The Top 5 Rock Guitarist of All Time

by: pageian

Another quick post today, sort of a follow up to my last post about the best rock rhythm sections.  Today's list focuses on lead guitar players.  I should note that this is really a list of my favorite guitarists, I'm not saying that this list should be taken as gospel or that I really think this accurately measures their skill.  It's simply who I like and why I like them, in order.

#1.  Jimmy Page.  This one is a no-brainer.  As I mentioned previously anything Zeppelin automatically wins any competition, and in this case it's not close.  In fact, the distance between #1 and #2 is so wide that it would be greater than the distance between #2 and #100 if I were to do a list that big.  To put it another way, if I rated these guys on a scale of 1-100, Jimmy Page would be 100 and no one else would be above 50.  I don't think there's been another guitarist who came up with as many classic riffs, hooks and solos.  It's been said that Page was the master of lightness and shade on the guitar, supremely beautiful acoustic and electric playing while also coming up with intimidating, crushing sounds and textures that Led Zeppelin is perhaps best known for.  Page also touched on ground that few others in the rock arena attempted, folk, Indian, funk, reggae, you name it.  He counts to his credit such masterpieces as Kashmir, When The Levee Breaks, In My Time of Dying and of course, Stairway to Heaven.  Like I said, no one else comes close.  Jimmy Page was the rock star that all the other rock stars wanted to be.

#2. Duane Allman.  Allman was about as good as it gets when you're talking about southern rock, leading the Allman Brothers Band to their earliest success while also guesting on many other projects for his friends in the music business.  People understood how good he was and that put him in demand.  You get the feeling while listening to him play that he was the type of guy who was probably good at everything he tried..... except perhaps motorcycle riding.

#3. Jimi Hendrix.  I like Hendrix and his playing to the point that I believe he was the prototype for many of the great guitarist of the last 40 years.  Other than Page, Hendrix has perhaps the most studied and admired body of work in history.  The problem for him of course is that his body of work just wasn't all that large in comparison to others.  We all know what he did in the late 60's but how would he have stood in the 70's and beyond?  Would he have adapted or was his style only possible in it's time?  Who's to say but I happen to believe he would have fit in well, talent like his generally sets trends, not follows them. 

#4  Eric Clapton.  Clapton has as much or more critical acclaim than most on this list but it's important to remember that he's essentially been done as a true rock guitarist for quite some time.  Clapton was one of the best in terms of being a technically correct, clean guitarist, sort of the anti-Jimmy Page.  Page's playing was more raw, perhaps even sloppy at times, which he used to good effect.  Clapton seemed to rarely make mistakes even while playing live.  He's got a large body of work to draw from, spread out over decades but for me there are too few high points.  I guess the analogy for me would be that of a baseball player who makes it to the hall of fame on the strength of a few great seasons compared to the baseball player who makes it due to many solid, consistently good seasons.  I'm sure there are people who will disagree but for me he's no Jimmy Page.

#5. Eddie Van Halen.  This was a tough one, I had a hard time picking between guys who may not have been as good but who had a big impact in some way, shape or form on rock and roll.  Van Halen won out because he's every bit as good as anyone else on this list (save Page imho) and also has many memorable riffs of his own.  What holds him back here is that he pretty much just does one thing even though he does it very well, and that's playing straight up rock.  He's a keyboardist too of course but that doesn't count here, when it comes to the guitar what he's known for and what he does best are solid rock riffs, fast playing, heavy sounds and great solo's. 

Honorable mention: Angus Young (great but limited arsenal), Keith Richards (huge band, memorable riffs), George Harrison (The Beatles, enough said), Kirk Hammett (helped bring classical influence to metal), Jeff Beck (good but erratic), Rory Gallagher (overshadowed by more famous players of his era), Brian May (very intelligent player), Slash (whatever you think of him, he has done some good work) and Pete Townshend (similar to Richards, good band but he was essential a rhythm guitarist in a three piece band).