Alexi's top 5 Essential Virtuosos cd's

[IcedMadness]

I was gonna try to post some thing to sound smart but it would've sounded like I was trying tooo hard so I said the hell with it. Randy, Dime and Zakk rock. Who really cares if Alexi thinks there are virtuosos while another person doesn't. All that matters is what I think.




And what I think is that you guys are all wrong.

j/k

 

[-Gavin-]

And what I think is that you guys are all wrong.

j/k

Thing is man, you're actually right...

 

[gkelter]

Remember when Wings of a Dream posted the definition of virtuoso? That should've ended this immediately. The only person in that list who displays a technical mastery of guitar in the original list is Steve Vai.

 

[Wings of a dream]

Remember when Wings of a Dream posted the definition of virtuoso? That should've ended this immediately. The only person in that list who displays a technical mastery of guitar in the original list is Steve Vai.

Steve Vai does have his guitar knowledge down, and all around too. I mean, not just speed, but more like theory, harmony, composing, arranging. Even Malmsteen and Satriani can look at Vai pretty weird when he starts to talk about emulating evey single sound you hear around you on the guitar (like the flushing a toilet sound let's say).

 

[BoDoM0311]

Ok, if it really makes you happy...

IMO, Rhoads is, IMO, a very overrated guitarist. IMO. And IMO, people who say he's the best ever are thinking, IMO, more about the fact that he died than his actual guitarplaying, IMO. IMO, in the 80's, IMO there were very many better than him, such as Becker, Gilbert, Malmsteen, Satriani, Vai, etc. IMO.

The phrase is VERY redundant, even if only used it once.

Dude...people have opinions...to call me stupid is just ignorant...all the guitarists you listed are more technically proficiant then Randy, and yes they do write great songs, but to be honest in terms of being influential I don't think any of them have an up on Randy...IMO. The way I view Randy's influence and guitar skills is the same way I view Alexi's in a way. There are way more technically proficient guitarists out there but about 95 percent of them dont write solos that are as appealing as the shit you here in COB and Sinergy. So i'm sorry if this offends you for whatever reason but I find Randy's solos to be more appealing then stuff like Cacophony (I do love Cacophony to death as well). However, I do agree with Vai being one of the best in the 80s as well...did forget about him on my last post. Satriani as great as he is..his songs bore me to death...but hey its only an OPINION...everyone on this board has every right to one

 

[coolsnow7]

Right, that's wonderful...oh right, the thread topic was centered on virtuosos. And if I remember correctly, being a virtuoso has something to do with a TECHNICAL mastery...

 

[I've been Bodomized]

That's basically the whole arguement here, and it's over already. Technical Mastery. Vai. There you go. Please end it haha..
This is getting ridiculous.

 

[RPGio]

You read that article right? Notice how it seemed like everyone GW interviewed, those Spanish kids, Vai, Wylde, Yngwie, and yes Alexi, seemed to circularly endorse each other in every article? I don't think these guys were being entirely honest and from the heart.

 

[gkelter]

Well, most of the people here can vouch that Vai and Wylde have been huge influences on Alexi for quite some time, way before this GW issue was even thought up. Who knows about everyone else. Just about everyone swings from the ball sack of Zakk nowadays, though. Kinda pisses me off. I can't stand the man.

 

[Mammoth]

Ok I must have missed something. Someone please tell me a song where Zakk actually plays a solo without the bendy sig stuff that is becoming of a guitar "god". (not being dickish just never heard one)
People are too fucking serious about stuff like this nowdays damn! But a virtuoso would have to be like a five year old kicking a violins ass up and down during some arcaic symphony not a 45 year old metal guitarist. Just a thought.

<waits for the hammer to fall>

 

[Krigloch the Furious]

dimebag is very meh.

 

[Yngvai X]

But a virtuoso would have to be like a five year old kicking a violins ass up and down during some arcaic symphony not a 45 year old metal guitarist. Just a thought.

<waits for the hammer to fall>

You're confusing "Virtuoso" with "prodigy."

And to whoever said Vai is the only virtuoso on that list, you need your ears checked, cause if Gilbert doesn't have technical mastery of the guitar, then I don't know who does.

