jff

Comparing yourself "strumming the shit" out of your guitar with Hendrix's playing, and concluding that neither are good music is not an opinion. It is delusion.

Do what you want.

I'd say that's a good thing.

I'm sure you're right. The last time RS ran a list that I agreed with/found useful was their "100 Best Albums of the '80s". I found out about a lot of good music from that list. I don't find their lists useful anymore, but maybe teens get something out of them, just as I did at the end of the '80s.

I probably couldn't either, and I have had a Guitar Player subscription for over 5 years. There's something wrong with that picture. Perhaps Rolling Stone, rather than naming people "new guitar gods", should have run a feature on the present state of guitar. That would have allowed them to include folks who are still very active and relevant, but are not young or newly famous. It also would have prevented them from having egg on thier face from padding the list with folks who were proclaimed "new guitar gods" in, like, 1992. If they're going to call Pearl Jam "new", why not include Trey An

That's exactly why I'm ambivalent about their inclusion.

Thanks. No wonder I didn't know. Tool. How seriously can one band take itself?

When Radiohead had a huge MTV hit with Creep, they were seen as peers of bands like James, EMF and the like. People started taking them a little more seriously with the second album, but it wasn't until after that that they were cemented as a band that was more than just another flash in the buzz-bin pan. As far as the list is concerned, I guess I could go either way on these guys.

True. When he made his debut with RHCP he was a competent funk/rock guitarist, but he wasn't considered anything special. In fact, many fans thought his playing was a step down from Hillel Slovac. He's certainly at a higher level of playing these days compared to 15 years ago. That's why he deserves to be on the list of "new" guitar gods even though he's been around for a while. Some people are on the list because they've gotten so good recently, like Frusciante. Some are on the list because finally people know who they are...Nels. Some are on the list out of pure journalistic laziness

Who is Adam Jones?

Wrong. Many on the list have been around a long time, but not high-profile like the Pearl Jam guys. maybe a few, but not most.

That guy from Six Organs of Admittance probably should have been included. I would have dumped the Pearl Jam guys if I were the editor. They've been high-profile WAY too long to be on a list of "new" anything.

Hasn't Bob Dylan been on what he calls an endless tour (or some such name) since the '70s. I'll bet he's done more shows than the Stones or the Dead. Granted, he tends to play smaller shows than either of them did, but the numbers could add up.

Is that the Cowboy Junkies guy? Interesting pick. i don't think I'd call him a guitar god, but he certainly has milked the "less is more" approach pretty successfully. I'd say Mary Timony is worthy of inclusion.

Derek is unquestionably great and has been since he was 12, if not younger. I used to see him sit in with bands a lot in the mid-90s and it was obvious he was going to become a true master of the instrument (which he has). I don't see this list as a game of comparisons. It's more a matter of: "among the guitarists who have come out of the woodwork in recent years, who are the brightest stars". On that basis, it's kind of hard to argue with most of their choices. Usually these lists are ridiculous, but they did a good job on this one.

Luther Dickinson? Is that the guy in the North Mississippi All Stars? Every time I've heard them I've reached a new level of boredom.

My thoughts... Justin Timberlake's handheld camera - pointless but creepy Mary J. Blige's acceptance speeches - despicable The Police - exactly what should have been reasonably expected by all of us Gnarles Barkley - THIS is what all the hype is about? yuck! Fergie - either learn to read, or memorize your three sentences about Booker T. and the MGs. Anyone with the slightest familiarity with them could have ad libbed a short bio and done a better job. The Doors - lifetime achievement award for a band that existed for 6 years? I quit watching after this. Did Mastadon win?

Good way to cause friction right off the bat...bring in some whacko Sting stalkers who will have no idea who Andy and Stewart are.

Nice work adding it up. Yeah, the Stones are way ahead of everyone else. That Brazil show was a million or more, Altamont was 300,000 or so. Thaose two shows alone are more than most successful bands will ever play for. Throw in the decades of stadium tours and there's no contest.

Here are the attendance numbers for the Beatles US tours (not sure how legit this is): http://www.rarebeatles.com/photopg7/photopg7.htm#1964 Edit: Accorsing to that site, they were playing some stadium shows in '64, but it wasn't until '65 that stadiums became the norm.

Oops, thanks for the correction (edit: nevermind, you're incorrect...see my next post). From a BBC article from last year: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4757664.stm "...Earlier this month, more than one million fans saw the Rolling Stones play a free concert in Brazi..". I don't think anyone is going to top the Stones.

Actually, the Beatles played a bunch of stadium shows in the US from '64 to '66, so those are big numbers. Paul is a good contender, though the Stones probably win this contest.

I was skeptical when I read that, but apparently he's done a lot of tours since the early '70s. Add in a shitload of people he played for with the Beatles, and you might be right about Paul coming close to the Stones. Here's a site that lists Paul's tours since '72 (I couldn't find a comparable site for the Stones): http://www.mcbeatle.de/macca/tour/index.html Grateful Dead was my first guess, but they played mostly theater shows up until sometime in the '80s.

The only stadium show I've ever been to was Paul McCartney. It was in the Georgia Dome. Actually, now that I think of it I saw the Stones there, too. We had decent seats for Paul, so it was fine, but we were so far away from the Stones (despite buying the second most expensive seats) that there was a significant time delay between Charlie Watts hitting his snare drum and us hearing it. I figure the Police are going to play the biggest venues possible since they are very unlikely to tour again. Andy Summers will be 65 this year, so he probably isn't going to be interested in the whirlwind

You'd do it if you were them.