A Noob’s Guide to Bottle Sharing

Hello friends and readers, welcome to what shall be known as my first (of potentially many) blog entries about beer.  I’ve been meaning to pontificate on my most pressing obsession for awhile now, and considering I have a bottle share I’m attending today, figured this would be a nifty guide for future novices.  By the way, yes that bottle share is on a Wednesday night, don’t judge.

So maybe you’ve been to a bottle share, or maybe the closest thing you’ve come to one is picking up a couple beers and heading to a friends house.  I hosted three such bottle shares before being invited to my first “real” one.  I was somewhat unprepared, because in my small minor league world I had the best beer of any of my friends.  Amongst professionals that have been hoarding beer and trading for years, I was out of my league.  It wasn’t a complete disaster but from these various experiments I’ve learned a few do’s and don’ts about the wonderful world of sharing beer with friends, acquaintances, or in several cases complete strangers. 

Why bottle share?

Before I elaborate on what proper protocol is, let me just elaborate on the whole sharing concept.  Now this isn’t some kindergarten lecture on sharing is caring, although that is a nice way of saying it.  I always considered bottle shares to be the best of both worlds.  It’s like trading except you get to drink your beer and the ones you would have traded it for.  Even the best beer is perishable, and although you can age some for upwards of a decade, beer is meant to be drank.  Sure it’s cool to post a picture of your “cellar” or a sweet 7 year Dark Lord vertical you painstakingly acquired, but that beer should be consumed, and you should enlist your friends to help you.

Bottle shares bring people together.  You make new friends, you make connections, you get to try new and exciting beers from all over the world you might not have even been aware of before.  We all have favorite styles, beers, or breweries, but a bottle share helps introduce us to the tastes and preferences of other eclectic tastes.  I’ve managed to try a hell of a lot of beers thanks to shares that I either never would have had the trading firepower to acquire, or in some cases would have never even thought to trade for.  They also make a great excuse to help empty your cellar, but word to the wise rarely do all bottles get consumed.  Last time I hosted a bottle share I wound up with 30 extra bottles of beer, which is one of the reasons I’d recommend hosting one.

What do I bring?

This is a surprisingly multi-faceted question and arguably the most important and simultaneously inconsequential question when faced with a bottle share.  Depending on your set up or theme it helps to have a sign up sheet.  Spreadsheets are often used in bigger bottle shares to help others know what to bring or what’s missing.  It doesn’t hurt to follow the holy trilogy of something hoppy, something malty, and something sour.  However if you’re attending a tasting of all sour beers, it wouldn’t necessarily make sense to break out that 2012 Bourbon County Coffee bomber. 

Some bottle shares are centered around specific breweries, maybe it’s a Cantillon tasting (please invite me to that), or a selection of beers from The Bruery, Founders, or perhaps all Bourbon County variants.  This is where spreadsheets are almost essential.  It also never hurts to bring more than you can drink, after all you can always take them home.  Rarely does a bottle share ever run out of beer, but over packing helps prevent any panic from running out of ammunition. 

In the event of a general bottle share where there is no sign up sheet or central theme the task of what can bring might seem a little easier.  Most people follow a pattern of brining one beer they’ve been saving for any sort of special occasion.  This is often coupled with something they’ve been reluctant to drink so they don’t mind having some help polishing it off (hence the reason there is ALWAYS a Stone Vertical Epic at every bottle share).  There is also the excited but scared to try beer, something that might be phenomenal but sounds a bit weird (like many of Pipeworks or Cigar City‘s strange offerings).  If you’re unsure, it’s good practice to bring something not readily available in the area.  If you regularly trade, or if you recently went on vacation, these are great options.  Obviously not everyone in Chicago is going to have access to Cigar City beers or sours from Wicked Weed, etc but if you do, even the shelf items can be big hits.

Depending on who you are and your particular resources you might be the guy/girl who tries to “win” the bottle share.  Every bottle share has this person, and in some cases, several of these people, in which case you’re in for one hell of a tasting.  If you’re the one hosting the bottle share it’s good practice to be the one who “wins” the tasting.  After all you want people to attend the next bottle share you host, and for the people who missed out to hear stories of the legendary beers they missed out on.  This also raises the stakes for the next time around. 

This brings me to the next almost completely contradictory point.  Bottle shares should have no judgment.  Every bottle share might very well be someone’s first.  So who cares if they brought a beer everyone’s had 100 times, or some random bomber they clearly picked up on the way to the share, don’t bat an eyelash.  Beer it forward.  Hook them up with some legendary beer from the guys who know what they’re doing and the next time they get invited to a bottle share they’ll hopefully know better.  Many beer enthusiasts live by beer karma.  A vague notion that if you take care of people with beer, other people will take care of you.  I’ve had more than enough of this work both ways to know in many cases it’s better to give than to receive.  This logic can also apply to beer trading, but that’s a separate blog.

How do we go about sharing?

We’re going to skip the whole event creation, I’m assuming you know how to throw or be invited to a party, otherwise I’m sorry.  There are however a few very important rules to follow as far as proper sharing etiquette.  Regardless of who the host may be, the person who brought the beer is god of that beer.  If you want to crack open that bottle of Parabola, you best find out who brought it and ask them, otherwise wait until the rightful owner comes along to pop that.  Conversely if you’re the one who brought the Parabola, then at any time feel free to open the beer, after all it’s yours.

This one should go without saying, but you’d be surprised.  Every beer is for sharing.  The first share/beer party I hosted a friend of my girlfriends decided to help herself to another friends 4 year old Matilda, and then proceeded to drink straight from the bottle.  Not only did she violate the opening another person’s beer rule, also completely ruined it for sharing.  I know this is obvious, but conversely even if you brought the beer, it defeats the purpose of bringing a can of Heady Topper to a party if you’re going to drink out of the can without pouring some for your friends to try.

