Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[dinosrawr]

so! i need some albums where you listen to it and just say, "damn that guitarist is awesome"

you know, really soulful guitars and awesome solos and stuff.

thanks!

[nickb285]

Pick up Evil Empire or Battle of Los Angeles by Rage Against the Machine. Tom Morello is a god.

[JLM]

Eivind Aarset's Electronique Noire and Light Extracts are both excellent jazzy, downtempo albums that showcase Aarset's amazing skill as a guitarist.

[joshuasaurus]

he may not be technically genius, but i'm always amazed at how i+w's sam beam can finesse a guitar.

[Praeserpium Machinarum]

Gipsy Kings, maybe, I don't think I know much "you know, really soulful guitars and awesome solos and stuff."

[Kai]

Pick up Evil Empire or Battle of Los Angeles by Rage Against the Machine. Tom Morello is a god.

NO.



Joe Satriani -Surfing with the Alien, Flying in a Blue Dream
Steve Vai (If you happen to enjoy Guitar wankery to the utmost extreme) - For the Love of God, and Check him out on Frank Zappa's Shut Up N' Play Yer GUitar albums.
Praxis - Metamatic
While we're at it, pretty much anything that Buckethead/Praxis/Death Cube K did ever.

[SpacemanSpiff]

Shellac. ... No, wait.

Actually, you might want to try The Mars Volta, especially De-loused In The Comatorium.

[Saturday]

my bloody valentine - loveless.
anything by pixies, joey santiago is brilliant.
sonic youth, specially mid-80s stuff, evol, sister, daydream nation.

[Merkava]

Yeah, Sister/Daydream Nation-era Sonic Youth is legendary.

Check out Built to Spill, for sure. There's Nothing Wrong With Love, Perfect From Now On, and Keep it Like a Secret are top-notch guitar albums. The guitar line in Distopian Dream Girl (from Love) is awesome if you're just looking for a song.

The Pixies had an excellent guitarist as well.

[.Kate.]

most stuff by the pixies and sonic youth as well.  I think that The Strokes have some good stuff too.

[jeph]

Man fuck Tom Morello. Playing your guitar with a cordless drill or whatever is not fucking "innovative". Writing bullshit Led Zeppelin riffs so Chris De La Rocha Cornell Whatever can wail over them is not fucking "innovative". Tom Morello has been writing one song, over and over again, ever since RAtM's first record. He's the Linkin Park of hypocritical protest-rock.

Hum's "Downward is Heavenward" is the best guitar album since MBV's "Loveless". So much going on in every song. I've been listening to it for almost 10 years now and I STILL pick out new parts.

Seconding the I&W recommendation. Sam Beam is a really solid musician.

If metal's your thing, In Flames play some disturbingly flawless guitar.

Roy Buchanan did things with a Telecaster that you would simply not believe. No words can describe.

Ratatat have some phenominally melodic guitar lines on their record.

[Azathoth]

Hum's "Downward is Heavenward" is the best guitar album since MBV's "Loveless". So much going on in every song. I've been listening to it for almost 10 years now and I STILL pick out new parts.

This is one of my faves as well and actually led me to discover MBV and other shoegazers.  The intro is the most jarring and orgasmic of any album I can think of.  Have you heard any of Tim Lash's or Matt Talbot's new stuff?

That said, I also believe My Bloody Valentine's Loveless to be the finest guitar album ever made.  Isn't Anything is not far behind.

Dinosaur Jr have some great guitar parts.

Hammers of Misfortune are a metal band who play some technical, complicated riffs without ever sounding like wankers.  Something tells me these guys are going to be the next Opeth (in terms of being a metal band in the truest sense but still commercially viable to some degree.  Lots of name dropping in their future).

[lofin]

hendrix
kaki king
hella

but you guys really think MBV has awesome guitar?  i mean, i can spend 50$ on a fuzz pedal too.

[Saturday]

hendrix
but you guys really think MBV has awesome guitar?  i mean, i can spend 50$ on a fuzz pedal too.

