Ben Randolph
Power User
That's an open-ended question. Do I dislike the guitarist because they don't play well, or is it because they have personality quirks that make me dislike them?
I notice Cobain getting some flack in this thread. I think that mainly comes from the cult of personality and media hype he got. I those useless Rolling Stone lists of Best Guitarists, Cobain will usually be up there. Now, Kurt Cobain I put more in the category of a Bob Dylan....a good songwriter who wrote music that really resonates with people. The guitar was simply his tool of expression to release these musical ideas he had. I don't think we should become musical cork sniffers who look down on any guitarist who doesn't play a million notes a minute or use advanced sweep picking techniques. Musically, I love stuff like Dream Theater and Symphony X. Those bands have very advanced guitarists with great technique. However, I also think excellent music can be made by players with more modest abilities. I love cranking The Ramones, Minor Threat, Black Flag, Trouble, Sleep.....bands that make perfectly good songs with less advanced techniques.
I doubt Cobain would have called himself a guitar virtuoso. He's certainly not someone I would have wanted to take lessons from. If the media and cult of personality, composed of non-musicians, want to call him a guitar great, let them. Its all noise and hype, anyway.
Also, what's wrong with Minor Pentatonic? I've seen some players slagged on in this thread for using it, but its an amazingly versatile scale. You hear it in jazz, blues, rock, metal, etc. Some players do a ton of great things with Minor Pentatonic. So what if they're not throwing in Lydian Dominant, Super Locrian, Diminished and Whole Tone runs every five seconds? Greats such as Wes Montgomery, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Stevie as well as modern virtuosos use it all over the place. There's something to be said for intentionally boxing yourself into a scale and seeing what cool stuff you can coax out of it!
As far as guitarists I generally dislike, I'd have to say:
1) Ted Nugent - His playing is composed of sophomoric pentatonic wanking (not the cool pentatonic stuff, just dull, uninteresting lines) and basic power chords that do nothing for me. Also, I disagree with his politics and his manner of discourse, which is more about shock value, setting up strawman arguments and demonizing anyone who disagrees.
2) Dave Mustaine - He's a phenomenal guitarist and has led Megadeth though fantastic, amazing metal albums over their multi-decade career. He just comes off as an egotistical jerk, plus in recent years he's wrapped himself up in Alex Jones -style conspiracy theories. He's turning into Nugent-lite.
3) Henry Kaiser - This is a new one. He seems devoid of anything resembling musical talent, somehow manages to make a Dumble sound terrible, all under the guise of being "experimental". Playing with 0 structure does not make one a Pat Metheny or Miles in his electric period.
4) Yngwie Malmsteen - Great, groundbreaking player, but in interviews he just comes off as a conceited jerk, criticizing other players and just being full of himself.
So, I guess this could be "celebrities I dislike who happen to play guitar" and not "guitarists I dislike". I think most players who record on albums that people buy are better than me
I notice Cobain getting some flack in this thread. I think that mainly comes from the cult of personality and media hype he got. I those useless Rolling Stone lists of Best Guitarists, Cobain will usually be up there. Now, Kurt Cobain I put more in the category of a Bob Dylan....a good songwriter who wrote music that really resonates with people. The guitar was simply his tool of expression to release these musical ideas he had. I don't think we should become musical cork sniffers who look down on any guitarist who doesn't play a million notes a minute or use advanced sweep picking techniques. Musically, I love stuff like Dream Theater and Symphony X. Those bands have very advanced guitarists with great technique. However, I also think excellent music can be made by players with more modest abilities. I love cranking The Ramones, Minor Threat, Black Flag, Trouble, Sleep.....bands that make perfectly good songs with less advanced techniques.
I doubt Cobain would have called himself a guitar virtuoso. He's certainly not someone I would have wanted to take lessons from. If the media and cult of personality, composed of non-musicians, want to call him a guitar great, let them. Its all noise and hype, anyway.
Also, what's wrong with Minor Pentatonic? I've seen some players slagged on in this thread for using it, but its an amazingly versatile scale. You hear it in jazz, blues, rock, metal, etc. Some players do a ton of great things with Minor Pentatonic. So what if they're not throwing in Lydian Dominant, Super Locrian, Diminished and Whole Tone runs every five seconds? Greats such as Wes Montgomery, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Stevie as well as modern virtuosos use it all over the place. There's something to be said for intentionally boxing yourself into a scale and seeing what cool stuff you can coax out of it!
As far as guitarists I generally dislike, I'd have to say:
1) Ted Nugent - His playing is composed of sophomoric pentatonic wanking (not the cool pentatonic stuff, just dull, uninteresting lines) and basic power chords that do nothing for me. Also, I disagree with his politics and his manner of discourse, which is more about shock value, setting up strawman arguments and demonizing anyone who disagrees.
2) Dave Mustaine - He's a phenomenal guitarist and has led Megadeth though fantastic, amazing metal albums over their multi-decade career. He just comes off as an egotistical jerk, plus in recent years he's wrapped himself up in Alex Jones -style conspiracy theories. He's turning into Nugent-lite.
3) Henry Kaiser - This is a new one. He seems devoid of anything resembling musical talent, somehow manages to make a Dumble sound terrible, all under the guise of being "experimental". Playing with 0 structure does not make one a Pat Metheny or Miles in his electric period.
4) Yngwie Malmsteen - Great, groundbreaking player, but in interviews he just comes off as a conceited jerk, criticizing other players and just being full of himself.
So, I guess this could be "celebrities I dislike who happen to play guitar" and not "guitarists I dislike". I think most players who record on albums that people buy are better than me
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