instrumental and Jan Akkerman always seems forgotten as one of the greats .

<snip>

   Would anybody be surprised if i said i can't listen to Rush ?

This is why I can't deal with Rush. Three brilliant musicians, but Geddy's voice just ruins it for me.

Geddy does have a "unique" voice for sure.  I can fully understand why his voice puts people off but he can sing (if hitting notes on pitch is singing lol), or at least he could - I started to think that his live singing, at least, was becoming very indistinct for the last few years before they called time on the whole shebang.  He could have been singing nursery rhymes and nobody would have known otherwise.

Hattigol

Haych said:

proggy said:

Brian May = Great guitarist

Queen = Over the top pompous drivel.

See, for me this is the other way around, I really like Queen as a band but as a guitarist I just don't like Brian, which is sacrilegious, I know. 

Get out.

richardhomer

Any one said Bernard Butler in Suede yet?