Best Guitar Albums?

[Dave2112]

Ok shredders...what complete albums really get you off? What pieces are simply the best guitar work ever?

My faves:

"Edge of Thorns" - Savatage The late Criss Oliva's best work, the whole album rocks. The tone is perfect, the solos shred without getting overbearing and even the rhythm work is sublime.

"Caress of Steel" - Rush Probably the most innovative guitar work of Alex Lifeson's early career. The layering on "The Necromancer" is simply unbelievable.

"Surfing with the Alien" - Joe Satriani Lots of guys did instrumental albums earlier, but Satch did it best. rather than just endless soloing, his stuff is formatted as a song just like anything else...verses, bridge, chorus. The ballad "Always With Me" is the most soaring guitar work I've still heard.

"Thunder Seven" - Triumph Rik Emmett at his prolific best. From the shredder "Time Goes By" to the classical solo piece "Midsummer's Daydream" it covers the gamut.

"Keeper of the Seven Keys" (I and II) - Helloween A little-known band that released two concept albums that took a scary edge to guitar playing. Think Def Leppard with a couple of good guitarists.

"Rising Force" - Yngwie Malmsteen Once he got a good singer in Joe Lynn Turner to help with songwriting, Yngwie started composing tighter pieces. The whole album is enough to give you a heart attack if you even try to learn any of the solos.



😎

 

[red indian]

Blimey Dave!!!!...........

....that lot?.....good guitarists??...I think not old chap! they have big hair and look great in the bedroom mirror in their leather trousers i grant you but great guitarists?...er....nope. Have a listen to a brit guy called Martin Taylor, he has a solo album just out, or listen to Joe Pass on an album called "The Trio" with Oscar Peterson, a wonder full blend of down home blues tracks that drip with the essence of the delta and exiting, blindingly fast virtuoso numbers that still manage to sound relaxed. You just know these guys spent plenty of time in the woodshed and far less at the hair dressers!

 

[qjakal]

Opinions....

That's the name of the game, red.

Tom Principato- Smokin'
Stevie Ray-all
Jimi Hendrix-all

Lot of guitar ground to cover...bet we don't see too many repeats for awhile... Q

 

[Haltickling]

Something completely different...

...: Narciso Yepes, "Concierto de Aranjuez" 😎

 

[Ayla ny]

any time they are lucky enough to record BB King touching Lucille.

 

[Limeoutsider]

Matchbox20; "Yourself or someone like you" and "Mad Season" I havent really listened to their 3rd album yet.

 

[TklDuo-Drew]

Freddy King - Either of his instrumental albums from the 60s
B.B. King - Any cd containing his 50s material
Allman Brothers -"Live at Fillmore"
Yardbirds -"Roger the Engineer"
Van Halen -1st or 2nd disc
T-Bone Walker - any "best of"
Earl Hooker -any "best of"


Drew

 

[Dave2112]

Well Red, I guess it just depends on your taste in music. Perhaps I wasn't very clear, but my intention in this thread was to discuss hard-rock guitarists with actual talent (believe it or not, there were many), and not the "hair-band" barre-chord/major scale crowd. It never dawned on me that folks would include jazz guitarists or players from other genres. That's on me for not being more specific.

I would definitly agree that one's taste could make one shy away from Eddie Van Halen and lean toward Al DiMeola. There is superb talent in genres besides metal, that's for sure. One of my favorite things to do is get a decent buzz going, turn out the lights, slap on the headphones and listen to Andres Segovia. Or Pat Metheny if I'm feeling particularly kicky.

Sometimes I lean toward the sound of a guitarist who just "does it" for me, even if he's not virtuoso talent. There are times when a certain type of style is perfect for a certain song, and these guys pull it off. Gary Richrath from REO and Mike Rothery from Marillion are two prime examples. You don't have to pump 3,000 notes per second or incorporate seven modes with shift changes into a song like "Kayleigh" or "Take it on the Run", but it works. David Gilmour of Pink Floyd was an expert at that "Success through Simplicity" school.