To go along with that is the universal rule that the person who brought the beer pours the beer.  Did you bring the bottle of BA Abraxas?  Cool pour as much of it as you want to drink before sharing the few remaining drops with the beggars and scavengers.  You can conversely delegate this responsibility.  The first share I attended without also hosting I brought a bottle I never got to drink because I had to leave early.  It was donated to the party with the blessing to do with it as you wish. 

When in doubt, bring this to every bottle share

If the share is in honor of someone (graduation, bachelor, birthday party etc.) the guest of honor may reserve the honor to do the pouring, but it’s still accepted courtesy to seek the blessing of the original owner.  If pouring, try to make it as even as possible, don’t be afraid to under pour and top off later.  Often in these situations the bottle will get passed around to each guest, get enough to taste and make sure there’s at least a little left for someone else to give it a try.

As far as determining the order, this is usually up to the host.  Everyone will be excited to try different beer at the beginning of the event.  If you’re doing a vertical tasting, feel free to go in ascending or descending order.  Some people like to group styles together in tastings, ie stout section, sour section, etc.  I for one am partial to mixing it up.  So there isn’t really a wrong way to go about destroying these bottles, although for the host it wouldn’t hurt to set up some sort of order.  Perhaps let each guest take turns picking the next beer, and keep things somewhat democratic.  Communication is key and don’t hesitate to put the next beer up to a vote.

Drinking Etiquette

It very often happens at every bottle share that someone is going to get a lot drunker than everyone else.  If it’s your birthday (thanks for a wonderful 31st guys), it’s accepted, if you’re puking at that persons birthday party, not cool (you know who you are).  Now any good host should have some accommodations set up.  Whether that’s a couch, a few extra blankets, the number of a cab company, etc.  You don’t have to crash at that party but only an inhuman monster would send someone out to drive home after being over served at a bottle share.  If you’re not willing to let people sleep it off at your place, perhaps you shouldn’t host.

That said there is one very important rule of bottle sharing, you don’t have to drink everything.  Have you had the Vertical Epic 11.11.11?  Of course you have it was at the last dozen bottle shares.  So when that bottle is being passed around, simply take a pass and save your liver for a more worthy beer.  Snacks are great, and drink more water than you think humanly possible.  This not only helps refresh your palate, but will make you feel a lot better the morning after. 

Always a bad idea

Who Will Drink the Last of the Beer?

Generally speaking after a bottle share has been going for an hour or so, it’s not uncommon to see a dozen or so bottles with 1-2 ounces of beer sitting in the bottom of them.  In some cases you’re waiting for a friend to get to try them, but more often than not, every single person who wanted to try the beer did, and no one wants to be the “jerk” who kills off the bottle.  This is the same logic inherent in a group when there is one piece of pizza left and no one wants to accept responsibility for being the one to eat the last piece.

So I offer three solutions which it might help to set up before the share gets going.  Who kills the bottle?  Well option one is the person who brought it.  Let everyone get a pour, then if there’s some left, top off your own glass and commend that bottle to the empty graveyard where it’ll wait for it’s fallen comrades to pose for a sweet picture. 

Option two is to let the host have the honors.  After all if it’s their house they have the slowest distance to travel, and if they want they should get the leftovers of whatever is still around.

The third option is a designated bottle killer.  You can make this the person who brought the least amount of beers, or whoever brought the best stuff.  Let them be rewarded, or punished with polishing off whatever is left over depending on the bottle. 

A caveat to this is to slow your roll with opening bottles.  If there are 10 bottles with beer still sitting in them, the host should press pause on the share until those bottles are polished off.  This also helps cut back on the clutter of countless open bottles of beer.

Everyone Can and Should Clean

Dirty glasses, empty bowls of guacamole, bottle caps, and empty bottles are going to pile up at some point in time.  Regardless of who is the host, it doesn’t hurt to help keep things tidy.  Often times there is a designated bottle graveyard for the empties, and if you top off that particular bottle feel free to walk that bottle over yourself.  This might seem like common courtesy, but people forget these things when drinking.  

If you’re one of those people who collect empty bottles, make sure you ask before claiming someone else’s empty.  If there are bottles that were never opened, it is acceptable to take your own beer back, but check with others before claiming their leftovers. 

Keep some of these things in mind and you’ll have a bitchin’ bottle share and you can avoid some of the awkward rookie mistakes  many people make.

One last bit of advice.  It doesn’t hurt to bring your own tasting glass, at the very least it avoids any confusion over which glass belongs to which person, and you’ll seem like a seasoned vet.

Cheers, and share away

If you did it right, the end of your night should look like this

My Top 100 Guitarists: 20-1

20. Ace Frehley
When it comes to favorites, Ace Frehley ranks pretty high up on that list.  Past the age of about 14 I never heard much from Frehley that totally blew me away, but that was part of the appeal.  He was one of the first guitarists I could play like.  I could learn his solos, I could play like Ace, and I spent many, many, many hours of my life learning every trick Ace had up his sleeve.  To this day I never get tired of ripping out his lead line from the Alive version of “She”.  When it comes to rock gods to emulate, I’m not sure any were better than Ace.  He didn’t re-write the book on rock guitar playing, but what he did, he did so god damn well.  Besides if he’s good enough for Dime, he should be good enough for you.

19. Steve Vai
Sometimes I think certain musicians are so good they get bored.  Steve Vai was transcribing symphonies while still a teenager and was part of Frank Zappa’s band just to play impossible “stunt guitar”.  Always interested in pursuing odd and unique musical stylings, Vai never ascribed to the blues based neo-classical school of shredding.  However he did prove in the film Crossroads that yes he could play anything if he felt like it.  Another guitarist who sounds like no other, Vai has made a career of being better than you and not even caring to show it.  He’s also incorporated some of the sickest live tricks anyone’s ever put together just add a little fun to the proceedings. 

18. Dave Mustaine
This man may be an asshat, and sometimes when he opens his mouth you just wish he would stop speaking, but give him a guitar and Mustaine is as good as anyone ever.  As a song writer he has churned out more metal classics than anyone, and has continued making relevant music long after his contemporaries stopped doing anything anyone cared about.  After his 2002 freak nerve accident, Mustaine was told he’d never play again.  The fact that not only did he play again, but was better than ever on albums like The System Has Failed and Endgame just show that the man is truly indestructible.

