10) Dimebag Darrell - Pantera, Damage Plan
Love him or hate him, there is no denying his place in metal infamy. His stellar work with Pantera and Damage Plan inspired an entire generation of metal players.
9) Marty Friedman - Cacophony, Megadeth, Solo
Already know for his stunning playing while in Cacophony, Marty elevated Megadeth to a new level of technical excellence when he joined in 1990. Exotic scales and blinding speed are hallmarks of his style.
8) Muhammed Suiçmez - Necrophagist
Muhammed has a very unique talent as a guitarist - he can give you an inferiority complex about your own musical abilities.
7) Andy LaRocque - King Diamond, Death
Insane neo-classical shredding and dive bombing madness at it's best.
6) James Murphy - Death, Testament, Obituary, Cancer
Extreme metal's resident journeyman. Repeat after me: James Murphy is a bad, bad man.
5) Alex Skolnick - Testament, Trans Siberian Orchestra, Alex Skolnick Trio
The wunderkind of metal. From his jaw dropping early work with Testament to his forays into jazz, Alex is never anything less than phenomenal.
4) Trey Azagthoth - Morbid Angel
The mastermind behind Morbid Angel, Trey brings complexity and experimentation to the table. His infusion of atonal soloing and industrial influences among other things have expanded the horizons of death metal.
3) Chuck Schuldiner - Death, Control Denied
The Godfather of Death Metal. Largely self taught, Chuck was a pioneer in the efforts of technical metal. Never before has someone done so much with the harmonic minor scale.
2) Randy Rhoads - Ozzy Osbourne, Quiet Riot
While more technically adept players have come in his wake, Randy brought classically influenced metal to the forefront. His playing spawned droves of Bach inspired shredders. Special note: Randy gets points deducted for having one of the worst recorded guitar tones.
1) Tony Iommi - Black Sabbath
Does this really even need an explanation? Every badass heavy riff you can think of, Tony thought of it first. All metal flows from his mangled fingertips.
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just an off comment: During our Halloween party my youngest (17) came out in his costume. He looked like Dimebag. At first he had no clue who I was talking about. To be fair, he did have some Pantera on his mp3 player, but never knew the names of the musicians.
ReplyDeleteIt was fun educating him and the other teenagers at the party. Hopefully that will introduce more people to his work.
I love seeing the younger generations learn about older music. It gives me hope that we won't be overrun by American Idol wannabes.
ReplyDelete