Let the flailing begin! Guitar World picks the "100 greatest metal guitarists of all time" in its March issue, due out next week. Tony Iommi is numero uno - pretty hard to argue with that.
According to Guitar World editor-in-chief Brad Tolinski, the criteria for the list were purity and innovation. He said Iommi never strayed from a basic formula of B-tuned guitars played very loudly, plenty of power chords and slower rhythms.
"He's essentially the guy that created most of the conventions for heavy metal," Tolinski said. Iommi's "shining moment" is the track "Warning" from Black Sabbath's self-titled 1970 debut album, according to the poll.
If Black Sabbath started the heavy metal ball rolling, then Metallica kept it alive, Tolinski said, pointing to the 1984 track "Creeping Death" as the band's stand-out.
Page's relatively low No. 6 ranking raised some eyebrows since Led Zeppelin also helped pave the way for heavy metal. But Tolinski said Page would be the first to admit that his playing also incorporates blues and folk. Similarly, Eddie Van Halen has always had a foot in the pop world, he added.
Hendrix, who died in 1970, introduced some of the genre's conventions, but Tolinski termed him more of a "futuristic blues player" than a heavy metal guitarist. [Reuters]
This is called a poll - as with the Rolling Stone guitarist poll - who did they poll? I am unfamiliar with a lot of the hardcore and death metal guitarists mentioned here, but it sure seems to me like if you're talking about "innovation" that some of these earlier guys should be much higher: Budgie's Tony Bourge, Blue Cheer's Leigh Stephens, Blue Oyster Cult's Buck Dharma, Robert Fripp, Rudolf Schenker and Uli John Roth of Scorpions, and no Steve Hunter at all? The definition of metal is a little vague here also - a lot of these guys I would call "hard rock" rather than metal, but the definition of "metal" has changed over the years.