17. Tom Morello
Rage Against the Machine’s lead guitarist has been known for years for his unique and unorthodox guitar playing approach.  He’s used every tool in the book, even creating a few new ones to get that “how the hell is he making that sound” approach.  But unlike guitarists like say Johnny Greenwood or Thurston Moore, Morello has the undeniable chops to go along with his crazy sonic experiments.  Perhaps no better representation of what the man could do can be found on the solo of “Know Your Enemy”.  In the game of knowing when to lay low and when to let it rip Morello straddles the fine line of restraint.  Probably the most innovative guitarist to come around since the great EVH, and it’s probably a good thing no one even tries to do what he’s doing.

16. Jimmy Page
Jimmy might be a little low for many of you, and I apologize.  There’s very little I can add to the lexicon of Page praise.  Occasionally a sloppy player might be my only complaint, but he was responsible for nearly a generation of guitarists coming around.  After shamelessly plagiarizing blues greats, Page expanded his arsenal, incorporated more odd tunings, different musical stylings, and his playing improved as a result.  Although if he never recorded another song, “Stairway to Heaven” is enough to get him into the guitarist hall of fame.  It also was the first song I learned, so it holds a special place for me as well as countless others.

15. Chris Broderick
The most recent and best shredding legend to join Megadeth was somewhat new to me when he joined.  Mustaine wasted no time showing off his new toy, making Endgame (Broderick’s debut) the most shred heavy of all of Megadeth’s albums and the best since Rust in Peace.  Watching some instructional videos from Broderick, who went to college to study classical guitar, show how the man has mastered everything.  His technique is flawless and he’s even patented his own thumb pick which makes his seamless pick to tap technique nearly impossible to emulate.  Oh and he can also play everything, shred up and down the fretboard and pretend to be humble about it.  I’m not sure there is a better technical player all around than Broderick.

14. Ritchie Blackmore
Despite being raised on classic rock I largely ignored Ritchie Blackmore as a kid.  I knew he had some tasty leads, like in “Lazy” or “Highway Star” but it wasn’t until I heard “Burn” that I really began to pay attention to what Blackmore was doing, and what he did.  The father of neo-classical, he was sweep picking as early as 1969, always rocking out on his trusty strat.  One note into any Blackmore song and it’s unmistakable.  A monumental influence on Yngwie, Randy Rhoads and every guitarist to pick up an axe in the 80s, he also had an unprecedented mastery of blues technique.  He’s one of those guitarists whose so influential you don’t even realize who stole from him, even if the person ripping him off is yourself.  His playing in “Child in Time” is as good as any from the classic rock era.

13. Steve Morse
It’s fitting that the man who eventually replaced Ritchie Blackmore in Deep Purple would find himself one spot higher on my rankings.  Originally making a name for himself in the country-fusion band The Dixie Dregs, Morse has been one of the most technically solid and impressive players in the business.  Quite possibly the fastest picker around, the man can tear up some sweet country picking, then trade off crazy sweep picking runs and damn near refusing to use a hammer on or pull off.  His songwriting hasn’t been his strong suit, but he’s put out a few gems, particular “The Bash” and “Tumeni Notes”.  A man who leaves John Petrucci in awe, Morse is about as good as they come.

12. Jason Becker
There is no shortage of great guitarists gone before their time.  Hell four of the players in my top ten fit this description but I don’t think any was quite the heart breaker that Jason Becker was.  The most gifted of the new wave of super shredders who had an uncanny ear for composition.  He was playing Yngwie covers with his teeth while only 15 years old, so yeah the kid could play.  A prodigy pretty much from the word go, he was covering Paganini covers by ear, and working on writing his own symphony (which was completed in 1996), but fate took a huge shit on him when he got ALS in 1990, before even turning 21.  He managed to finish his one album with David Lee Roth before losing the ability to play.  He didn’t stop making music, and continues to compose using a painstaking process of blinks and eye movements, while inexplicably living with a terminal disease for the past 24 years and counting.  His career is still one of largely untapped potential, but what he did while still capable is enough to put nearly every player to shame.

11. Paco de Lucia
The king of flamenco guitar has never ceased to amaze me.  I had a teacher try and show me the two finger picking technique Paco used and I could barely navigate a C major scale.  Paco plays almost exclusively with just two fingers on his right hand can pick faster than most metal players.  He’s the unquestioned lord and master of his style, and carried that title up until his death earlier this year.  Along with fellow legends John McLaughlin and Al DiMeola, Paco broke through outside of Spain and was introduced to a whole new generation of guitar players.  However, trying to play like Paco is an exercise in futility.

10. Steve Ray Vaughn
At this point, pretty much every guitarist is the greatest ever.  SRV was the brightest star in the white guys who play the blues galaxy.  A man who cut his teeth playing in seedy Texas dive bars and tearing it up on some of the heaviest gauge strings ever put on an axe.  He had the showmanship of Hendrix with more chops.  Known for that classic single coil rhythm pickup sound he brought a whole new generation of people to the blues, and can arguably be called the last great blues artist period.  A man who played from the gut unlike any other and made the coolest, ugliest faces when he let loose, there was no one else quite like him, and there won’t be.

9. Slash
It became pretty clear that Guns ‘n’ Roses were no mere hair metal band.  They were old school, lock up your daughters rock and roll in an era of eyeliner and spandex.  It’s fitting then that Slash borrowed a little of that old school rock god vibe, adopting the signature Jimmy Page Les Paul, while ditching all the whammy bar, two-hand tapping wankery of his contemporaries.  Still insanely fast and technically proficient, Slash let loose his own style and unique Seymour Duncan sound that stood out in a sea of interchangeable shredders.  I’ve talked about good and bad wah sounds, and Slash had damn near the best.  There isn’t a bad solo in the bunch and whether it’s “Nighttrain”, “Estranged” or the end of “November Rain” his work with G ‘n’ R is some of the best lead playing you’ll ever hear.  Every solo is iconic, and he didn’t hesitate to bring the blues back to rock, albeit with his own unique interpretation.

