METALPRIEST
Senior Member
IMHO I think Page has alot of character and style. Good feeling about his playing and the music is outstanding. Is he a bit sloppy sometimes? Yeah sure. So what 
The CRF's Greatest Guitarist Poll: Results #50-1
- Thread starter Cosmic Harmony
- Start date
Sox
Avoiding The Swan Song
Great job done CH, a good top ten. 
runningshoes
Great White North
Move Lifeson out of the top ten and Zappa into the top ten and I'm happy with it.
Van Halen's Frankenstrat
Junior Member
As much as I'd have loved to see EVH at #1, I can't really complain about the ones above him. It's also good to see Richie Blackmore recognised as he's too often overlooked in these types of poll. (You know the kind, where Kurt Cobain polls in the Top Ten!)
Peace!
Peace!
gcczep
Ever Onward...
Major, major kudos to the Cos for all the work.
I do agree that Page ISN'T the most technically proficient "live" player out there. Heck, he IS sloppy...fingers stuck in the strings or losing his rhytmn section at times via his constant improvising onstage. Page's solos at times can sound tedious and rehearsed but then again that may be just me having listened to loads of live tapes of the band. Heck, all those "live" releases he doctored just to cover up his howling mistakes.
His main attribute though is how he can conjure up riffs for Zeppelin's tracks. None of them sound alike or extensions of each other. Imagination, subtlety, vision...always evolving. You can add his finger picking on the acoustic as more than acceptable. Page commented on it as a combination of "Bert Jansch, Pete Seeger and total incompetence"... Page also considers himself a "jack of all trades master of none" player with regards to his wide interests in music. He is a hell of a producer to with his miking techniques being able to achieve THAT "huge" sound on all the Zep LPs.
Mystique and image? Well, that is something he cultivated altogether. The whispering, worldy interviews. Those dragon and poppy suits. Accounts of his dabbling into the occult and Crowley. That low slung Les Paul which I'm sure many well schooled players think is not the PROPER way to play. All that hair! Shuffling, duck walking ala Chuck Berry...a lit Malboro dangling from his mouth. Page was the epitome of cool back in the '70's.
Page isn't THE and NEVER WILL be the best player if you want those that can play a million notes a second with the speed of a high performance Ferrari but he certainly makes a case as a well rounded figure as far as the instrument is concerned. Some prefer the impressive blinding fretboard runs of a Van Halen, Vai or a Malmsteen [not that I'm knocking it mind you] then there's the old school listeners who dig the players that are rooted within or influenced by the likes of James Burton and Scotty Moore which is Page.
I do agree that Page ISN'T the most technically proficient "live" player out there. Heck, he IS sloppy...fingers stuck in the strings or losing his rhytmn section at times via his constant improvising onstage. Page's solos at times can sound tedious and rehearsed but then again that may be just me having listened to loads of live tapes of the band. Heck, all those "live" releases he doctored just to cover up his howling mistakes.
His main attribute though is how he can conjure up riffs for Zeppelin's tracks. None of them sound alike or extensions of each other. Imagination, subtlety, vision...always evolving. You can add his finger picking on the acoustic as more than acceptable. Page commented on it as a combination of "Bert Jansch, Pete Seeger and total incompetence"... Page also considers himself a "jack of all trades master of none" player with regards to his wide interests in music. He is a hell of a producer to with his miking techniques being able to achieve THAT "huge" sound on all the Zep LPs.
Mystique and image? Well, that is something he cultivated altogether. The whispering, worldy interviews. Those dragon and poppy suits. Accounts of his dabbling into the occult and Crowley. That low slung Les Paul which I'm sure many well schooled players think is not the PROPER way to play. All that hair! Shuffling, duck walking ala Chuck Berry...a lit Malboro dangling from his mouth. Page was the epitome of cool back in the '70's.
Page isn't THE and NEVER WILL be the best player if you want those that can play a million notes a second with the speed of a high performance Ferrari but he certainly makes a case as a well rounded figure as far as the instrument is concerned. Some prefer the impressive blinding fretboard runs of a Van Halen, Vai or a Malmsteen [not that I'm knocking it mind you] then there's the old school listeners who dig the players that are rooted within or influenced by the likes of James Burton and Scotty Moore which is Page.
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gcczep
Ever Onward...
Oh and if I had to pick one player that had the right mix of speed, precision, a bit soul and "live" dynamics? I'd go with Ritchie Blackmore. Not just the blues but he also has the added dimension of infusing his playing with classical overtones too. Nowadays he is just a traveling minstrel [grin].
Pat Catalano
Senior Member
Nice list but in my opinion you have some sloppy players up top and more skilled proficient players slapped in the middle of the list. But that's ok I like them all. some way more 
but we all have our favorites and that's all good. To me I judge a guitar player by soul and feeling and how the music moves me. Not many on this list can do it for me like George Lynch that guy hits one note and I get goose bumps.
but we all have our favorites and that's all good. To me I judge a guitar player by soul and feeling and how the music moves me. Not many on this list can do it for me like George Lynch that guy hits one note and I get goose bumps.
Lynch
Here for the cookies and the tunes
I feel ya and I totally agree. The two top spots being the most notable of famous guitarists that were sloppy as hell in concert all too often. Both laid down some great licks in the studio... the stuff of legends, especially for their time, but what they did live is one of the bigger reasons I'd downplay both (and yes, I understand I'm in the minority on both guys).
Agreed! GL = a guitar god in my book!
Pat Catalano
Senior Member
yeah its a hard topic to discuss every one has an opinion and a valid one so i think the best is who the best is in your opinion
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