Other Mixes By avocado rabbit
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The 100 Greatest Guitarists (vol. 1)
| Artist | Song | |
| Soundgarden |
Fell On Black Days (Superunknown 1994) 
|
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| Black Flag | Rise Above (Damaged 1981) | |
| Blue Cheer | Summertime Blues (Vincibus Eruptum 1968) | |
| Robert Randolph | Going in the Right Direction (Unclassified 2003) | |
| AC/DC | Hell's Bells (Back in Black 1980) | |
| My Bloody Valentine | Only Shallow (Loveless 1991) | |
| Bert Jansch | Poison (Birthday Blues 1969) | |
| Dixie Dregs | Take It Off The Top (What If 1970) | |
| MC5 | Kick Out The Jams (Kick Out The Jams 1969) | |
| The Doors | Peace Frog (Morrison Hotel 1970) | |
| Alice Cooper | Eighteen (Love It To Death 1970) | |
| The Minutemen | It's Expected, I'm Gone (Double Nickels on the Dime 1984) | |
| The Kinks | You Really Got Me (You Really Got Me 1964) | |
| Joan Jett & The Blackhearts | Bad Reputation (Bad Reputation 1981) | |
| Black Sabbath | Iron Man (Paranoid 1971) | |
| Ozzy Osborne | Crazy Train (Tribute 1987) | |
Comment:
This is a project that began germinating after reading through Rolling Stone Magazine's 2003 list of the 100 greatest rock guitarists ever. Several other magazines and websites have offered similar lists. The idea for this cumbersome (but thorough) 8-volume CD set came from a combination of all that list-making with a few of my own preferences sprinkled around. Its concept is a single representative track from each of the 100 guitarists, starting at #100 and finishing at numero uno. The result was a box set carrying two, 4-CD jewel cases, eight discs in all, replete with full artwork and information booklet.Of course, people will quibble with some of the choices (never mind the order of selection), but that's to be expected. I tried to not stray very far from what many of the magazine and website list compilers had decided upon. Still, a couple of my personal favorites probably received a little extra push up the ladder.
I will be posting one volume at a time in a zip file with individual tracks rather than one long cross-faded file. In this case, I felt it was better to let the tracks stand on their own. Each posting will have a quiz where one AOTMer can win the complete set. Once you win one quiz that makes you ineligible for the others, so that 8 different people can win a copy. I'm happy with the result and hope y'all enjoy this historic look at rock guitarists.
Quiz #1-Name these four bands. The first takes its name from a Boris Karloff flick. The second comes from the tale of a psychopathic, slicer-and-dicer coal miner. Number three found its name as an acronym on the back of a sewing machine. And the fourth got its name from tab of acid.
Notes on the first disc
100 Kim Thayll: Soundgarden didn't set out to destroy metal - just to take it back to basics. Thayll updated the forbidding sludge and tweaked-out solos of prime Zep. His fondness for the drop-D tuning, in which the low E string is loosened a whole step for maximum heaviosity (sic), still resonates throughout hard rock.
99 Greg Ginn: Ginn reshaped blues-based rock in the crucible of punk. From Black Flag's 1978 debut EP, Nervous Breakdown, to their 1986 demise, Ginn steered the band from blue-collar punk to molasses-thick metal, anticipating the rise of Seattle grunge. 98 Leigh Stephens: Back in 1968, before heavy metal had a name, Stephens was shredding eardrums with the psychedelic blues trio Blue Cheer. The group bragged of being the loudest in the world, and Stephens' molten solos epitomize Sixties rock at its most untethered and abandoned. 97 Robert Randolph: A pedal steel guitarist who made his name playing gospel, Randolph's family band is one of the most intense acts in all of jamdom. His thirteen-string instrument has a chillingly clear tone, and his solos are dotted with howling melodies and perpetually crested lightning-fast explorations. 96 Angus Young: Young specializes in the sort of filthy solos that first made people characterize the blues as the devil's music. His playing is drenched in testosterone, booze and punk venom, but it's the blues swing that keeps AC/DC's hard rock trendproof.
95 Kevin Shields: In concert, Shields stood stone-still and played at such unspeakable volume the overtones suggested instruments that weren't there. His band was labeled "shoegazers" and his music "dream pop." My Bloody Valentine's shape-shifting, surreal melodies and contrast of delicate beauty with unbearable noise concocted an entirely new language for the electric guitar.
94 Bert Jansch: Jimmy Page was obsessed with him, and Neil Young called him his favorite acoustic guitarist. Jansch's fusion of jazz, blues and classical with traditional folk has made him a standout.
continued in the feedback section
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92 Wayne Kramer & Fred "Sonic" Smith: In the MC5, Kramer and Smith funneled Sun Ra's sci-fi jazz through twin howitzers. Together they staked out a vision for hard rock that felt ecstatic, giddy, boundless.
91 Robby Krieger: Krieger's strengths are flexibility and self-effacement. A broad stylist whose influences extend to country, flamenco and raga, he could also get nasty when needed to, but he understood that instrumental interplay was what mattered.
90 Glen Buxton: Buxton was a gifted mimic whose ability to unlock the guitar secrets of his Stones and Yardbirds 45s gave a Phoenix garage band the breathing room to develop into Alice Cooper. His dirty, elemental leads wrapped around Michael Bruce's meaty riffs to create exemplary hard rock.