MBV guitar is not just a fuzz pedal. in fact, i donīt think that they dont use buzz at all. itīs mostly lots of distortion from various pedals and using the whammy bar from the fender jaguar/jazzmaster to slightly detune the guitar while you strum the chords, making a very, very dense sound.
plus they use alternative tunings and stuff. they sound pretty original, if you listen closely
in "sometimes" you can hear about 4 acoustic guitars thru various marshall amps. best sound ever.

[lofin]

yeah i can hear the whammy bar and the acoustic in the song but... so what?  

they have the bass on their amps high and it makes it fuzzy and "dense."  they probably have 3 guitars (2 electric 1 acoustic) on the song plus a bass (studio version), and when live i bet it's two electrics and bass.  having huge bass/fuzz/density doesn't make it one of best guitar albums ever.  

you guys are ripping on RatM for crappy guitar when any 14 year old can play this stuff.  and i love MBV and JAMC a lot, but  it needs to be said that as far as the topic is concerned shoegazer stuff is simple and doesn't really impress anyone when it comes to the guitar parts.  oh man, did he just play a root5 chord?!  damn they're awesome!

their songcrafting is good but their guitar work is mediocre. heh.

[KharBevNor]

The efficacy of a 'guitar song' or 'guitar album' is NOT a simple measure of technical ability. You can't just wham a load of technical solos and whatnot together and make a decent song. This is the mistake quite a few people make. I mean, that stuff can be fun, but scarcely does it have the best emotional impact. You need balance, taste, etc. etc.

Despite which the best guitar albums in history are certainly:

Wuthering Heights - Far From The Madding Crowd
Star One - Space Metal (Limited edition 2CD version)
Ancient Rites - Dim Carcosa
Children of Bodom - Follow the Reaper
Edge of Sanity - Purgatory Afterglow

And songs:

Judas Priest - All Guns Blazing
Arch Enemy - Angelclaw
Cryptic Wintermoon - Supersatan
Venom - Bloodlust
Iron Maiden - Aces High
Arghoslent - Flogging the Cargo (Utterly objectionable bigoted nazi assholes, but insane axe-swinging)
Liquid Tension Experiment - Paradigm Shift
Demons and Wizards - Fiddler on the Green
Nightingale - State of Shock
Dark Tranquillity - The Treason Wall
Orange Goblin - Magic Carpet
Bloodbath - Outnumbering the Day
Candlemass - Mirror, Mirror (definitely some of the finest riffage ever)
Death - Voice of the Soul (Possibly the best instrumental ever. I don't care if it's technically christian metal)
Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water (Seven and a half minute 'Hey Ritchie, go nuts' version from 24 Carat Purple)
Behemoth - In the Gardens of Dispersion

You can't beat metal and hard rock for guitar. Bone hard fact.

[Brokenface]

As much as this seems to be an opinion question, there is in fact one quantifiable Right Answer to the thread.
That answer is Ratatat.

[JLM]

The efficacy of a 'guitar song' or 'guitar album' is NOT a simple measure of technical ability. You can't just wham a load of technical solos and whatnot together and make a decent song. This is the mistake quite a few people make. I mean, that stuff can be fun, but scarcely does it have the best emotional impact. You need balance, taste, etc. etc.

True.  Otherwise there would be a ton of Yngwie Malmsteen songs all over the airwaves.

[lofin]

The efficacy of a 'guitar song' or 'guitar album' is NOT a simple measure of technical ability. You can't just wham a load of technical solos and whatnot together and make a decent song. This is the mistake quite a few people make. I mean, that stuff can be fun, but scarcely does it have the best emotional impact. You need balance, taste, etc. etc.

i didn't really want to get into this but fuck it.

i would really like you to tell me the emotional impact on some of the stuff you listed.  oh never mind, everyone knows that bitches in makeup sounding like getty lee, singing about god damn black knights and dragons at 120bpm really means a lot to everyone.  actually, i'm crying right now.
(i do like deathmetal guitar riffs and solos though, i just think the image thing they do is pretty lame)

all i am saying is that MBV does not make me say "damn that guitarist is awesome" which is the requirement set by the topic starter.