On a final note, there's an inimitable sound inherent in some of the better psychadelic/classic rock-era music that you just don't find today. A certain depth of drive, a tone, a level of reverb not used anymore...something like that. Along these lines I'd have to go with Matin Barre of Jethro Tull, Jimmy Page of Zep, Robby Krieger of The Doors and Steve Howe of Yes.

😎

 

[TklDuo-Drew]

Well, since we're talking specifically "rock" guitarists, gotta add:

Ritchie Blackmore
Robin Trower
and my all-time favorite: Rory Gallagher


Drew

 

[Neutron]

Anything..

With Joe SAtriani or Carlos Santana..

Are You Experienced by Hendrix


Tron

 

[red indian]

I knew what you meant dave......

......just jesting with you a little, while at the same time putting in a word for the holy monastic order of jazz guitar players. As a jazz piano player they are my natural enemy btw, they always want to use different chords!

 

[nosforatiop]

I would have to say

Tommy Morrelo from Rage Against the Machines self entitled album.
Adam Jones from Tool, I would have to give the best work to the album Aenima.
Trey Spruance from Mr.Bungle Album: Disco Valante(man plays everything from fluent Jazz, to extreme death metal)
Jimmy Hendrix from the Band of Gypsies album.
Dave Gilmour from Pink Floyd Album: Dark Side of the Moon
The guitarist from the Thrice album Illusion of saftey
Also the guitar player from the Canderia album 300% Density

 

[evilqueen]

For me, it's just about anything by Richard Thompson, whether it's his work in folk, rock, or that weird stuff he does that can't be categorized. There may be better but few so versatile, and his songwriting gives him the edge.

 

[4Pawz]

I have to go with Q in I like just about anything by Jimi Hendrix. Also BB King is good. I enjoy some of Santana's as well.

Pawz

 

[red indian]

Having sad that...........

..........I am suprised that it falls to a Brit to champion the cause of Jazz so often when musical threads come up, you septics dont seem to be very interested in one of your finest contributions to this planets culture.

 

[Ayla ny]

off topic but...

evilqueen!!! so good to see your name on the forum again! hope life's been good to you, and I hope you stick around.

 

[TklDuo-Drew]

Not really into jazz guitarists, but I've picked up a few cds from Grant Green, whom I've heard thru other Blue Note records.

Drew

 

[Jason_F/M]

I have to agree w/ most of Dave's pics. Think I'd put Malmsteen's Rising Force at the top. However may favorite is somewhat obscure:

Megadeth: Rust In Peace

This has some of the best dual guitar work ever. I highly recommend a listen (if you like rock music).

 

[Dave2112]

The Rust in Piece album was great, too. Thanks for reminding me of that one.

I wish I knew more of the jazz players by name, Red. I love jazz and do consider it the USA's one real addition to world culture in and of itself. However, other than the aforementioned Al Dimeola and Pat Metheny and a few others, I don't know the names of the guys I really like. With rock, I know a lot of the members and the histories because I've played rock and progressive for so long. I have to learn a lot of these songs. Jazz, I listen to for the purity of the sound. I grab a random CD, pop it in and go. That, and I only really got into jazz about eight years ago, so a lot of it I'm still discovering.

By the way, I knew you were jokin', ya loof! 😎

 

[evilqueen]

Re: off topic but...

Thank you, Ayla...you are so sweet, and your wishes are so kind. I'm feeling a little like my old self again - in fact I'm feeling older all the time 😉 ...I'll try to post a bit more, and even get back to writing. (Thanks also to BigJim for his nice shout out in another thread. Hi, ya big silly. 😛)

 

[kwildoctr]

In no particular order (more or less)......

