Which guitarist(s) do you feel play at the peak technique-wise while still serving the song?

[toolsound]

Plini

 

[ImNotAhab]

Paul and Dusty from BTBAM.

 

[rokket2005]

Definitely Nuno.

 

[Leviathus]

Eddie Van Halen.... mAAAAAAnnnnn...

 

[Lemons]

Gonna be that guy.

-TOSIN ABASI-

 

[Seabeast2000]

Mike Campbell, John Frusciante and Iommi.... oh and Vivian Campbell and Warren DeMartini.

 

[Avedas]

Paul and Dusty from BTBAM.

I'd probably give my vote to them as well. There's really not all that much shredding in BTBAM songs in the grand scheme of things but those two are so technically impressive. Their riffs are next level too.

I'd also put up Mark Holcomb as a "somewhat shreddy but not really" riff master.

 

[KailM]

Jari Maennpaa
Vogg
Michael Akerfeldt and Peter Lindgren when he was still in Opeth.

James Hetfield

 

[eggy in a bready]

Pete Kember, aka Sonic Boom. all he needed was one note

 

[Andrew Lloyd Webber]

Because it’s principled, I’m going to broaden the scope of this to include non-guitarists:

Which [musicians] do you feel play at the peak technique-wise while still serving the song?

This describes Neil Peart as much as it does Lars Ulrich or Meg White. The musician who, in the course of rising to meet the demands of the setlist, is tasked with playing at or near the (personal) ceiling of their technique, is the one who most obviously conveys this sensibility in their music.

The nut to crack is in appreciating or even recognizing this quality in genres or compositions that one personally does not care for. Because of this tendency, people cite genre-specific favorites as if they’re laying down a trump card (because of course artists can only be appreciated relative to one another, in a gladiatorial context comparable to Pokémon). To me, many of the musicians cited in this thread just acted as if the smell of their microphones were offensive. Clearly, others find this quality endearing enough to attribute conviction to it.

 

[DudeManBrother]

Has to be Django Reinhardt

 

[Andrew Lloyd Webber]

 

[TedEH]

Meg White

I was never a fan of White Stripes, so maybe I'm pretty biased, or haven't kept up, but I thought she was a terrible drummer? As in, REALLY terrible. As in sounds like she's just started learning a month ago kind of terrible. That's less a case of the drummer serving the song, as the songs can only serve the highest level of musicianship on offer from the band members.

 

[Louis Cypher]

Nuno definitely agree and Chris Poland and Andy Laroque. EVH, Warren DiMartini and George Lynch too.
Gonna add John Sykes, technically a monster but his playing never feels out of place in the song.

 

[jco5055]

Nuno definitely agree and Chris Poland and Andy Laroque. EVH, Warren DiMartini and George Lynch too.
Gonna add John Sykes, technically a monster but his playing never feels out of place in the song.

oh I love John Sykes, and how his alternate picking is honestly up there with like Petrucci imo but he just comes off so much more musical imo

 

[I play music]

Per Nilsson.

 

[Zalbu]

It's a generic answer but I'd have to go with Guthrie Govan as well, a song like Waves is basically a five minute long solo and there's not a single unnecessary note in there.

 

[oracles]

Marty Friedman
Ryan Knight
Guthrie Govan
Vogg
Mikael Akerfeldt
Steven Wilson
Jeff Loomis

 

[vilk]

I'm surprised but also happy to see that someone came in to post Andy LaRocque before I could!!

Also Karl Sanders

 

[Smoked Porter]

Haven't seen him mentioned yet, so I'll throw in Alexi Laiho. I think that because of some of Bodom's later albums and the goofy lyrics people forget just how good of a player the dude is.