Argument over guitarists

[Minion520]

I recently got into the classic argument with a friend over who is a better guitar player. Petrucci or Mikael. I say Mikael because you have to take into account all that is incorperated into playing the guitar. Mikael is just flat out better at pouring emotion and beauty into all that he plays, he might not wank the shit out of the guitar like Petrucci, but his music is full and rich with substance. Petrucci just seems so empty to me, he lacks emotion and with the recent cd, the ability to curb the use of that cliche metal sound they have been trying to use since Mirror was written. Just my opinion, say what you will.

 

[dorian gray]

you bastard! all i said was i think petrucci is sexy!

seriously, ive found it easier to learn opeth songs than DT songs. to me, on a technical level, that means that JP writes more complex songs than MA. im sure someone will find the opposite to be true. however, my experience with MA has been basic chords and fairly simple solos. that says nothing of the overall song structure though, so we can get into that later....

 

[dorian gray]

uuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhm.....where did you go?

 

[TehLeperAffinity]

Technical = Petrucci
More interesting = Akerfeldt

 

[Mirrored Ghost]

I have the new DT and the guitar leads are one of things that really annoyed me with that album. I'm more into emotional playing myself (Jerry Cantrell being my favorite guitarist) so I know where you are coming from.

However, it is difficult to say who is "better" when you are comparing two completely different styles. The question should be... what do you prefer.

 

[dorian gray]

i dont see how one can objectify "feeling" and emotion". its not possible. it doesnt matter if mike is "emotional" or not. someone else is just going to say he's not.
*however*, you can compare two guitarists based on technical difficulty. when i listened to yngwie all my friends would make fun of me and say (whatever shitty grunge guitarist they were listening to at the time - jerry cantrell not included) was better. my response was, and still is, "yngwie could play that crap if he wanted to, while so-and-so probably couldnt."

 

[Dreadful]

"Train of Thought" is just a relentless metal jam session from Dream Theater, it's a different album from them. Petrucci I think is one of the only real emotional shredders out there (not on that album) because he is all about feel. If a song deserves a faster solo then he'll play a faster one, but he does play alot of slower satch or gilmour influenced leads quite a bit. He's a well balanced player and Akerfeldt is even more well balanced in my opinion. But their styles are kinda different...Akerfeldt is more about the big picture in the music, the whole atmosphere...petrucci is mainly all about the guitar......yeah.

 

[Mirrored Ghost]

*however*, you can compare two guitarists based on technical difficulty. when i listened to yngwie all my friends would make fun of me and say (whatever shitty grunge guitarist they were listening to at the time - jerry cantrell not included) was better. my response was, and still is, "yngwie could play that crap if he wanted to, while so-and-so probably couldnt."

Right, but you realize that goes both ways. Mikael might be able to play with the same speed and accuracy as Petrucci but doesn't because that is not his style and simply not the kind of music he writes.

 

[Mirrored Ghost]

"Train of Thought" is just a relentless metal jam session from Dream Theater, it's a different album from them. Petrucci I think is one of the only real emotional shredders out there (not on that album) because he is all about feel. If a song deserves a faster solo then he'll play a faster one, but he does play alot of slower satch or gilmour influenced leads quite a bit. He's a well balanced player and Akerfeldt is even more well balanced in my opinion. But their styles are kinda different...Akerfeldt is more about the big picture in the music, the whole atmosphere...petrucci is mainly all about the guitar......yeah.

I think you hit the nail on the head with that post.

And your last sentence there... "Akerfeldt is more about the big picture in the music, the whole atmosphere..." (to me) is one of the things that defines "emotional" playing.

 

[Dreadful]

I doubt Mikael can play petrucci's stuff as fast and as accurate as him but like...who cares if he can't? Mikael himself says that he dosen't play fast and dosen't care too. It would suck if Mikael just wanked all these fast leads on the next Opeth album. Well maybe for one track or two that would be cool for an experiment but it really isn't the Opeth feel.

 

[cthulufhtagn]

...it is difficult to say who is "better" when you are comparing two completely different styles. The question should be... what do you prefer.

agreed!

 

[Mirrored Ghost]

I doubt Mikael can play petrucci's stuff as fast and as accurate as him but like...who cares if he can't? Mikael himself says that he dosen't play fast and dosen't care too. It would suck if Mikael just wanked all these fast leads on the next Opeth album. Well maybe for one track or two that would be cool for an experiment but it really isn't the Opeth feel.