Jeff Beck: Guitar Shop, Blow By Blow
Alan Holdsworth: Atavachron
Jim Hall: (Pretty much anything)
Jimi Hendrix: Band of Gypsies
Richard Thompson: (Pretty much anything)
Brian May/Queen: Night at the Opera
Basically, any recording by Steely Dan 🙂

Hardly an all-inclusive list, but the best I could do off the top of my head..........

R

 

[grippedchimp]

Phfft. I'm gonna be clichéd and go for any Jimi Hendrix (namely Are You Experienced?) and Carlos Santana, but I hear them through compilation records of them, usually.

 

[gallodiablo]

I have to say that Kwildoctor and I have similar tastes.

I love the Jeff Beck "fusion trilogy" of the late seventies - Blow by Blow, Wired, and There and Back. I wore out the vinyl on all of them.

Alan Holdsworth has always been an innovator and was doing things in the 70’s that no one else was doing. He led the way for a lot of guys who came later.

I can't leave out my homeboy, Eric Johnson. His tone is incredible and his technique is fluid and uniquely his.

The unbelievably precise Steve Vai is a technical wizard, and he’s always fun to listen to.

Al Di Meola nearly sets fire to his fretboard with his incredible finger speed. Check out “Race with the Devil.”

Another technically precise axe-master is Steve Morse. The Dixie Dregs albums and his solo albums are powerful.

My favorite Steely Dan album, as far as guitar goes, has to be “Royal Scam”. If you haven’t listened to it in a while (or ever), you should give it a try. The guitar is a constant companion to the melody and it changes styles as the songs change. I believe the guitarists on that album are Denny Diaz and Jeff “Skunk” Baxter. I never get tired of it.

David Gilmore’s guitar on “Animals” is great, especially on the song “Dogs”. He never has tried to fill the air with notes, but he can put as much feeling into one sustained note as anybody.

Pat Metheny is my last entry here. Some of you may think he’s boring, I, on the other hand, can listen to him everyday and twice on Sundays.

Gallodiablo

 

[sole seeker]

Dire Straits, Brothers In Arms is great!

I've been told Peter Frampton's album, Frampton Comes Alive has some spectacular lead guitar. (The cuts I've heard over the years are great.)

Alvin Lee is terrific if you like blues. Anything he's done on a guitar is good, but I love the song I'd Love To Change The World! I don't know which album it's on, but the guitar licks are awesome! (A description I use very sparingly.)

 

[GuitarPeteTklr]

Hmmmm....I'll Quickly Weigh In Here...

I like Qwil's picks and Dave2112's picks and amplifications...but then again...having had the rare priviledge of having this discussion with them in "real time" at SBGII, I would have expected nothing less. All great picks for sure. Can I add the "Road Games" album to your Alan Holdsworth notables, Qwil? :-D

I would also like to nominate Tony McAlpine "Freedom To Fly," Paul Gilbert (pretty much any of his works, including the "Mr. Big" years with bassist Billy Sheehan of "Talas" and "David Lee Roth" fame, Ronnie LeTekro of the band TNT "Tell No Tales," David Michael-Phillips of KingKobra "Ready To Strike" fame, John Sykes of "Whitesnake" "Thin Lizzy" and solo album fame (interesting to know that Sykes' solo project and KingKobra BOTH featured Carmine Appice on drums), Dave Menichetti of Y&T Fame, Ozz Fox of Stryper fame (LOVED his bass enhanced tube amplifier tone!), George Lynch of Dokken, Lynch mob, Nuno Bettencourt of "Extreme" fame, Vito Bratta of "White Lion" fame, and solo album namesake fame, and my all-time progressive rock choice, John Petrucci of "Dream Theater" and "Liquid Tension Experiment" fame.

I am also pretty fond of Carlos Rios' work on Gino Vannelli's "Brother To Brother" album (a dedication to Gino's brother and producer Ross Vannelli)

I could go on and on, as Qwil so aptly said, but this is my version of a "quick and short list," assuming that mindset does great guitarists everywhere a shred of justice.