Most overrated player

[BaptizedBurning]

I can't believe many of you think Dime is overrated and only gets recognition because he died young. I guess many of you were too young to remember Dime before he died. He was a very well respected and praised guitarist long before he was killed. Dime was on countless best of lists and guitar magazine covers all throughout the 90s. He was a completely well rounded guitarist. He could write amazing songs, great riffs as a rhythm guitarist, and an incredible lead player. His solos weren't 1,000 notes a minute shred fests like Slayer, his solos were well written and fit perfectly into the songs. He's a guitarist you could hear and know instantly it was Dime just by hearing his tone and his style.

 

[BaDaML]

I am joining those defending Dimebag. Well before he died he was receiving praises for his playing. One of the unique things about him was stepping up and breaking from convention and stating his preference for solid state amps.

I had the pleasure of seeing Pantera perform at the Wildcat house (a very smal venue) in Tucson, AZ in the early 90's (Cowboys from Hell tour). A great show. Someone actually got knocked down in the mosh pit, and Anselmo stopped the song, saying it isn't cool to see someone hurt and not help them out. After the concert, Dimebag sat at the edge of stairs leading to the stage to sign autographs and thank people for coming.

My brother in law told Dimebag he started listening to Pantera when he was in Desert Storm. Dimebag got up, came over and shook his hand, and thanked him for his service. Dimebag was a class act.

So, for those that think he was over rated, keep in mind all of the things he did, and also the time period. Nirvana, Sound Garden, Pearl Jam were the big bands of the day. Pantera was bringing it back to metal in a big way.

 

[Murmel]

For me it's definitely John Mayer - I pay attention anytime I hear his material but I almost always walk away not getting what the hype's about?

He's one of the best blues players to come out in recent times, and also has a talent for writing beatufil singer-songwriter material.

Really dude, trust me when I say the guy can rip. I even saw a video of him doing it stoned

 

[Esp Griffyn]

Same seems to have happened with Jeff Hanneman(sp?), actually a pretty sloppy guitarist in my opinion but suddenly a guitar hero as soon as he dies.

Check Slayer's writing credits, he wrote the songs that made them huge. No one says he is a killer guitarist - machine riffer yes, but his solos are not amazing, but that was the Slayer style. His impact, the way his songs changed metal forever is what he was revered for, and will be his legacy.

 

[C2Aye]

He's one of the best blues players to come out in recent times, and also has a talent for writing beatufil singer-songwriter material.

Really dude, trust me when I say the guy can rip. I even saw a video of him doing it stoned

I might have a tiny, massive man crush on John Mayer.

 

[BaDaML]

I might have a tiny, massive man crush on John Mayer.

 

[Grand Moff Tim]

Steve Frusciante (spelling?) and Flea

As someone pointed out, it's John, but you did manage to spell Frusciante correctly . I don't really think too many people think he's a great guitarist so much as he's considered a great songwriter. If you listen to the stuff RHCP did before he joined and on the other albums they've done without him later, it's pretty hard to deny the influence his songwriting has had on the band. Nobody they had before or since has been better.

Regarding Flea, I'd have agreed with you, up until about a month ago. I'm trying to make the transition to bass again, and as I'm doing so I'm paying alot more attention to bass lines. Flea might not be up there with the uber noodly bassists like Wooten, but as with Frusciante, it's his writing that really gets the job done. Not that he's a slouch in the technique department, though. He can play his ass off, and trying to learn RHCP songs is a bitch and a half for me so far . That aside, though, he's a bassist, so he doesn't quite belong in an overrated guitarists thread .

 

[abandonist]

Guthrie Govan - I've listened to several songs and they're all just boring as dirt.

 

[hk_golgatha]

John Petrucci is extremely overrated as a songwriter. Guthrie is to a much smaller extent.
Now as players, I disagree. Those men can outplay a lot of us (me especially), I'm sure.

To contribute:
Tesseract
Synyster Gates
Flea
Kirk Hammett

Tesseract bores me to tears, honestly. To me it just sounds like rhythms. And I'm not even against that stuff. I love rhythms. I love Periphery. Not exactly sure why I can't get into this band. Just never could.

Syn is sloppy, has bad technique, and as a long time fan of a7x, I am quite frankly tired of him just not giving one shit about anything live. But on the contrary, I will defend the Rev and M. Shadows every day of the week.

Flea is probably the definition of overrated. He used to be great. Now he's just living with hype and playing octaves. I saw RHCP live fairly recently and was honestly bored to tears by everything Flea did (bass solo included). I will always love Frusciante, though. Never thought he was overrated. Quite the opposite, actually.

Kirk is wah and pentatonics. Oh and Mustaine and Vai rips. And this is coming from a lover of Metallica and worshipper of Hetfield. Het and Metallica are the reason I play guitar.

EDIT: Prepares for everyone to get mad about me comparing Tesseract to Periphery like the drummer of my band does. Merely commenting on how I appreciate stupid rhythms.

 

[Rylynn]

Guthrie Govan - I've listened to several songs and they're all just boring as dirt.