89 D. Boon: At the time of his death, in 1985, it seemed nothing was out of reach for Boon. The 43 songs on the Minuteman's masterful Double nickels on the Dime ventured thrillingly into free-jazz dissonance, up-tempo country, helter-skelter funk and dense experimental rock.
88 Dave Davies: Davies' guitar was the dynamo that drove The Kinks. Brash, agressive and entirely unforgettable, his chord progressions on their early hits have become a rock 'n' roll rite of passage for any aspiring guitarist. "You Really Got Me" has alone launched countless garage bands.
87 Joan Jett: Lead guitarists gave rock its icons; rhythm players gave it its soul. Joan Jett should not be taken lightly. In the early Runaways and later Blackhearts, she played it no frills, all heart, and no fucking around.
86 Tony Iommi: Heavy, really heavy, starts here. While others were spinning solo stairways to the stars, the left-handed Iommi went in the opposite direction. Black Sabbath took rock's simplicity and simplified it even further. The occasional minor chord and a low, rumbling tone added to a guitar sound dripping menace and foreboding.
85 Randy Rhoads: In 1980, Ozzy Osbourne hired diminutive, classically-trained Rhoads away from Quiet Riot. His screeching, arpeggiated solos introduced the one true contemporaneous peer of Eddie Van Halen. Were it not for his 1982 demise in a plane crash, his already enormous influence on metal guitar would have increased a hundredfold.
91 Robby Krieger: Krieger's strengths are flexibility and self-effacement. A broad stylist whose influences extend to country, flamenco and raga, he could also get nasty when needed to, but he understood that instrumental interplay was what mattered.
90 Glen Buxton: Buxton was a gifted mimic whose ability to unlock the guitar secrets of his Stones and Yardbirds 45s gave a Phoenix garage band the breathing room to develop into Alice Cooper. His dirty, elemental leads wrapped around Michael Bruce's meaty riffs to create exemplary hard rock.
89 D. Boon: At the time of his death, in 1985, it seemed nothing was out of reach for Boon. The 43 songs on the Minuteman's masterful Double nickels on the Dime ventured thrillingly into free-jazz dissonance, up-tempo country, helter-skelter funk and dense experimental rock.
88 Dave Davies: Davies' guitar was the dynamo that drove The Kinks. Brash, agressive and entirely unforgettable, his chord progressions on their early hits have become a rock 'n' roll rite of passage for any aspiring guitarist. "You Really Got Me" has alone launched countless garage bands.
87 Joan Jett: Lead guitarists gave rock its icons; rhythm players gave it its soul. Joan Jett should not be taken lightly. In the early Runaways and later Blackhearts, she played it no frills, all heart, and no fucking around.
86 Tony Iommi: Heavy, really heavy, starts here. While others were spinning solo stairways to the stars, the left-handed Iommi went in the opposite direction. Black Sabbath took rock's simplicity and simplified it even further. The occasional minor chord and a low, rumbling tone added to a guitar sound dripping menace and foreboding.
85 Randy Rhoads: In 1980, Ozzy Osbourne hired diminutive, classically-trained Rhoads away from Quiet Riot. His screeching, arpeggiated solos introduced the one true contemporaneous peer of Eddie Van Halen. Were it not for his 1982 demise in a plane crash, his already enormous influence on metal guitar would have increased a hundredfold.
I wouldn't want to get into a debate about what makes one a great guitarist; I, for one, simply commend you for (with picks like MBV, Minutemen, Kinks) recognizing that it's not just about showy Page/Hendrix/Clapton-derived blues-based solos (which, unfortunately, tend to dominate a lot of these lists). Nicely done; look forward to the rest.
Black Sabbath, My Bloody Valentine, AC/DC, and Blue Cheer. Right?<3 Sara
thank you for this - you make this old man feel like a young rock n' roll rebel again with this contribution - great writing - looking forward to the rest - i'm outta work all week cause i through out my middle-aged back, but, i'll be in bed doing the head bang, the pogo and the rocker sway - i'll have to get someone to drag my speakers near the bed so i can stick a little of my head inside for the black sabbath (bill ward also one of the greatest rock drummers and geezer butler was one of the greatest bass players - who wrote much of the music and lyrics to the sabbath classics) - much love! darrylseattle
I'm tinglin' with excitement, this is going to be f'n awesome!!!! And, already is. Considering the players already noted being at the bottom, this is gonna be the bees knees.
This is off to an awesome start... great notes too.
We have a winner in the first quiz - sbessg. Congrats and watch for the rest of the volumes.
In complete agreement with Pop Kulcher's comment.
This is shaping up to be a fantastic series, hats off to you good sir. And one of thse quizzes will be mine! Good to see Kevin & Bert here..
I don't know about Rolling Stone and all their lists. Can you really pick the greatest guitarists of all time? I don't know. But I do know that there are a ton of favorites here, a great collection all over.
countdown to ecstasy.
This looks to become a really inspired compilation. And so far soooo good. I can't wait to see how it plays out. Great notes, btw.
Well, ya got me hooked.
Great idea for a series. Looking forward to this and the rest!
I can't stand rock critics and their silly lists, but this is a great collection of songs -- the Kevin Shields and Bert Jansch tracks are my favorites here.
I'm getting into this list business now . . . YAY you for trying this . . .
Oh yeah! Seeing Blue Cheer on this list made my day!
all classic guitar based songs. 5 stars.