[KharBevNor]

Hoorah for being clueless! Let's dissect why you're wrong:

1) None of those songs are about black knights or dragons, though two are about vampires, and one is about a cyborg satan powered by fear, so fair play.
2) Only two of the songs are death metal since you nigh on certainly can't tell the difference between black metal and death metal, and wouldn't know what MDM was if it was smoking crack out of your navel, i'll give you five. tops.
3) Your view of emotion seems to concentrate on emotion as in emo, ie 'sadness'. Fuck off. Angelclaw and Aces High are some of the most uplifting tracks ever. Across the tracks listed a whole spectrum of emotions is evoked. Furthermore, as we are talking about guitar, I am focusing ENTIRELY on the emtional content of the guitar music, ignoring vocals, keys, bass, violins, etc.
4)Death - Voice of the Soul
5) Finally, I wasn't criticising your choices or anyone elses at all. Don't get defensive, especially when you don't know what you're defending against what, or you're highly liable to get owned.

[SpacemanSpiff]

How could I forget:
Drive Like Jehu.

Sure, their guitar work is probably a bit different (more dischordal and rhythmic and feedback-laden) but it's still extremely good. Also, Slint on Spiderland, in case you're interested in the effective use of harmonics.

[lofin]

i hath been defeated!  i commend thee sir and bow in that general direction!  may your days be full of powerchords, and your shirts always black.

[sp2]

A "guitar album" should ooze sex.  The guitar parts need not be amazingly intricate.  They should just fucking rock.

One vote for The Black Keys.  And I'll second the nomination for Hendrix.

[Kai]

oh never mind, everyone knows that bitches in makeup sounding like getty lee, singing about god damn black knights and dragons at 120bpm really means a lot to everyone.

Also, It's Geddy. Cunt.

[dinosrawr]

Pick up Evil Empire or Battle of Los Angeles by Rage Against the Machine. Tom Morello is a god.

NO.



Joe Satriani -Surfing with the Alien, Flying in a Blue Dream
Steve Vai (If you happen to enjoy Guitar wankery to the utmost extreme) - For the Love of God, and Check him out on Frank Zappa's Shut Up N' Play Yer GUitar albums.
Praxis - Metamatic
While we're at it, pretty much anything that Buckethead/Praxis/Death Cube K did ever.

I do enjoy guitar wankery! i suppose i wasn't too specific, it's hard for me to write down what i mean...i guess guitar parts where you can air guitar and make extreme orgasm faces while bending backwards in half is what i'm looking for

although i think i'm also looknig for the kind of guitar playing where you can make a "mmm this is delicious" face while just standing there smoking a cigg.

[StrikeThePostman]

I second the Built to Spill.  Perfect From Now On is not only my favourite album but also contains probably the best guitar-work in my collection.  "I Would Hurt a Fly" and "Out of Sight" have great stuff.

Ani DiFranco is an amazing player (acoustic mostly), in my opinion, if you're looking for something headstrong (sometimes a little TOO headstrong, but eh).

[Johnny C]

Having been forced to listen to both Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, I submit to you that if you hate music that much, why don't you just kill it?

Anyways, one of the best solos to make the "i'm wanking my guitar" face to is the intro to "When Doves Cry" by Prince.

[dinosrawr]

how do i hate music? maybe i just hate youuu

[sp2]

You both hate rock and roll.

[Inlander]

Don't pre-judge me . . .

. . . But I'd heartily recommend Splendor Solis by the Tea Party.  Sure, it's pretentious as all hell but at that stage (pre-Edges of Twilight) the band hadn't completely disappeared up their own arses, and the guitar work - hell, all the instrumental work - is fucking amazing.

If you're looking for a more pop-oriented sound, try Reading, Writing and Arithmetic by the Sundays.  Jangly guitar pop's never been done better.

EDIT: and because there's no genre stipulation in the topic: also check out Nothing but the Blues by Herb Ellis.  A classic jazz-guitar album.

[Johnny C]

Old-school Tea Party ftw.

SP2: I believe it's called "rock'n'roll" thank you very much.

