over rated and under rated guitarists

David Gilmour
Bernard Butler
Dave Grohl
Jonny Greenwood
Mike Einziger

..not overrated nor underrated but always highly rated in my books.
 
No one mentioned Wes Borland? I think he's seriously underrated. He's at least in the same calibre as John 5, if you ask me. But yet, who ever mentions him as an influence? (here on Soft, at least) I think I'm the first to mention him in this thread, too.

I also find shredding as a technique overrated. Everyone thinks about being fast and flashy but don't care shit about writing good songs... Perhaps not just shredding, but lead guitar in general. No one seems to notice the rhythm guitarists.

Mark Tremonti... neither overrated nor underrated. Or perhaps a little overrated. But Myles Kennedy as a guitarist is seriously way underrated because Mark Tremonti is getting all the guitar-related attention.
 
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Overrated: Steve Vai, Kirk Hammet, Buckethead

Underrated:
John Frusciante (rhcp),
Tom morello (RATM),
mark knopfler (direstraits),
Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead),
Paul Gilbert ,
Omar Rodríguez (Mars Volta),
Bernard Sumner (Joy Division)

Penisheads:
Jonas Brothers (well at least everyone can all agree on this one)
 
@ Geoff1121: Paul Gilbert is underrated? I really don't think so but that's my opinion... I totally agree with the others in your 'underrated' list, though.
 
@ Geoff1121: Paul Gilbert is underrated? I really don't think so but that's my opinion... I totally agree with the others in your 'underrated' list, though.
hmm yah i wasnt so sure about that one, come to think about it i guess he gets the amount of credit he deserves. but he is one of the few shredders i have respect for, most are just soulless finger gymnasts who play music for the wrong reason. gilbert always had this happy shreddy image, feel? just my opinion ;)
 
over-rated:
- slash (my lead guitarist will kill me for this)
- alexi laiho (even though i'm a fan of his, there were plenty of solos coming out of his fingers that were pure nonsensical spamming of scales)
- both guitarists from slayer (i dun get their songs really...their solos are not something i can accept...totally playing out of key isnt my thing)
- kirk hammett (overusage of the wah and his love for spamming notes that sometimes sound like a bunch of noise)
- steve vai (i dun get his licks...really, plus he uses the whammy just for the sake of using the whammy)
- michael amott (some of his solos dun even fit the song, when the solo comes in u wonder if u just changed song -_- )

under-rated:
- Elias Viljanen (he constantly lives under the shadow of Jani Liimatainen even though he's extremely capable)
- Tony MacAlphine (probably too humble for his own good, thus he doesnt shine when given his solo time, probably for fear of easily out-shining the guitarist he's playing with, not to forget he's a pretty good keyboardist as well)
- james malone (he has plenty of shredding in his songs but somehow he has plenty of catchy riffs as well, dunno many metalheads but the few i speak to dunno his band arsis...why??? )

neither under nor over rated:
- jeff loomis (his rhythm playing is very catchy but sometimes his clean playing leaves me wanting more)
- chris broderick (very technical...prob why mustaine chose him)
- izy stradlin (he's one to embrace the guitar not for solo-ing and spamming the shit out of it, which i find rare among guitarists)
- frank gambale (kudos to him for inventing economy picking, i picked it up before i even knew abt him actually, but oh well he made it much faster than i can ever imagine)
- marty friedman (being in megadeth was prob the luckiest thing that happened to him, now he gets the fame he deserves)
- joe satriani (i dunno how to describe this one but i think he's decent)
- Jani Liimatainen (propelled sonata arctica to where it is today. makes guitar playing look ridiculously easy)
 
I think Santana is overrated too. I don't hear anything special in his playing. Yet he's so celebrated...

he certainly has skills but i think its his charisma that carried him further. of cos there is the fact that he brought the latin music sound to the masses. nothing special abt him though i agree...lol
 
I believe all these over-rated, under-rated thingy is all about individual perception. However good or bad the skill of a guitarist, it is all based on audience perception. A guitarist using an electric drill in his piece could be genius to some, but dumb and stupid to others. All the above comments about this guitarist is not fantastic, nothing special etc. just only means you are too ignorant to appreciate what other audiences perceive as wonderful or godly. The opposite might be true for guitarist that you feel are under-rated. So, try to learn to appreciate the goodness in everyone. WORLD PEACE! =)

Just my 2 cents. =)
 
IMO, overrated and underrated is NOT about individual perception.

Whether or not you like Slash, he is still one of the most acclaimed guitarists in the world. Popularity figures are statistics - not personal opinion.

It is true that some people allow their personal opinions to cloud their judgment of overrated or underrated. But I don't.
 
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