Right, who cares. That's why I said "might" and it was just an example.

 

[Dark Hunter]

I used to be a lot into Dream Theater, and bought all their albums. But when I listened to the last one, I just couldn't stand it. It was just like if I realized they were some robots programmed to play metal including the most signature changes EVER. Just like a contest.
I just started realizing that Petrucci tends to become an shredder among the others. No feeling, just play as fast as you can and it's done. Man, we now you can do it, just relax and play some music...
I can't stand those guys, I think music is all about emotion. I'm a sentimental one

 

[Dobbit]

Emotion in music is completely subjective. Arguing who has better feeling or emotion in their playing is completely pointless, because its only an opinion. Some people find that Petrucci plays with a lot of emotion, others say he is just a wanker. I'm guessing most people who say Petrucci is JUST a wanker hasn't listened to much Dream Theater. Listen to "Another Day" or "Learning To Live" and see what I mean. But then again, it is all subjective and thats only what I think.

This thread can't possibly go anywhere.

 

[sands of the seas]

When it comes to technicality, based off of the recordings i've heard of Opeth and Dream Theater, JP is better, but as many (or all) of you have said that's not what counts.
As far as emotion i think they are both close. Sure the last couple of albums haven't been great (imo), but i find a lot of emotion from Images & Words to Scenes From A Memory, particularly in Awake and Falling Into Infinity. But you have to remember that emotion is subjective. Just because you don't feel emotion it doesn't mean others won't. And there are songs from each abnd that i find more emotional than other songs from each band. I feel more emotion when listening to Hell's Kitchen, Scarred, and Home than i do when listening to Hope Leaves, To Bid You Farewell, and White Cluster. On the other hand i feel more emotion when listening to In Mist She Was Standing, A Fair Judgement, and Blackwater Park than i do when listening to The Spirit Carries On, The Silent Man, and Take The Time.

The thing about comparing these two is that they are completely different. They are aiming for completely different styles. As somebody already said, Mikael takes care of music from a whole band perspective whereas with Dream Theater Petrucci wouldn't have that, at least nowhere near as much as Mike.

I think it depends on what mood i'm in and whatever i feel like listening to when it comes to who is better. That's all it rests on for me.

 

[suislidE]

I think Petrucci is obviously a better player.. the influencing decision behind this is that i have the G3 concert where he played and i also have a video of him jamming on a mesa at their booth at the NAMM guitar show. When he jams he sounds really good.. you just have to watch that video. Some of you may have it, i got it off of the DC hub earlier this year. Mikael mostly plays around and incorporates the same material like he stated at some point in time. (he said he constantly recycles material or something like that) So i think petrucci really is a great player, you just have to listen to them jamming i think in order to really hear what they have to offer.

 

[dorian gray]

I doubt Mikael can play petrucci's stuff as fast and as accurate as him but like...who cares if he can't? Mikael himself says that he dosen't play fast and dosen't care too.

thats what i said. however, i do care. since the argument here is who is "better", theres only one way to talk about that and it's technical ability. of course, all this is in good fun but seriously, thats the only way. you can only compare what you can quantify, things such as speed or whatever.
theres no reason JP cant play mikes stuff (because *i* can play it, and i suck) but it's highly doubtful MA could play JP's stuff, based on the paraphrase above from the man himself.

in a different vein: im sick of hearing about style and feel. come on people, they are both playing electric guitars that are channeled through amplifiers and about a million different effects. anyone playing the same instrument can conceivably play with the same "style" and "feel" and "emotion". all they have to do is figure out what the setup is. it's not rocket science. theyre not doing something special with their hands that no one else knows how to do.
with the argument that MA is a better player because of his style, well, then youll also have to say kurt cobain was really good. but he wasnt. he sucked bad.
this thread rules

 

[Dem0n0fTheFall4]

JP is the better player, although i'm not taking away from Mikael's playing (the solo in Serenity Painted Death blows me away everytime I listen).

JP isn't always all about speed he's an amazing melodic player look at the solos from Learning To Live, Spirit Carries On, Lines In The Sand, most of the Liquid Tension Experiement stuff, and many more. He's definitely my favorite guitarist...but Mikael's my favorite musician.

 

[NFU]

Petrucci has more technical ability.

Mikael has more creativity.

Petrucci has more experience.

Mikael is more original.

etc etc etc

 

[Risquit]

I'm predicting that Mikael might step up the guitar playing a notch or two for the next album. A logical progression.