8. Randy Rhoads
When it comes to personal influences it’s hard to top Randy Rhoads.  He was tragically killed before realizing his full potential at the age of only 25.  His legacy was built on the first two Ozzy Osbourne solo albums and it was enough to inspire a generation.  Randy was devoted to classical guitar and fused that love with rock/metal like no one really had before him.  He came in the wake of Eddie Van Halen and incorporated plenty of his tricks too but did them in a way that was uniquely his.  His signature lead tone was the result of multi-tracking his solos creating an almost chorus like effect.  There were few guitarists I ever obsessed over quite like Randy, and spent the better part of high school trying to learn to play everything he ever wrote and recorded.  The body of work was small but the influence was incalculable.

7. John Petrucci
Dream Theater’s long standing guitarist might be the best guitarist in the world when all is said and done.  An insanely disciplined player who practices as much as anyone, he’s managed to get better with almost each Dream Theater recording, yet even base level John Petrucci is better than nearly everyone else.  Even his rhythm parts were played using unorthodox chord phrases just to change things up.  It’s hard to even call Petrucci an influence though because he’s so damn good it’s almost futile to attempt to play like him.  No mere shredder though, he’s put together some of the most memorable solos in all of prog-rock.  Check out “Spirit Carries On” or even “Eve” for proof.

6. Al DiMeola
Although Al DiMeola has been active for nearly 40 years to me his legacy will always be his first four solo albums.  Land of the Midnight Sun, Elegant Gypsy, Casino, and Splendido Hotel are four of the greatest albums ever made regardless of genre or style.  His playing was mind blowing.  That sweet Les Paul sound, and those crazy fast muted runs, and latin influenced grooves are all signature hallmarks of DiMeola’s style.  He would abandon electric guitar for a time to focus on acoustic work, including the highly successful Friday Night in San Francisco with fellow top 100 alums Paco de Lucia and John McLaughlin.  However his lead playing, and muted but clean staccato scales make for unending joy listening to him.  He had amazing vibrato and wasn’t just a speed freak, he knew when to hold a note, and how long to hold it to maximum effect.  Some called him a jazz version of Yngwie, and it’s not too far from the truth, but that almost seems to sell him short.  The man is as good as they get.

5. Eddie Van Halen
People talk about watershed moments in music and well when it comes to lead guitar playing, nothing created a sonic revolution quite like “Eruption”.  With that two minute solo Eddie Van Halen completely re-wrote the book on guitar playing, virtually invented shredding and ushered in a whole new language of playing.  He single handedly forced an entire generation to up their game to unprecedented heights and did more to impact the instrument than anyone since Jimi Hendrix, if not even more so.  The one part about Eddie that I felt never got enough attention though was his guitar tone.  It changed album to album, but from their self titled debut all the way to Balance, and even the Roth reunion, Eddie had the best sounding guitar in all of music.  I’ve spent countless hours trying to figure out how he created that legendary “brown” sound or how he got that ultra crisp yet distorted full sound on For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge.  In addition to playing better than anyone before him, he also had a better guitar tone just to rub it in. 

4. Yngwie Malmsteen
This is where I start playing personal favorites.  Yngwie isn’t the fastest guitarist to ever pick up an axe, although I’d wager he was damn near the fastest in the game when he released his debut album in 1983.  Yngwie took what he learned from Ritchie Blackmore, Jimi Hendrix, and a childhood of classical music and fused it into one hyperactive package.  He also had the sickest vibrato in all of guitar for my money.  The one knock you can give him is that his style never really evolved, but when you record “Black Star” and “Far Beyond the Son” on your first album, you’ve already perfected style.  Yngwie also never strayed from the single coil Fender strat sound of Blackmore, but had his own custom made scalloped fretboard which he claimed made it harder to play faster, god forbid.  Yngwie’s music might be two dimensional, either neo-classical or the occasional blues song, but good heavens he can play rings around anyone, but he does it with style and a flare that makes it never boring.  For added measure he also puts on a mean live show.

3. Jimi Hendrix
Let’s be honest, I knew when I started this list who my #1 was, but didn’t really know who would come after this.  The reason I play guitar is because of Jimi Hendrix.  The same time I saw Alvin Lee play “I’m Going Home” I watched Hendrix make the “Star Spangled Banner” his own and I knew that even if there were a million guitarists in the world, I’d be 1,000,001.  Hendrix was revolutionary in making the guitarist the star.  Blues players used some of the same tricks and led their own bands, but nobody did it in the way Hendrix did.  Ever the perfectionist his albums grew by leaps and bounds in an extremely short time and he never stopped looking for the newest sound.  As meticulous as he was in the studio, you can make a strong argument that he was at his best live, playing with his heart rather than painstakingly re-recording every note.  Every guitarist who has picked up the instrument since 1967 owes Jimi a debt of gratitude, and I’ll go ahead and say it, there was no one more important to the instrument.

2. Dimebag Darrell
Surprised?  I kind of am too.  Ever since the first time I heard Pantera back in high school I knew Dime was a special player.  I’ve always considered him one of the all time greats, but even I was a little surprised how high he ranked here, but I stand by it. A proud member of the Kiss army, Dime learned what he could mastering Ace Frehley and proceeded to amp it up another 20 notches.  An unmistakable sound that was incredibly heavy with some of the cleanest and sickest leads in all of metal.  I gave EVH praise for his guitar tone, but I’m not sure a guitar ever sounded better than on Vulgar Display of Power.  His multi-tracked tight rhythm and blindingly fast solos.  He could shred with the best of ‘em but somehow make an awesome solo out of just one note like in “Five Minutes Alone”.  He also joins Tony Iommi as the best riff writer in music history, and is a god damn squeal machine.  Put everything together and he was the total package, the best at damn near everything he did.  It’s been ten years since he was killed and his legacy is as large as ever.
 