[sp2]

You hate rock'n'roll.  
You pretentious whiny indie asshole

[dinosrawr]

well thanks guys!

[Merkava]

Having been forced to listen to both Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, I submit to you that if you hate music that much, why don't you just kill it?

That's so fucking awesome. Thumbs up to you, my friend.

Oh, and I love Tom Morello. Fuck you guys.

For some more really nice guitar work, check out Mock Orange. They're a band of really great musicians.

[SeanBateman]

Mock Orange is good, but not great guitar by any means.
Bands that have already been mentioned and should be seconded

Black Keys
Hendrix!
Peter Frampton on Frampton comes alive. He does some INSANE stuff.

Also, Wilco-A Ghost Is Born. It's got some great melodies with insane guitar parts. Even better if you can get a live recording of them with Nels Cline.
Nels Cline

[sjbrot]

Peter Frampton on Frampton comes alive. He does some INSANE stuff.

Really, I think what Frampton does with the guitar is more akin to masturbation. It's fun for him, but no one else should really see it.

[soak]

Robert Smith plays awesome guitar sans wankery of many of the aforementioned artists.

I think he is underapreciated for this because his skills are used to create a song rather than as a method of sonic masturbation.

[jeph]

Lofi: You're being a pretentious dick.

[Merkava]

Mock Orange is good, but not great guitar by any means.

I dissagree. Back in their emocore days, they played through riffs with sheer intensitity, speed, and power. They went everywhere. Now in their more original Indie Rock stage, they really use the guitars in a wierd way, bringing in some interesting riffs (This Nation, Mind is Not Brain). They know how to play their instruments, for sure.

I liked all of Wilco's stuff up till around Yankee. The guitar parts became too monotonous and repetitive for me. But hey, our roads really divert here.

[jokermatt999]

Check out some of Michael Angelo Batio's stuff if you want to see some crazy stuff. Here's a video of him playing.
http://spikedhumor.com/Article.aspx?id=1556

Also, like KharBevNor mentioned, John Petrucci from Dream Theater/Liquid Tension Experiment has some incredible solos. I'd also reccomend "Another Dimension" by LTE.

[KharBevNor]

Having been forced to listen to both Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, I submit to you that if you hate music that much, why don't you just kill it?

Anyways, one of the best solos to make the "i'm wanking my guitar" face to is the intro to "When Doves Cry" by Prince.

I think the 'all intricate guitar playing is wankery, music should be boring' school of thought really falls into a thousand pieces when you take it out of music and start applying it to other things like art:

"OMG, HR Giger! Such a show-off! He's just creating intricate fusions of flesh and machine for the hell of it, a true artist would show constraint and draw some peaceful nature scenes"

"Fuck, but Salvador Dali is just anti-art! All that surrealism and imagery, why doesn't he just paint flowers!"

"Michelangelo is cool, but the cistine chapel was just over the top. He should have stuck to the roofs of public toilets"

"Pointillism? What the fuck is that shit. It's all just artistic masturbation, worse than the pre-raphaelites. I prefer quaint street scenes painted by amateur artists in the most inoffensive pastel tones"

[soak]

Very true so long as the intricacy of the guitar part is part of the song rather than running off in its own direction.

I think the artist metaphor falls down because it only applies to solo artists and doesn't take into account the collaborative nature of most modern music.

[KharBevNor]

Oh agreed.

Of course, though, if you could actually play a guitar like Yngwie J. Malmsteen, you probably wouldn't really give a shit.

Rising Force would be like "Yngwie! Song structure! Riffs!"

And you'd be like "Fuck that, I'm gonna hit every semitone and  harmonic interval on the fretboard in under ten seconds! Just because I can!"

I believe in most cases, with truly gifted guitar players, sheer quality of playing can be enjoyed just for itself. This is why Wuthering Heights are so incredible.

[Johnny C]

I think the 'all intricate guitar playing is wankery, music should be boring' school of thought really falls into a thousand pieces when you take it out of music and start applying it to other things like art.

