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.
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