1. Brian May
Anyone who knows me, shouldn’t be surprised by this.  Jimi Hendrix might be the reason I wanted to play guitar, but Brian May and Freddie Mercury were the reason I even became interested in music.  Years of obsessively listening to Queen has gotten me no closer to understanding how the hell Brian May did anything.  Brian May didn’t floor you with his chops, although he was as capable as any guitarist of his generation, but it was with his mind that he could reduce you to ashes.  How the fuck did he make his guitar sound like a ragtime band in “Good Company”?  How did he compose a god damn symphony using only his axe in “Procession”?  Why would anyone bother to use 7 guitar tracks for a 20 second guitar solo?  May’s ear for music, unparalleled mastery of guitar tone, and never ending inventiveness will forever secure his spot at the top of my list.  What Brian May did with his guitar was as unique as the homemade axe he played it on.  Steve Vai once told a story about meeting Brian May at a rehearsal studio and he asked him if he wanted to play his guitar.  An eager Vai jumped at the chance and said it sounded like Steve Vai when he played it.  Even a man who could play anything couldn’t figure out how Brian May played like Brian May. 

My Top 100 Guitarists: 40-21

40. Tony Iommi
If Iommi ever only played one solo he’d still probably make my list for being Riffzilla, one of the two greatest riff writers in the history of music (the other is coming).  The man pretty much invented metal almost by accident, and half the guitarists in the world owe this man a debt.  His lead playing was always blues based, and occasionally he bit off more than he could chew with some extended wanking particularly on the first Sabbath album.  He would generally double track his solos and fuck about, but occasionally he caught some gold, like the solo for “Black Sabbath”, “NIB”, and “Iron Man” as well.  However he’s mainly on my list on influence and the never ending list of greatest riffs ever he cranked out seemingly at will.

39. B.B. King
I’ve always thought B.B. King was a better singer than guitarist but that doesn’t mean I don’t dig the guy's playing.  Always a proponent of playing from the soul, he could be described as a “less-is-more” type of player, and his chops haven't really evolved much in the six decades he’s been around.  However no one, not David Gilmour, not Carlos Santana, can get away with playing a one note solo the way King can.  “The Thrill is Gone” might still go down as some of the most beautiful blues playing ever on record.  I really don’t need to say any more.

38. Eric Johnson
One of the original G3 members Eric Johnson came to fame in the wake of Satriani’s Surfing with the Alien and found himself with a mega-hit of his own when he recorded “Cliffs of Dover”.  Known for his unique tone, relentless perfectionism, and reluctance to use a pick, Johnson was unlike his fellow shredding brethren.  He did possess endless chops to go along with his unique sound and style.  He wasn’t exactly opposed to using a pick, as is evident in “Cliffs”.  Technically brilliant I still don’t know of any players who have ever tried to adopt even fragments of his style.  As you probably noticed though I do award style points, and for having a unique sound, which are two things Johnson has in spades.

37. Nuno Bettencourt
Of the countless Van Halen clones to come in the wake of the debut VH album, perhaps none were as shameless or good as Extreme.  Nuno Bettencourt took Eddie’s style to a next level, blending all of his tricks with an advanced set of chops and enough classical licks to make Randy Rhoads jealous.  The difference between Nuno and countless other guitarists of his era is that he had his own style.  He did what Eddie did, but he played it like Nuno.  Crazy squeals, dives, ear piercing treble, and lightning speed, he was a man who was just a few years late.  Extreme was to suffer the same fate as countless other bands of his era when grunge destroyed his style of playing, but even on the abysmal Waiting for the Punchline album, Nuno delivers the only bright spot with “Midnight Express”.  At least he landed on his feat, being the overly qualified guitarist for Rihanna's band.

36. John McLaughlin
An occasionally sloppy fusion player with Miles Davis, John McLaughlin came into his own with the Mahavishnu Orchestra.  The bands debut album Inner Mounting Flame is still a legend in jazz and fusion.  McLaughlin proudly rocked his two headed guitar, even before Jimmy Page made it fashionable.  His runs set the groundwork for players like Al DiMeola, and his never ending experimentation with new and different musical techniques kept fans guessing for years. 

35. Paul Waggoner
Paul Waggoner is a special kind of amazing.  An insanely gifted technical musician who somehow manages to not draw attention to himself.  Between the Buried and Me’s riffs include crazy lead harmonies, and bounce all over the place so often that it’s sometimes easy to forget just what’s going on.  The more times you listen to their songs the more you start to notice that Waggoner might have the chops of Petrucci with the compositional skills of Muhammad Suicmez.  I sometimes believe this band could play anything, and Waggoner seems like he can effortlessly run through the most complicated prog-rock of the last 25 years. 

34. Joe Pass
All you need to do is pick up the album Virtuoso.  Joe Pass made what is considered to be the first unaccompanied solo guitar album.  Just him without any back up playing through a string of jazz tunes and blowing everyone away.  Without a traditional rhythm section you can distinctively hear just how incredible Pass was.  Quite possibly the greatest of the “classical jazz guitarists”.  The man was truly without peer in a musical style known for freakish musicians.

33. Chuck Schuldiner
The man largely credited with inventing death metal, Chuck Schuldiner was fronting Death while still a teenager.  Over the years the band got far more complex, and Schuldiner’s style became more technically proficient.  Considering he was largely inventing a new style of music, I’d wager there might not have been a more influential guitarist in death metal, and the man truly was a legend.  His playing on the band’s final album Sound of Perseverance gave a brief glimpse into what the legend could have been.  Although his playing was never better, he is another in the too long list of gone-too-soon guitarists.  His legacy and style will live on forever though.

