Most overrated player

[blaaargh]

Chiming in on some of the bigger ones mentioned recently, totally agree with Govan, he's super talented but most of his stuff is just stitching together techniques from different styles/players. King and Hammett have absolutely fallen off, but imo they were never amazing guitarists to begin with. Jack White is one that I don't really agree with, as he's not known for his guitar skills. I'd say the thing he's most known for as a guitarist is taking unconventional sounds and making them work in the context of the song, which is definitely a cool trait that isn't very common in modern guitar playing.

And now here's my contribution... possibly the biggest sacred cow on this forum, but here goes. John Petrucci. Yes, he's a monster player, but he's basically put out the same album for the past 10 years. Im trying, but I really can't remember a single DT riff off the top of my head. Again, not knocking the guys skill at all, just not into his music. Same with Abasi, great player, boring music.

 

[tribalfusion]

Holdsworth is a true jazz man though, and that's kinda what jazz is about. Sometimes there are notes that almost make you cringe, so I can understand people not liking it.

This is some funny stuff. Holdsworth is highly rated by OTHER master musicians. Not by crowds of metal fans or guitarists who don't know anything about harmony (although some of them rate him highly for his obvious physical gifts).

I guess John McLaughlin, Chick Corea, Mike Brecker, Dave Liebman, Tony Williams, Scott Henderson, Jeff Berlin, Kurt Rosenwinkel and on the rock side, EVH, Brett Garsed, Steve Vai, Steve Lukather etc don't know what they are talking about.

Good thing I keep up with metal forums to know Allan has "bad note choices" and is overrated. And jazz is about notes which make you cringe.

Thanks

 

[welsh_7stinger]

For me no skilled guitarist is over ratted as such. But there are bands I've heard on here that in my opinion are over ratted as all hell. I have also heard some people say the guitarists in bands such as asking, parkway, bmth, etc are amazing guitarists. They are good picking hand rhythmic units that is all. A guitarist that is only good at simple rhythm is NOT amazing guitarist.

 

[Nats]

Kirk Hammet. Don't know how the band made it so far with one of the worst guitarists and drummer in the history of music. Really says something about James' monster riffing that carried the band. AJFA is one of my top 5 albums, but every solo that comes on makes me want to cry more than his crybaby wah.

 

[sojourner]

Don't get me wrong I like Govan's playing and music, but I just don't get it why this mania around his name. I will never get near as good as him regarding my playing and musicianship, he's an amazing musician.

People like Govan because of different reasons, not because of his originality, his harmonic knowledge or his bebop lines, there are obviously lots of jazz guys who do those things much much better.

Govan is famous because of his versatility, diversity, being able to adapt in many different musical situations (blues, country, straight bebop, r&b, pop), he's very well rounded in popular music styles... he's very dynamic, his phrasing is recognizable, his vibrato is very expressive, also he's a tip-top teacher. There are some people out there who love versatility, and Govan deserves a lot of credit for doing such a wide variety of things as well as he does.

OT:

Govan is not a jazz guitarist, he's grounded in the blues-rock/classic-rock, and he admit it himself that he never tried to be a jazz guitarist, he is a jack of all trades, not a master of one, so i don't get the comparison between him to true cats like Allan Holdsworth, Bireli, Scofield, Chick Corea, etc...

 

[Jakke]

Tricky subject, and I would have to differentiate between overrated technically, or overrated technique-wise...

Technique:
-Shankle. I actually have genuine hate-mail on my youtube account from the guy. I got this when I suggested his "Demon solo" (or whatever) looked sped up.
-Cobain

Song-writing:
-Abasi. He's really technical, but he is basically being hailed as "the new Hendrix", which is bullshit. His songs are just not appealing to me, they're pretty boring as a matter of fact.


Other than that, I don't really dislike a lot of guitarists.

 

[rikomaru]

And now here's my contribution... possibly the biggest sacred cow on this forum, but here goes. John Petrucci. Yes, he's a monster player, but he's basically put out the same album for the past 10 years...

ahhhhhhhhhshit, it's on now @_@

I don't really see the logic of your statement sir/madame. Not being a fan is somewhat easy to understand, but the same album part is a big lol

Maybe it seems that way to you because one DT album can be all over the place? Hell, the song Octavarium alone covers a wide spectrum haha

In all honesty though, i suppose our ears are more subjective than we give them credit for. Fandom tends to open our ears to details we simply would miss otherwise. For instance, I generally consider growly (whatever it's called) bands to be a waste of talent since i just can't bring myself to dig monotone grunting and such. To me, it seems to render the sometimes well-crafted music useless. Thus, I never came to like Children of Bodom. However, fans of the group would be able to point out songs with actual singing (assuming there has to be some out there) and maybe even find beauty in small details of the endless gargles that i can't hear.

 

[isispelican]

Before expressing an opinion about Guthrie you should listen to the Erotic Cakes album at least once. I think that a lot of people talk about him without having actually heard his music and thats not how it works, you cant judge guitar players just by watching clips on youtube.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

And now here's my contribution... possibly the biggest sacred cow on this forum, but here goes. John Petrucci. Yes, he's a monster player, but he's basically put out the same album for the past 10 years. Im trying, but I really can't remember a single DT riff off the top of my head. Again, not knocking the guys skill at all, just not into his music.

