Music Banter - View Single Post - Tony Iommi or Jimmy Page?
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Old 03-25-2012, 10:01 PM   #94 (permalink)
SATCHMO
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I think that after you dial back the gain on his amplifier, there's not anything that Iommi did that was especially innovative. He was responsible for creating some of the most badass guitar riffs in rock/metal history, but then again, so was Page. The difference is that Page drew attention to his talent even after the genre that had already seen some greats. Sabbath influence was more densely focused on the metal genre, but I don't think Iommi as a guitar player was more influential than Page as a whole.

Notwithstanding the fact that Iommi was handicapped by having half of his fretboard fingertips missing, a lot of what Iommi is known for are riffs that were fairly basic and mechanical. The guitar riff from Sweet Leaf is pretty stellar, but I don't think it can hold a candle to Page's bowed string riff from Kashmir. I don't think much of Iommi's playing really hold up to anything that Page has done. Iommi and Sabbath's influence were so great because they were pioneers of the metal genre, not because Iommi's skill or creativity were anything superlative compared to any of the better rock guitarists of his age. I think Page has it over Iommi easily.
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