 

[Trashdevil]

So what you guy's are saying is that no matter how old you are you can still become a virtuoso... But you must be born a prodigy... In that case I no longer want to be a virtuoso cause almost all of Vai's (this will piss people of but its my opinion) shit is boring... I still can't hear the "soul" or "heart" in Vai's Stuff or most of the Über technical masters... You know their names better than I do... But if Dime's not a Virtuoso then he must be a Prodigy!!!! And just remeber you all Tech fanatics... Its not all about it...

 

[Yngvai X]

So what you guy's are saying is that no matter how old you are you can still become a virtuoso... But you must be born a prodigy... In that case I no longer want to be a virtuoso cause almost all of Vai's (this will piss people of but its my opinion) shit is boring... I still can't hear the "soul" or "heart" in Vai's Stuff or most of the Über technical masters... You know their names better than I do... But if Dime's not a Virtuoso then he must be a Prodigy!!!! And just remeber you all Tech fanatics... Its not all about it...

All a prodigy is is someone who has a high technical skill at an extremely young age. Dime wasn't a prodigy or a virtuoso...he was just a badass metal guitarist.

Some people just aren't into Vai...two players who maybe you should check out are Jason Becker and Victor Smolski. Becker is one of the single most emotive shred guitarists I've ever heard (and since I mentioned it, he was probably the only true prodigy out of all the shrapnel guys...he recorded the two Cacophony albums with Marty Friedman when he was only 17). If you listen to his songs Altitudes or Air...the compositional level he had was simply mind boggling, and he was entirely self taught as far as Im aware.

Victor Smolski has been with the German band Rage for their past 3 albums and he's one of the few shredders I've heard who actually holds back his technique and only uses it when the song calls for it, plus he's got absolutely sick phrasing and hes one of the only guys I've heard who actually uses the whammy pedal and killswitch effects in a totally musical and non-gimmicky way.

on a side note...Stephan Forte once said that to call *anyone* playing metal a virtuoso is almost a always an overstatement...the true virtuosos are all playing classical music...

 

[Trashdevil]

All a prodigy is is someone who has a high technical skill at an extremely young age. Dime wasn't a prodigy or a virtuoso...he was just a badass metal guitarist.

Some people just aren't into Vai...two players who maybe you should check out are Jason Becker and Victor Smolski. Becker is one of the single most emotive shred guitarists I've ever heard (and since I mentioned it, he was probably the only true prodigy out of all the shrapnel guys...he recorded the two Cacophony albums with Marty Friedman when he was only 17). If you listen to his songs Altitudes or Air...the compositional level he had was simply mind boggling, and he was entirely self taught as far as Im aware.

on a side note...Stephan Forte once said that to call *anyone* playing metal a virtuoso is almost a always an overstatement...the true virtuosos are all playing classical music...

I do like Cacophony... they kick ass... I've only heard bits of Becker's Serrana but its great... What album is it on... I've only found is it Rasberry Jams album... Was Marty a prodigy too?
I still feel that Dime was a bit more than just a Badass Guitarist but thats my opinion... Never heard of Smolski... I'll google him...

And on the side note... Wouldn't Virtuosos be playing Jazz as well... I mean isn't that one of the most complicated style's of music... I mean Classical and Metal kind of walk hand in hand in some cases... Malmsteen?

 

[Dying Freedom]

Some guitarists may have the ability to learn faster than others, but Jason's skills were simply just a result of constant practicing. He also started to play guitar at a very young age.

 

[Yngvai X]

And on the side note... Wouldn't Virtuosos be playing Jazz as well... I mean isn't that one of the most complicated style's of music... I mean Classical and Metal kind of walk hand in hand in some cases... Malmsteen?

This is very true about jazz guitarists. My friend is one, and its really just a completely different world than the metal one. Most metal guitarist are content to be able to just play fast and clean up and down one scale at a time and play prewritten solos...jazz musicians almost always are improvising and for them its more about being able to improvise well than about speed...think about it, playing a song around 250 BPM (like many uptempo jazz songs), the measures are flying by and theres a new chord that requires you to use a different scale every measure...and you've gotta make all this shit up off the top of your head. So yea, its much more of a mental workout than playing metal is.