32. Michael Angelo Batio
As the 80s ushered in the arms race of shredders where everyone wanted to be faster and better than the guy before them, Michael Angelo Batio took things to their logical conclusion.  A player so fast it was nearly incomprehensible video game gibberish.  Suddenly it was impossible to play faster than this guy, he won.  Unfortunately I feel too many people have bashed Angelo because of the same things he’s praised for.  Is it his fault he’s so fast?  He has never really found a great outlet for his freakish gifts, and his band Nitro was quite possibly the most laughably ridiculous hair metal band ever, and that’s saying something.  He was capable of writing some decent tunes as evident by the song “2X Again” on his No Boundaries album, but he’ll mainly go down as being the sickest, fastest shredder of them all.  Oh and did I mention he’s ambidextrous?  Yeah so he’s not only better than you, he’s better at you with both hands.

31. David Gilmour 
I couldn’t get farther removed from my last entry as possible can I?  David Gilmour was a guitarist who recognized his own limitations, and freely admitted to using every pedal and trick up his sleeve to add to his playing.  As a result he created his own unique sound that didn’t really emerge until Pink Floyd’s 1971 album Meddle.  Since then Gilmour has routinely been mentioned as one of guitar’s best players, even by super shredders who recognize the man had a god given gift for soloing, even if he didn’t have the chops of half the players on this list.  All you really need is to listen to “Comfortably Numb” which I have about 20,000 times and yeah it’s not always how many notes you play, but how you play them.

30. Buckethead
Ok back to freakishly ridiculous guitarists.  The man briefly tapped to play with Guns ‘n’ Roses has been around since the early 90s and releasing albums almost non-stop since.  Over the years Buckethead has probably played every style of music known to man with the attention span of a three year old, but with the chops of Paul Gilbert (a one time teacher).  His eccentricities aside, the man is the unquestioned master of the 3 and four finger tapping, and can also trem pick about as fast as anyone.  When he’s put in some sort of structured environment, such as the solos on Chinese Democracy, he’s mind blowing good. 

29. Joe Satriani
In the post-Eddie era Joe Satriani is something of godfather figure.  Teaching future legends like Steve Vai and Kirk Hammett, Satch found himself the king of the guitar instrumental genre when Surfing with the Alien became a multi-platinum success.  The man is probably the best in the world at hammer on runs and can seamlessly play entire solos one handed.  His squeals and dives are on par with EVH and Dime himself.  He was also very adept at having a tone that perfectly suited his style, and his lead tone is among the very best. 

28. Zakk Wylde
I’ll give Ozzy (or probably Sharon) Osborne some credit.  Never once did he decide to find a clone of a former great guitarist.  When Ozzy found Randy he specifically rejected countless players aping Tony Iommi, and the same can be said for Jake E. Lee and eventually Zakk.  Zakk joined Ozzy’s band at the age of 19 and quickly proved he was his own player.  A fan of layering guitar tracks, harmonizing pinch harmonics, and destroying the pentatonic scale like it slept with his girlfriend, the man was on a mission.  You might say he has a limited vocabulary in what he plays, but what he can do, he’s probably better at than anyone.

27. Rusty Cooley
And the award for “fuck this guy” guitarist of the year goes to . . . Ok Rusty Cooley is another newish discovery for me.  The lead axeman for Outworld, a band you’ve probably never heard of, he first caught my eye in a compilation of Betcha’ Can’t Play This, the continuing series of guitarists showing how much better they are than you.  While watching a string of these cut together, Rusty Cooley’s made my jaw drop and my brain explode.  It was the fastest, most incredible thing I heard.  I did some quick research to find out who the hell this guy was, and discovered I might have been the last person to figure out who the hell he was.  A proud proponent of using all four fingers on the fretboard, and playing mind-bendingly fast, he can rip it up like nobody’s business.  Sweep picking for days and an encyclopedic knowledge of every scale structure known to man.  This might be the most technically proficient guitarist alive.

26. Mike Amott
Awhile back I borrowed some metal albums from my brother.  Some of them weren’t labeled because long story.  After hearing some slightly generic thrash, a solo busted out and within about three seconds I said “Oh that’s Mike Amott, this must be Carcass”.  Few if any guitarists in extreme metal are as instantly recognizable as Amott, who went on to showcase his talents far more effectively in Arch Enemy.  Rarely does he play without his trusty wah pedal, the man simply put has the best vibrato in metal.  He has a style uniquely his own, and although he can play as fast as any other metal shredder, he somehow does it in a distinctive way, making it all the much more impressive.  Maybe it’s the fact that he’s Swedish, but this is what I imagine Yngiwe would be like if he were in a metal band.

25. Marty Friedman 
One half of Cacophony and the best known co-shredder from Megadeth, Marty Friedman has been a guitar playing legend since he was a teenager.  He apparently never learned any music theory and the result is a free form level of shredding that allowed him a unique sound to compliment whatever band he was playing with.  His solo from “Tornado of Souls” is one of those shredding staples, and anyone who can keep up with and harmonize with Jason Becker was clearly no slouch.  His solo work has ranged from good to forgettable, but his playing has always been top notch.

24. Alex Skolnick
Arguably my favorite of all thrash metal guitarists.  Alex Skolnick made a name for himself with Testament in the late 80s.  He left the band in the 90s to pursue his own fusion jazz hybrid, occasionally popping up on various side projects and dropping the occasional solo.  His work in Testament made them the shredder’s band.  Like Mike Amott, Skolnick is one of those players who I could listen to shred for days and can pick his style out of a lineup any day.  All too often his name gets left out of the conversation when it comes to the best of the classic 80s thrash players.  If this guy got only half the praise Kirk Hammett got the world would be a better place.

23. Paul Gilbert
A man who needs little introduction, the super nerd with more chops than arguably anybody.  Even the things he claims to be sub-par in like classical and flamenco he’s probably a hell of a lot better at than anyone on this list.  Not only was he capable of playing incredibly fast, but harmonizing with himself in a way few guitarists would ever bother even attempting.  It wasn’t enough to run through arpeggios and scales faster than anyone, he had to do them twice with one in a minor third.  I get the feeling this guy spent half of his adolescent life sitting in his room playing guitar, and other half sleeping and eating.  Not really known for having his own style, he is known for being able to play anything ever thrown at him, so it evens out I suppose. 

