Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Rolling Stone Publishes Fresh, but Flawed List of Guitar Greats

The upcoming issue of Rolling Stone magazine is all about fiery solos, dreamy melodies and powerful riffs, as it features a revamped list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

Along with members of its staff, Rolling Stone invited a host of lauded guitarists, including Phish front man Trey Anastasio, to pick their favorite ax masters.

Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Kieth Richards and Jeff Back top the list. But from there, some of the rankings and selections come across as, at best, questionable and, at worst, ludicrous. 

Notably missing from the list of lick kings was Anastasio himself, who ranked 73rd on David Fricke's 2003 version. (At the time, Fricke was a senior editor for the magazine.)


Being that he was a part of the panel who compiled the list, Anastasio's absence could be explained as a mere conflict of interest -- though that did not seem to keep Eddie Van Halen (No. 8), Derek Trucks (No. 16) or Tom Morello (No. 40), all of whom given a vote, off it. 

As expected, Phish fans showed up to express their outrage at Anastasio not making the cut. They were not the only sect to find flaws in the list, however, as others wondered why the panel left out or poorly ranked their favorite guitarists.

Yet one should never view these lists -- though supremely entertaining -- as without flaw or set in stone. In some ways, it's fruitless for a publication to even compile one; people will always find reason to gripe about where their favorite musician ends up.

In dealing with such lists, then, the best course is to let fans -- not artists and certainly not editors, reporters or critics -- decide the rankings.

So, to this end, I welcome you to post your list of guitar gods in the comments section below. Go crazy.

2 comments:

  1. So, I can't list my favorite guitarists because I don't have a list of best guitarists. But I can say that I completely agree that "best" musician lists will never be printed without an agitated super-fan.
    In a way I think that, for die-hard fans, music is like religion and politics; it shouldn't be discussed in social situations or someone is bound to get hurt -- physically.

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  2. Like this post a lot. Snappy writing - "fiery solos, dreamy melodies and powerful riffs" - and ending with an invitation to readers is great.
    If you can make your About (Ethos) section more prominent - it's floating in a strange place at the bottom right now - that would be ideal.

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