Well, of course, if that's your school of thought. I never said all intricate guitar playing is wankery; for one example, Randy Rhoads is one of my favourite guitarists, and his stuff was intricate and awe-inspiring (see "Dee," which is even one of the simpler songs he plays on). And I enjoy some less intricate wankery (*cough*"Let's Call It Love"*cough*).

Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, I guess they just don't do it for me. If you enjoy music that sounds like the soundtrack to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video game played by people who cater to one incredibly specific audience, namely needless-guitar-wank enthusiasts, then they'll be for you, and while I'm at it might I recommend Racer X?

I'll leave off with this: a quote I once read said "David Gilmour can say more in three notes than Yngwie can say in a hundred." I think that's pretty true.

[jeph]

Yeah but David Gilmour spent 3 months in a studio piecing together those three notes from 4500 different takes!

No really, that's how he recorded his solos.

[Kai]

Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, I guess they just don't do it for me. If you enjoy music that sounds like the soundtrack to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video game played by people who cater to one incredibly specific audience, namely needless-guitar-wank enthusiasts, then they'll be for you, and while I'm at it might I recommend Racer X?

That is totally the best fucking quote ever.


EDIT: SYD BARRET WAS COOLER. HE WAS LIKE, "FUCK YOU DAVID, IM GOING TO TRIP OUT ON THIS ACID, DRINK HOUSEHOLD CLEANERS, AND THEN WRITE SONGS ABOUT WHATEVER I FIRST SEE WHEN I WAKE UP FROM PASSING OUT. NAMELY, GNOMES AND BIKES

[La Creme]

Racer X for yes.

And to Khar: That Death track is brilliance.

And:

Roy Buchanan did things with a Telecaster that you would simply not believe. No words can describe.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Recommendations (guitarist, band, song, album):

The Most Furious: John Petrucci, Liquid Tension Experiment, Paradigm Shift, s/t.

Classic Rockage-est: Roy Buchanan, Roy Buchanan, The Heat Of The Battle, Guitars On Fire (The Atlantic Sessions)

Most Instressting: John McLaughlin, John McLaughlin, Extrapolation, Extrapolation

The Loveliest (w/ Slide): Mark Orton, Tin Hat Trio, Width Of The World, Helium

Best Rock Solo: Buckethead, Colonel Claypool's Bucket Of Bernie Brains, Buckethead, The Big Eyeball In The Sky

Catchiest GOOD Guitar Line Ever: Ben Eshbach, The Sugarplastic, Will, Will

Whackest Guitaring: Either (Mary Halvorson, Trevor Dunn's Trio Cunvulsant, Liver-Colored Dew, Sister Phantom Owl Fish) <---o--o-{OR}-o--o---> (Preston 'Trey' Spurance III, Mr. Bungle, Platypus, Disco Volante)


Guitar is an amazing instrument. This l'il list doesn't even scratch the surface of the amazing guitar out there.

[Johnny C]

Yeah but David Gilmour spent 3 months in a studio piecing together those three notes from 4500 different takes!

I'm sad to say that I can see it.

Oh, have I mentioned that The Weakerthans can occasionaly bust out the guitar that makes you play along with your fingers whether you like it or not? Because for power-pop, they sure do. Especially if you've seen them live.

Wil is good. So is Haydn. Hayden? Whatever.

Oh, and Dinosaur Jr. I keep thinking of these bands. This list will never end.

[Tartar Martyr]

Dinosaur Jr's first 2 or 3 full lengths are awesome.  Especially "You're Living all over me" when J Mascis used nothing more than a jazzmaster and a few plexis.  The array of sounds he draws from that set up is insane.  Then he started to experiment with more electronics, and his sound got even crazier.

If you're into prog, some awesome guitar can be found on early King Crimson albums.  Robert Fripp is amazing.

[Gryff]

A guy called Snowy White used to perform David Gilmore's solos on stage for him out of the spotlight while DG took all the glory! Still, on record, Gilmore's solos are pretty hot no matter how he recorded them.

Also, I'll back the Black Keys for pure sex, add the 3Ds for obscure New Zealand indie guitar thrills, and mention Neil Young for ragged genius.

Plus My Bloody Valentine FTW!