Give us 10 of your favorite rock/metal guitarists of all time.
Mine are as follows:
Kirk Hammett
James Hetfield
Randy Rhoads
Jerry Cantrell
Alex Lifeson
Marty Friedman
Jimmy Page
Jimi Hendrix
Mike McCready
Pete Loeffler
That's quite a nice list. I'll admit that I've never heard of Pete Loeffler. I'll give it a listen later.
For me, the list would be like this:
10) Michael Schenker - Not only was he a major influence to a lot of great guitarists, his style is just the way I like it. Not overthinking the notes, just pure shredding.
9) Judas Priest duo - Glenn Tipton & K.K. Downing know where it's at. When they start a soloing duel in their songs, it's just awesome. Nothing more.
8) Yngwie Malmsteen - A man whose greatest influence is Paganini. I really love his riffs and the melodic parts of his solos. But most of the time, he's just shredding way too much, as if he's trying to show off his speed. If it weren't for that, he'd be higher on my list.
7) Kirk Hammett - I just like his style. That's all xD
6) Jimi Hendrix - Of course, what "best guitarists" list doesn't have Hendrix on it?
5) Iron Maiden trio - Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Janick Gers. I love everything about Iron Maiden. The not-too-complicated, but awesome riffs & the solos. They're still not too high on this list because their solos are, well, great, but not amazing. Could be more melodic, less pentatonic.
4) Andy Timmons - A really, really underrated and sadly, unknown guitarist, who does mostly instrumentals. And amazing instrumentals they are! It's like he's telling a mindblowing story in every one of his songs. So melodic, fast, slow, simple, complicated, anything you want.
3) Tony Iommi - The father of metal, who, despite losing two fingers, continued to melt our faces with the best riffs ever!
2) Ritchie Blackmore - My second-favorite guitarist of all time. I just love everything about his music, both the rhythm and the solo parts.
1)
Randy Rhoads - Definitely my favorite guitarist ever. This list will probably change through time, but I'm sure Randy will always keep the #1 spot. He really knew what he was doing!
Well, that's my list.