01. Tony Iommi (BLACK SABBATH)
02. Kirk Hammett & James Hetfield (METALLICA)
03. Angus & Malcolm Young (AC/DC)
04. Randy Rhoads (OZZY OSBOURNE)
05. Eddie Van Halen (VAN HALEN)
06. Jimmy Page (LED ZEPPELIN)
07. Dimebag Darrell (PANTERA, DAMAGEPLAN)
08. Zakk Wylde (OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY)
09. Adam Jones (TOOL)
10. Kerry King & Jeff Hanneman (SLAYER)
11. Dave Murray & Adrian Smith (IRON MAIDEN)
12. Jimi Hendrix
13. Glen Tipton & K.K. Downing (JUDAS PRIEST)
14. Ace Frehley & Paul Stanley (KISS)
15. Slash (GUNS N' ROSES)
16. Ritchie Blackmore (DEEP PURPLE, RAINBOW)
17. Yngwie Malmsteen
18. Joe Perry & Brad Whitford (AEROSMITH)
19. Dave Mustaine & Marty Friedman (MEGADETH)
20. Chuck Schuldiner (DEATH)
21. Brian May (QUEEN)
22. Michael Schenker (MSG, UFO)
23. Nigel Tufnel (SPINAL TAP)
24. Jeff Beck
25. Tom Morello (RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE)
26. Head & Munky (KORN)
27. John Petrucci (DREAM THEATER)
28. Kim Thayil (SOUNDGARDEN)
29. Vivian Campbell (DEF LEPPARD)
30. Daron Malakian (SYSTEM OF A DOWN)
31. Scott Ian (ANTHRAX)
32. Tom G. Warrior (CELTIC FROST)
33. Chris Degarmo & Michael Wilton (QUEENSRYCHE)
34. C.C. Deville
35. Marten Hagstrom & Fredrik Thorndendal (MESHUGGAH)
36. Alex Lifeson (RUSH)
37. Paul Gilbert (MR. BIG, RACER X)
38. Jerry Cantrell (ALICE IN CHAINS)
39. Mantas (VENOM)
40. Jason Becker (DAVE LEE ROTH)
41. Phil Collen & Steve Clarke (DEF LEPPARD)
42. Mikael Akerfeldt & Peter Lindgren (OPETH)
43. Fast Eddie Clarke (MOTORHEAD)
44. Nuno Bettencourt (EXTREME)
45. Warren DeMartini (RATT)
46. Mick Mars (MOTLEY CRUE)
47. George Lynch (DOKKEN)
48. Ted Nugent
49. Jake E. Lee (OZZY OSBOURNE, BADLANDS)
50. Rudolf Schenker & Uli John Roth (SCORPIONS)
51. Oystein "Euronymous" Aarseth (MAYHEM)
52. Scott Gorham & Brian Robertson (THIN LIZZY)
53. Steve Vai (DAVE LEE ROTH)
54. Reb Beach (WINGER, DOKKEN)
55. Trey Azagthoth (MORBID ANGEL)
56. John Sykes (THIN LIZZY, BLUE MURDER)
57. Hank Shermann & Michael Denner (MERCYFUL FATE)
58. Richie Sambora (BON JOVI)
59. Jon Donais & Matt Backhand (SHADOWS FALL)
60. Stephen Carpenter (DEFTONES)
61. Alex Skolnick & Eric Peterson (TESTAMENT)
62. Brian Tatler (DIAMOND HEAD)
63. John Christ (DANZIG)
64. Scott "Wino" Weinrich (THE OBSESSED)
65. Pepper Keenan & Woody Weatherman (C.O.C.)
66. Tommy Victor (PRONG)
67. Leslie West (MOUNTAIN)
68. Vernon Reid (LIVING COLOUR)
69. Glen Buxton & Michael Bruce (ALICE COOPER)
70. Bjorn Gelotte & Jesper Stromblad (IN FLAMES)
71. Jim Matheos (FATES WARNING)
72. Gary Holt & Rick Hunolt (EXODUS)
73. Donald Buck Dharma Roeser (BLUE OYSTER CULT)
74. Michael Amott (ARCH ENEMY)
75. Robert Fripp (KING CRIMSON)
76. Andre Olbrich (BLIND GUARDIAN)
77. Joe Satriani
78. Frank Hannon & Tommy Skeoch (TESLA)
79. Ty Tabor (KING'S X)
80. Mark Morton & Will Adler (LAMB OF GOD)
81. Dino Cazares (FEAR FACTORY)
82. Pete Townshend (THE WHO)
83. Jon Schaffer (ICED EARTH)
84. Timo Tolkki (STRATOVARIUS)
85. Neil Young
86. Abbath Doom Occulta (IMMORTAL)
87. Kai Hansen (GAMMA RAY)
88. Uffe Cederlund & Alex Hellid (ENTOMBED)
89. Leigh Stephens (BLUE CHEER)
90. Jim Martin (FAITH NO MORE)
91. Michael Romeo (SYMPHONY X)
92. Bill Steer (CARCASS)
93. Piggy (VOIVOD)
94. Tony Bourge (BUDGIE)
95. Sammy Hagar (VAN HALEN)
96. Alexi Laiho (CHILDREN OF BODOM)
97. Akira Takasaki (LOUDNESS)
98. Michael Angelo
99. John Kay & Michael Monarh (STEPPENWOLF)
100. Nick Bowcott (GRIM REAPER)
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Eric Olsen
I would like to be the first to comment here and say that if the guitar had never been invented, we would get less traffic.
2 - Tim Hall
Good to see Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap quite high up the list; he's too often maligned, and that travesty of a film made him look like a dork.
No sign of Karl Tolhurst of Umlaut, though :)
3 - Eric Olsen
Though there was no shortage of umlauts in the list itself - I had to delete a ton of them.
4 - Tim Hall
Äs för Ümläüts, Blue Öyster Cult stärtëd ït äll...
5 - Barry Stoller
Guitar World includes Fripp and Neil Young to its HM list - but not Lee Pickens?
Do I hear a 'who is Lee Pickens?'
Dude - if you've never heard the solo on Bloodrock's doomsday classic 'Breach of Lease,' you don't know your HM history.
These lists are always about blowing the record companies!
6 - TDavid
Though the order can be forever disputed, I like this list better than the other one.
7 - Mike
34. C.C. Deville
53. Steve Vai
I mean seriously, WTF? CC get rated higher than Steve Vai? That's seriously making this list a little more worthy of toilet paper than the Rolling Stone list.