22. Muhammad Suicmez
The only name in technical death metal you really need to know.  Muhammad Suicmez is not only a sick shredder but his shredding is actually the easy shit to play.  The riffs and rhythm parts of Necrophagist songs are the truly mind blowing parts.  I’m not sure any of his songs have two consecutive measures with the same time signature.  An incredibly complicated virtuoso, it explains why not only Necrophagist is the best in the business at tech-death, but also why it takes him a damn decade to get an album together. 

21. Eric Clapton
Slowhand himself is undoubtedly a legend in music, and well you won’t hear me say a bad word about him.  The solo for “Crossroads”, which was pulled out of his ass live btw, is damn near the best in classic rock history outside of "Stairway" and "Freebird".  Forever a blues player and an incredibly underrated singer, there’s not much I can say about Clapton that hasn’t been written.  Known for his slower soulful solos, the man could tear it up, and some of his live recordings are simply astonishing.  One of the biggest influences of his or any generation, Jimi Hendrix himself credited Clapton for introducing him to the wah-wah pedal. 

My Top 100 Guitarists: 60-41

60. Angus Young
Angus was neither innovative or original.  What he did was what countless other rock guitarist had been doing for over a decade, but the difference was, he fucking owned it.  A madman on stage, with his trademark school boy uniform (and occasional bare ass), he played like a bat out of hell and ripped some of the tastiest classic rock solos of all time.  Straight out of the Jimmy Page, Ace Frehley school or basic blues based pentatonics, Angus wore his influences on his sleeve and made no apologies.  One of the hardest rocking little men in all of music history, innovation be damned, it’s hard not to love what this guy did.
 

59. Frank Zappa
Zappa’s lead style might have been “step on the wah pedal and try and play some combination of notes no one has ever heard before really fast” but there was a bit of genius to it.  His greatest gift was clearly in his composing, and his constant “stunt guitar” parts reserved for more freakishly gifted players.  Trying to figure out what the hell he was doing on “riffs” like “Zombie Woof” or “Peaches en Regalia” is enough to make your brain explode.  His lead playing can get tedious, and sometimes I thought Zappa might be in on the joke, as evidenced by a song title like “The Torture Never Stops”, but when it comes to one-of-a-kind players, Zappa certainly comes to mind.
 

58. Dave Navarro
When hair metal was on it’s last legs and the new wave of alternative music took it’s place a few people seemed to be under the impression that none of these guys could play.  That this new generation abandoned chops to play noisy grunge.  Dave Navarro proved that not only were there some sick players in this new generation, but some of them might even be better than the countless spandex wearing clowns with hair spray.  Navarro remains my favorite of the many guitarists to pass through the Red Hot Chili Peppers and it’s a damn shame his perfectionism didn’t sit well with the rest of the band because One Hot Minute was an amazing album, and the band never had better lead playing. 
 

57. Mark Knopfler
Another guitarist to emerge in the “new wave” era although no one ever confused Dire Straits with The Sex Pistols.  Knopfler was a finger picking freak with a voice like Dylan.  Although the band would go onto become one of the biggest in the world in the mid-80s I still dare anyone to find a better clean solo than “Sultans of Swing”.  One of the best rock guitarists to never use a pick, the man is an unquestioned legend.

56. Alvin Lee
Back in 1994 there was a director’s cut of Woodstock released.  After waiting for what seemed like months for it to make it to the local Blockbuster, it finally arrived and we sat through four hours of hippy nonsense with occasional musical interludes.  Late in the film appeared a sweaty English man name Alvin Lee from a band called Ten Years After.  I never heard of him or the band, but when he launched into the intro to “I’m Going Home” my jaw hit the floor.  He was at least a decade ahead of his time, and was perhaps the first shredder in blues based rock.  Simply faster than anyone of his generation, I always felt he was a little too overlooked, perhaps because Ten Years After wasn’t exactly the best known band of it’s generation.  Lee however could rip it up better than anyone in the 60s.
 

55. Ron Thal
Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal is another in my “who the hell is this guy?” list of recent discoveries.  He replaced Buckethead in the new incarnation of Guns ‘n’ Roses, but his work with his own band is some of the most ridiculous instrumental music ever.  His style is uniquely his, playing with a thimble on his index finger that allows him to do insanely accurate tapping far beyond the limited 24 frets on his guitar.  Jaw-droppingly  fast, I’m not sure any guitarist blends tapping so seamlessly into his playing.  Make no mistake this guy is as big of a shredder as Kevin Nash in Secret of the Ooze.  The man is usually on stage with his trademark double necked guitar which features a fretless axe that he’s no slouch on.  He is also capable of playing ridiculous bluegrass runs and is a better finger-picker than all of us even if his main weapon is a regular pick.  Master of many styles, yeah he’s better than you.

54. Pete Hamm
Badfinger’s resident musical genius is known primarily as a tragic figure, and then a great singer.  A distant third on that list seems to be what a great guitarist he was.  Definitely of the blues based jam school common of his era, Hamm had a killer lead tone, excellent improvisational skills, and was more than adept at playing to the song.  Whether it’s the BBC rendition of “Suitcase” or the opening leads in “Lonely You” the man was a tremendous guitarist.  Point is listen to more Badfinger.

53. Pat O’Brien
Cannibal Corpse might be so chaotic that it’s sometimes easy to miss just what Pat O’Brien is doing.  When you watch the man play un-accompanied there might not be another death metal guitarist better.  Not just about playing fast, or making noise (ala Slayer), O’Brien can scale the fretboard with melodic intensity in the span of about 2 seconds.  He also knows a thing or two about abusing his fretboard, and ripping some ear piercing pinch harmonics, dive bombs, and arpeggios so fast you’ll want to quit playing.  He also got his start playing for the same band as my next entry.

