Aichuk

SPIN's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time | SPIN | Best of SPIN | All Time

I used to think the Rolling Stones greatest guitarist list was messed up but for a major magazine, this takes the cake. Jimi Hendrix, Clapton, Gilmour and Allman are NOT in the list... but Skrillex is.

Now I understand that it's cliched to put those guitarists in a list, but once you start learning guitar , you'll learn to actually appreciate them and their playing is really great. I understand that Spin was going more for a great guitar sound maker kind of list (Sonic Youth's guitarists took the #1 spot and Kevin Shields was #2) instead of skill, but Hendrix's sound was innovative for his time.

I really appreciate some aspects of this list. It's fun to see modern guitarists of bands like Jesu, Dinosaur Jr. and the guitarists of Television appear. However, it's the greatest guitarists of ALL time.

An opinion is an opinion, and all lists are subjective. But I kinda felt insulted that Jimmy Page, B. B King, Chuck Berry, Wes Montgomery etc. does not even appear on the list, but Skrillex, Jam Master Jay of Run DMC, and Kurt Cobain (at #4) does. I felt that they were trying to be edgy just for the sake of being edgy.

What's your opinion?

Goofle

Bez would be on their Top 100 drummers list no doubt.

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Ninetales

List doesnt bother me that much, but that might be because i dont play guitar and think being labelled "best guitarist of all time" is a pretty lame title anyway. It has some mad variety which made it more interesting for me to look through than if it were just the boring easy choices (and if they were going to go that route, why bother really? It's been done ad nauseam already).

But, and as much as I dont hate Skrillex as a lot of people seem to, this is just dumb and strange

...makes me think youre right in that theyre "trying to be edgy"

Aichuk

See, the thing is, they acknowledge Santana and Hendrix influence and even mention them, but yet they don't include them. They weren't going for a unappreciated guitarists list or anything.

Guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix, Duane Allman, etc. worked hard their entire life. They practiced their entire life and added a lot to music. And yet, a big magazine makes a list and ignores their hard work, and instead adds someone who doesn't even play the guitar. It's like including me in the list of greatest soccer/football players instead of Pele because Pele is a cliched choice and you've seen him in lists many times. Who cares if he's the highest goal scorer, let's be edgy and include the OP because he sometimes plays FIFA well.

Isbjørn

"Look, as far as we know, our asymmetrically coiffed party pal has never held a guitar in his life. But no contemporary musician has a more primal understanding of adrenaline-pumping, pulse-raising, chest-caving bulldozer riffs than dubstep mosh ambassador Skrillex. Somewhere between the unfiltered piston-pumps of nü-metal and the twinkling emocore melodies that weaned him is a gaping sarlacc of yawping melodies and buzzsaw edges. The bass drop to "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" might just be this generation's "Smoke on the Water" — look no further than the obscene number of "Skrillex guitar cover" videos on YouTube!"

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grindy

Well, there are some severly underappreciated guitarists on this list.
If it helps them gain wider exposure, that justifies the list's silliness in other places for me.

Trollheart

What's a "sarlacc"??

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Mondo Bungle

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Neapolitan

Who's "Spin's" 100th greatest guitar player of all time?
Skrillex!? ...really? ...what, cause of his hair?

I was a bit perplexed to see him at that spot, a little miffed because they started right off the bat with a little bit of nonsense. Even without reading the intro first I knew what they were up to.

Then I notice they had two entries for one spot, then again... and again. Not only did it seemed that Spin wasn't too concern with the definition of a "guitar player" it also seem apparent they didn't know how to count to 100. What I mean by they I mean the writer and the editor - come on - neither of them took notice there were "108" names on a "100" Greatest... list?

I'm pretty sure it's 108. I scan through the article, I might have miscounted but not by a margin of 8%. Two guitar players in the number one spot is proof enough of their Count von Count shenanigans. By the end I wasn't too upset to see Skrillex at Spin's 100th spot, cause I knew he was really the 108th and technically didn't make Spin's list of 100 Greatest Guitar Players after all. whoosh

After glancing over the 108 names and reading the intro I am surprised the editor of Spin didn't stand outside a music store to hand out trophies to anyone who walked by and stop to look at a guitar.

They seem to be suffering a love/hate relationship with the Baby Boomers. Did they leave off the guitar favorites of the Baby Boomers? Yes. Did they include guitar players born during the Baby Boom/Hippie generation? Yes.

OK here was their preamble of pretentiousness:

Now does Robert Fripp, Neil Young, Frank Zappa, Vernon Reid, and Dimebag Darrell make those lists that Spin was trying so desperately not to be? Yes, in fact they do. So what did they achieve leaving off Jimi Hendrix? He was just as experimental as any other guitar player on that list. The Pixies influenced some on that list, and Joey Santiago was influenced by Jimi Hendrix (among others). So he's not out of place... oh wait a minute did they mention Joey?

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Machine

Well I might not completely agree with the list and it might be the wrong title for the list I do appreciate not seeing the same old guitar players as every other single best guitar player list out there.

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boost my ego

listen to me stroke my delay pedal

ever wanted to hear death grips songs... but they're acoustic? me neither.