8 - BRICKLAYER
20. Other, other, dude from Iron Maiden
19. Ms. Lita Ford
18. Dude from Black Sabbath
17. Dude from Accept
16. Dude from Slayer (one with hair)
15. Mr. Kirk Hammett
14. Dude from Lamb of God
13. Dude from Anthrax
12. Other dude from Iron Maiden
11. Dude from Slayer (bald one)
10. Other dude from Judas Priest
09. Dude from Judas Priest
08. Dude from Ac/Dc
07. Chick from WASP
06. Dude from Iron Maiden
05. Dude from Converge
04. Chris Haskett
03. Page Hamilton
02. Gregg Ginn-He's better than everyone, except...
01. Dude in the Gorilla Suit who plays the guitar solo in the Beastie Boys "No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn" video
9 - gomorrahskipper
Did I miss something? What about Clapton? B.B. King? and why the heck is Steve Vai in the 50's? Why aren't Slash and Hendrix in the top 10? Man, this list is severely twisted.
10 - Chris Wilson
This is a great list and should promote quite a bit of argument. However, as mentioned, many of the guitarists are not even remotely metal. Hard Rock is a good label. But you cannot call Queen, Thin Lizzy, The Who, Van Halen, SteppenWolf, Rush, Ted Nugent, etc....metal. They are not metal. But call this list Hard Rock, and then you must name those guitarists much higher. I think Metal music is still too young to really have an adequate Top 100 list. Maybe a top 50?
11 - Jim
Clapton & BB King - did you miss something. I'd say if you miss anything it's probably your brain. This is a HM list, and those 2 aren't even close to being HM guitarists (IMO BB King isn't that great a guitarist anyway). These lists are always BS anyway. Just a way for crappy guitar mags to sell a few more copies of their crappy ad filled record company ass kissing propaganda filled rags. Half those guys shouldn't be on the list. They either aren't HM or they aren't that good.
Scuse me while I flush!!
12 - Eric Olsen
I agree with the notion that this is a hard rock list, but remember that Deep Purple and Blue Oyster Cult were considered metal 30 years ago.
13 - Obsydion
Of course, this is only ONE of the many terrible errors in the list but....
26. Head & Munky (KORN)
27. John Petrucci (DREAM THEATER)
Don't get me wrong i like Korn but how can you put super down-tuned simplistic chugging higher than dream theater's super technical flare?
14 - Eric Olsen
not everyone values "super technical flair" equally
15 - Vic Rattlehead
??????
why are metallica second place? hetfield doesnt even play lead!!!! megadeth kick their behinds so bad!!!! and whats with tool up there? and korn???? arrrgghhhhh
this list must have been rushed up in 10 minuutes by 3 ten year olds
16 - Richard Scott
It's true this list is a popularity contest and not a measure of talent, but it's better
than the lame Rolling Stone list! Also, the guys like Nugent WERE considered metal in their day. Compared to the extreme metal styles of today, MOST metal bands don't fit, and when fans argue that bands like Dimmu Borgir aren't metal, I have to laugh! For the guy who said there aren't enough for a Top 100 Metal guitarists, there are too many to include all the deserving players in a
list of ONLY 100.
17 - Josh
Ritchie Blackmore at #16?! The man should be #1. The only reason that Iommi is #1 is because his guitar riffs are so famous. But as far as soloing, he's nothing special. Blackmore has the riffs AND the solos.
And Jimmy Page at #6? He never even played heavy metal for God's sake!
What planet are you people living on?
18 - Dagon
I'm so happy to see my hero in this list under only two steps of steve vai...TREY YOU RULES!!!
19 - California boy
Yo guitars suck. Yall need a bass.
Listen to Tupac ya little metal punks.
20 - Josh
Hey California Boy, the bass in rap is all fake. Seriously, it's just programmed through a fucking machine. Any braindead fuck can do that. Why don't you try playing a REAL bass?
21 - California Boy
Josh Machine or not the bass sounds
much better than guitars.
22 - Josh
"Machine or not the bass sounds much better than guitars".
Let me guess, you're one of those dorks who likes to crank up the rap "bass" so loud that it vibrates your car, right? Wow. I just love that annoying distortion. It's so cool.
23 - California Boy
Josh if it is programed through a
machine than how come they have a
different beat every time.
Different beats means that someone has
to play that new beat every time,geneis.
24 - Josh
Machines can program more than just one beat, genius.
25 - California Boy
You never see any metal fans playing
their music loud in cars.
The reason is that metal fans dont
want anyone one to know that they are
metal fans.
Rap fans are proud of it dogg.