Originally Posted by lucifer_sam

I never once said that Adam Jones was a particularly fast or dexterous guitar player. I said he was great and he had a great deal of technical prowess. Which is perfectly true. But speed, as you quoted yourself, doesn't seem to be straight formula for a great guitarist.

I suppose his negative reputation also makes him less than great. He's simply unskilled compared to those other great metal and progressive guitarists. Rolling Stone was obviously just giving him an honorably mention for being "good at what he does." Just like they did with Eddie Van Halen, who came after Adam Jones. And Dave Gilmour, who was in the eighties. Angus Young, at #96, must have realized he would never be a great metal guitarist.

I'm not saying that the mundane list is concrete evidence that Adam Jones was a godlike demon on guitar, ripping people new ones as he played faster than ears could handle. You're perfectly right: if Jones had that speed and dexterity, Tool would sound very, very different. But you're ignoring what I'm trying to say. It's not me proclaiming like an ignorant fanboy that he was better than everyone else. I simply stated, and I'll repeat:

Adam Jones is a great guitarist.