Before 2003, I would think Petrucci deserved the praise he got.
After 2003... eh. Lots of boring stuff. Hoping the new album changes my mind. If not, there's always LaBrie's solo work.

 

[sojourner]

Before expressing an opinion about Guthrie you should listen to the Erotic Cakes album at least once. I think that a lot of people talk about him without having actually heard his music and thats not how it works, you cant judge guitar players just by watching clips on youtube.

Most 'jazz purists' will find Erotic Cakes laughable, "too shreddy", "harmonically too simple", or "lack of characteristic/originality"

 

[s_k_mullins]

Just my opinion, but I personally think a lot of the classic guitarists are WAY overblown and overrated. They are worshipped and given a "guitar legend" status that I just don't understand, as I've never heard anything from them that impressed or inspired me. But I guess the "classics" just aren't my thing. I'm sure plenty of people think they're the greatest guitarists ever.

For example... Ace Frehley, Keith Richards, Pete Townshend, Carlos Santana, Brian May, The Edge... And probably lots more that I can't name at the moment. I don't like any of these guitarists or any of the work they've done.

EDIT: All of this is too subjective really. It all comes down to personal taste and opinions. So I guess we really can't call any musician/band overrated, because someone else will think that musician/band is perfect and deserves all the praise and attention.

 

[Maniacal]

Govan could probably play anything if he set his mind to it. I don't see how he is overrated.

 

[flexkill]

Didn't read whole thread but it has to be Carlos Santana!!!



EDIT Oh and that John 5 dude!

 

[Chuck]

Most 'jazz purists' will find Erotic Cakes laughable, "too shreddy", "harmonically too simple", or "lack of characteristic/originality"

I would find you "somewhat annoying" and possibly "overly analytic"

I mean seriously this thread is sad. And completely irrelevant.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I would find you "somewhat annoying" and possibly "overly analytic"

 

[heregoesnothing]

I would find you "somewhat annoying" and possibly "overly analytic".

I think you misunderstood him.. sojourner is actually a fan of Govan, he just hates those 'jazz purists'

 

[JPMike]

If I had to choose between being a jack of all trades and a master of one, I would choose the latter. Maybe Govan is an exception of the rule that can actually pull many styles together and actually deliver them. I didn't say I don't like his stuff, it's just people get obsessed with him, like he's the guitar Messiah.

But really, I have listened Erotic Cakes a few months later after it's release and of course I was blown away back then also I was like 18 years old, loved shred and all that, but you know as people grow and mature realise many things and lean into other styles or genres at the given moment.
Sorry Isispelican, but your post is too ignorant and generic. I wouldn't speak on the matter by just watching youtube clips. I have seen Govan 2 times live and there were a lot of amazing musical moments.

I shouldn't have started this Govan thing, I should have kept my mouth shut. I apologise if anyone got pissed or sad or whatever, it was just my opinion.

As for the comparison with some true cats, it was a response to the quotes of some highly rock/fusion guitarists he posted.

 

[Chuck]

I think you misunderstood him.. sojourner is actually a fan of Govan, he just hates those 'jazz purists'

Doesn't make his post any less irritating.

 

[RagtimeDandy]

I do have to agree with anyone who said Tosin Abasi, at least in terms of song writting. Yes, he is obviously talented and very good at guitar - to deny that is like saying the sky is green - but I really cannot listen to more than 4-5 AAL songs without getting bored. A few songs I can listen to without issue, and some I can listen to half, but when 3/10 songs on an album (I don't know the actual numbers, but that's roughly what it seems like) bore me within 15 seconds, I don't consider your song writing to be very good. Extremely talented player, extremely underwhelming song writing.

Jimi Hendrix falls in with Abasi as well. I'm not going to go into extreme detail but 9/10 songs I've heard by him (by brother has 4 albums with live and studio stuff) were extremely underwhelming considering the hype he gets. I've been hearing the same stupid shit since I was 10: "ERMERGERD HENDRERX ES DER BERST!" For ....s sake he played trippy blues-rock and soloed in an (at the time) very unique way. Yes, his influenced change music forever, but seriously the amount of hype he gets and the amount of wankery I hear in his music is ridiculous. I simply do not get why Hendrix is so popular. I do have to say his more bluesy songs as a hell of a lot better than the cliche best hits ones.

I was also going to agree on Petrucci but it's more Dream Theater that turns me off than him. His solo album is ....ing killer, I love that album, but I just can't stand DT.

Personally, I think Kurt Cobain is the most over rated guitarist and musician in the history of rock. Okay cool, he wrote catchy, heavy rock songs that you can sing along too...that's almost like what EVERY POPULAR ROCK MUSICIAN DOES. I'm not sure how this forum feels about him, but in real life, when I start going on about Cobain, people get EXTREMELY pissed off. Partly because they can't defend the fact he really wasn't that great. He's one of those musicians that probably wouldn't be nearly as famous if they didn't die.

 

[RevelGTR]

I will qualify my holdsworth point; I think jazz is just awful, I don't get it it all.