52. Jeff Loomis
I’ll be honest, I’ve never been a fan of Nevermore.  That said you’d have to be deaf not to notice how incredible Jeff Loomis is on the axe.  Perhaps in spite of not being a huge power metal fan, the style does lend itself to Loomis’ own particular brand of melodic shredding.  The fact that the man attempted to cover Jason Becker’s “Perpetual Burn” let alone pulled it off is enough to include him amongst the best shredders period. 
 

51. Herb Ellis
A member of Oscar Peterson’s trio for a time, Herb Ellis was one of the fastest, sickest, jazz guitarists ever.  All but completely forgotten when listing the great jazz musicians his solo albums are a wonderful showcase of his incredible gifts.  The man had runs for days and his southern upbringing helped merge country styles to his blues and bop styles.  Faster than pretty much any guitarist before him, he could play sweet beautiful blues to sooth your soul and without a moments notice scale every fret in the blink of an eye.  The man would have been a legend if he were born two decades later.

50. Ihsahn
The lone guitarist known for black metal on my list, Ihsahn is a man of many styles.  With Emperor Ihsahn became skilled at contrasting and complimentary guitar parts, multi tracking everything and rarely ever even playing the same thing as his rhythm guitarist Samoth.  A ridiculously fast trem picker from the earliest Emperor days, he has since expanded his musical repertoire to include everything from folk to techno.  Along the way picking up some pretty incredible lead chops.  He is one of those musicians I’m pretty sure can probably do anything.

49. Carlos Santana
The unquestioned lord and master of the two note bend.  Few guitarists ever played with as much soul as Santana.  Sure his recent musical adventures are an embarrassment, but can’t blame the man for getting paid.  Hell even as bad as his Supernatural-era recordings have been, his playing has diminished a bit.  Arguably the first great lead guitarist to fuse jazz, latin, and blues styles together, Santana played like no one else.  The man had vibrato for days and could make one note melt your soul like no one else can.  “Europa” is still one of the most incredible instrumental tracks ever recorded.
 

48. John Mayer
I’ll probably catch a little bit of shit for this, but god damn have you heard this man play?  I knew he had some blues chops, if from nothing else his brief stint in a Dave Chapelle skit, but hearing some live recordings really opened my ears and eyes.  The man is probably the best white blues guitarist since Stevie Ray Vaughn.  He even went out with his own trio to play nothing but blues music, and pulled it off in spectacular fashion.  As a result he’s got a chance to hold his own against blues legends like B.B. King and Buddy Guy to name a few.  Perhaps not the most original player, but what he does, he does damn well.

47. Prince
Another on the list of guys who can do anything musically, Prince is a guitarist whose so good he got bored with his greatness and didn’t bother picking up his axe for damn near a decade.  Just as sick of a player as always, his reworking of "Let’s Go Crazy" turns his pop jam into a stoner song complete with an extended jam session.  When he wants to though few people can rip up the frets quite like him, and when inspired the man is a sight to behold.  Every so often you’ll get a performance like his on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to remind everyone, if he wanted, he could play better than you.
 

46. Bruce Kullick
Kiss’s fourth lead guitarist was in my opinion the perfect blend of his predecessors.  Able to play Frehley licks without copying him, capable of turning up the speed ala Mark St. John, and occasionally venturing into new and exotic musical territory like Vinnie Vincent, Kullick was probably Kiss’s best guitarist.  He contributed a slew of iconic solos and was responsible for writing most of Carnival of Souls, the last great Kiss album.  On “No, No, No” he was as 80s as they got, but he could certainly roll with the times as evident by his awesome solo in “Domino” from the Revenge album.

45. Dweezil Zappa
If we’re talking innovation and influence, Dweezil could never hold a candle to his old man, if we’re talking pure talent, then there’s no contest.  Dweezil seems to have inherited all of his father’s musical abilities and then some.  He can probably play anything, and has recently taken to adapting his dad’s music heading the Zappa Plays Zappa band.  Dweezil spent many a year forging his own style, and doing his own thing.  Proving in the process that he was as freakishly gifted at guitar as anyone.

44. Duane Allman
If I were to make a list of the most overrated guitarists of all time, Duane Allman would probably pop up there.  Granted being in the top 50 for me is saying something.  When it comes to slide guitar there probably was no one better.  The Allman Brothers have had some great players come and go over the years, but no one ever had quite the impact as the man who was the band’s namesake.  He could certainly hold his own against Clapton on the Derek and the Dominoes album, but perhaps his most memorable work could be found on the legendary Fillmore recordings. 
 

43. Erik Mongrain
I have no idea how I found this guy, but whoever first sent me a link to his televised performance of “Air Tap” I retroactively thank you.  This guy simply finds a unique open tuning and proceeds to slap, poke, and tap his guitar until it makes sweet beautiful music.  I have no idea how he does what he does and his concept of harmonies, and tap harmonics are unmatched anywhere in music.  A one-man band who uses his own percussive tapping to create layers of sound without the use of any over dubs.  Definitely in the harder than it looks category, Mongrain is as unique as any player to emerge in the 21st century.

42. Rodrigo Sanchez
The male half of Rodrigo y Gabriella, Rodrigo Sanchez is a god damn beast.  Part metal, part flamenco, part latin, and fast as holy hell.  His partner certainly deserves some credit here, but considering this is a list of my favorite lead guitarists, I had to omit her half.  They also represent perhaps the only band that every single person on earth likes.  Seriously I have never met a single person who has heard this band and disliked them.  It’s impossible not to, and those sweet, sexy Rodrigo solos can turn any song into a RyG jam. 

41. Tosin Abasi
You might not know the name, but the man behind Animals as Leaders needs no introduction.  Taking parts of fusion, death metal, and prog, Abasi has created some of the most memorable instrumental music in decades.  At the heart is his technical wizardry, whether ripping through a 7 or 8 string guitar.  No matter the time signature, or style he can play it.  The man’s leads flow in and out of the song that it never feels like “now it’s time for the solo”.  He just jumps in, jumps out, and drops a few measures of the sickest runs you ever heard while played over some incomprehensible time signature.  Of the new wave of technical freaks this guy is the total package.