I dunno man, i also don't dig G. Govan's music because i'm more a shred/tech/prog-metal person who prefer Ron jarzombek, Jeff Loomis, Spawn of Possession and such but i don't like calling Guthrie Govan overrated just because i don't like his music or his approach in songwriting. He's still a great all-around player and songwriter who i think deserves praise (Steven Wilson's new album anyone?), and at least to me, his songs are a bit more interesting than someone like Steve Vai or Buckethead.

There are a lot of highly praised non-metal guitarists out there that i don't dig (Tommy Emmanuel, Joe Bonnamasa, Derek Trucks, Birelli Lagrene or Steve Vai for that matter) but i don't like calling them overrated just because of personal taste

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I don't really like their music, but I think they're far from overrated.

Besides on some niche music forums like this one, how often do you see their names brought up?

^Bringing this up again because of Guthrie.

 

[donray1527]

F*cking Zakk Wylde. lol I love him, but god he is overated.

 

[Govan Emmanuel]

I'm a huge SRV fan, and to me John Mayer is a really really great blues player

even Paul Gilbert and Alex Skolnick praised his playing

 

[Dawn of the Shred]

I have to sorry to misha. I just got their 2nd cd and its awesome! So i dont think he is overrated at all.

 

[Addison90]

John Petrucci is extremely overrated as a songwriter. Guthrie is to a much smaller extent.

I remember when i discovered Subjectivity and Taste

 

[ghostred7]

I can't believe many of you think Dime is overrated and only gets recognition because he died young. I guess many of you were too young to remember Dime before he died. He was a very well respected and praised guitarist long before he was killed. Dime was on countless best of lists and guitar magazine covers all throughout the 90s. He was a completely well rounded guitarist. He could write amazing songs, great riffs as a rhythm guitarist, and an incredible lead player. His solos weren't 1,000 notes a minute shred fests like Slayer, his solos were well written and fit perfectly into the songs. He's a guitarist you could hear and know instantly it was Dime just by hearing his tone and his style.

I'm old enough to remember Dime before Pantera stopped being glam. I still stand by my statement that I think he's overrated. Your statement about being on "countless best of lists and guitar magazine covers through the 90s" pretty much sums up this sentiment of his being overrated. Also, lets face it. The 90s didn't yield a whole lot of phenomena of players...just a lot of grudge vomit. Naturally he stood out....Metal in mainstream was essentially killed by Nirvana. Not hard to be on a best-of list when you're competing against the lead guitarist for Soundgarden or Nirvana.

Not gonna lie...I'm a little butthurt that Dime got so much attention in the 90s when Criss Oliva was all but glazed over and he was a superior guitarist.

 

[EcoliUVA]

 

[-42-]

The biggest difference in Dime's rep pre and post mortem are the number of Deans with his face proudly tacked on.

 

[GatherTheArsenal]

As someone pointed out, it's John, but you did manage to spell Frusciante correctly . I don't really think too many people think he's a great guitarist so much as he's considered a great songwriter. If you listen to the stuff RHCP did before he joined and on the other albums they've done without him later, it's pretty hard to deny the influence his songwriting has had on the band. Nobody they had before or since has been better.

Regarding Flea, I'd have agreed with you, up until about a month ago. I'm trying to make the transition to bass again, and as I'm doing so I'm paying alot more attention to bass lines. Flea might not be up there with the uber noodly bassists like Wooten, but as with Frusciante, it's his writing that really gets the job done. Not that he's a slouch in the technique department, though. He can play his ass off, and trying to learn RHCP songs is a bitch and a half for me so far . That aside, though, he's a bassist, so he doesn't quite belong in an overrated guitarists thread .

Without a doubt, I'd say Californication (album) was and still is great fun to listen to, I'll agree as a songwriter that he had his moments where I'd go, "man, bravo, that's a really well-written song," but i've noticed a stark difference between his album performance and live, naturally of course, that's common. My opinion is more so coming from in the recent years where I've had several ppl in my group of friends, and co-workers, absolutely lose their shit when i said "meh John's okay..." while discussing great guitar players, hence my perception that there is hype.

And it always boils down to someone whipping out their phone/tablet/computer to show me what they thought of was Frusciante's "ermahgerd gurrtest live sorlo of all tahhmm," and it's just painful for me (IMO), followed by a so-so bass solo by Flea. Not trying to knock their hustle, it's all subjective opinion in the end but very overrated.

Funny enough, of all my friends - only the metal guitar players share in my opinion. Subjectivism based on genre preference perhaps?

And those who don't share in that opinion just happen to not be as well-versed in guitar technique, song-writing, theory, and more so, experience (in comparison only, nothing against them). Subjectivism based on skill level?

I think it's how each person views a certain guitar player in those subjective contexts that allows them to conclude that "X guitar player is overrated," nothing's conclusive.

/slight tangent

 

[Reino Tulonen]

Rammstein... they have some really simple stuff and people just go crazy too see them. I don't understand why though.