Where does Alex rate in your top guitar players

[treeduck]

Now we all admire Alex's playing on here, but we all like different other bands and music and have different standards. So this poll is just designed as an unscientific way of measuring those standards...

[Finbar]

The best guitarist ever is Adrian Belew. He is God's gift to music.

[-D-RocK-]

Call me biased, but to me the one and only Lerxt is the best there is, the best there was, and the best there will ever be.

[Mandalorian Hunter]

He's in my top 5. Mind you, all in my top 5 are considered eqaul, so, you could say he's first.

 

Although, he doesn't have a patch on Matthew Bellamy

[priest_of_syrinx]

He's obviously not the best. The best is Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think he's the most emotional guitar player and is somewhere in the top 7 as far as skill goes. Petrucci plays faster, but Steve Hackett for instance has a lot more cool effects and did a lot more pioneering with the guitar. Jimi Hendrix is comparable in technical talent to Lerxst, but he invented a lot of things that Lifeson does.

[Ancient Ways]

Top 20 for me although "he is a genius at coming up with great guitar parts" is also true.

 

Others in my top 20 include Clapton, Hendrix, Page, Satriani, Van Halen, Hammet, Rhoads, Django, and others....

[defrushfan01]

Id say put alex in a G3 and have him show the world that he is a monster on guitar. He would fit in so well with satch and via because they all have a very melodic way of playing and all have their roots in blues and blues rock. His solos durring the G3 jam would be awsome, because he is such and instinctive player.

[Maddy]

Top five, definitely. In no particular order, Alex, Jimmy Page, Brian May, Jeff Beck and David Gilmour.

[Forestranger]

in my top 10 definitely amongst

 

Jason Becker

Malmsteen

Van Halen

George Bellas

Jake Lee

Kai Hansen

Markj Mote

Dave Murray

Chet Atkins

[Inkanta]

Had to place him in the top 5 with Mike Oldfield, Brian May, Jimmy Page, and Glenn Philips.

[KenJennings]

Lifeson is a great player, and one of the best in terms of some awesome flypicking, I like the fact that his talent is incredibly consistent, though you may not hear a single riff in a song and say "Wow", you can hear his excellence in every note he plays.

 

That being said, he couldn't hold a candle to guys like John Petrucci, Steve Vai, Buckethead, Jason Becker, or Vinnie Moore.

[tangy]

Not a player. I guess he is my favorite of all time.

 

For whats its worth there I inserted a link in the "How to Play like John Petrucci" thread in the Making Modern Music section. Its a 20 minute interview where among other things John discusses his love for Rush and what he learned from studying the music of Alex Lifeson. Its interesting even to a non-musician.

 

I saw the interview at Rushisaband.com, my favorite source for Rush news.

[xredsectorx]

he's in my top 5.

 

and i think it's also safe to say that he's slowing down in his later years of playing. i'm not saying that he's bad now or anything, but if you watch Replay x 3 and then watch Rush In Rio or R30, there is a noticable difference in the amout of, shall we say, "flashieness" he puts into his playing.

[PuppetKing2112]

Alex is definitely among my all-time favorites...my favorites are Lerxst, Gilmour, Towhsend, Johnny Marr, and The Edge. Is he THE BEST? I'm sure Satriani, Malmsteen, Petrucci, et. al. are way better than him technically, but since I don't play guitar and don't judge music solely on technical skill, I could really care less about any of that.

[ReRushed]

QUOTE (Finbar @ Nov 24 2006, 02:37 PM)

The best guitarist ever is Adrian Belew. He is God's gift to music.

I'm amazed at how unnoticed Adrian Belew is as a guitarist. He really is amazing. Though, Mr. Fripp is also quite good.

 

As for Alex, he's my favorite. Why? I really have no idea. I know a lot of other guitarists are technically better but I never cared much about that. There seems to be no arrogance in Alex's playing. He does what's best for the song.

[Earthshine]

He is in my top 5.

[biggoodie]

Alex is a truly unique guitarist in the sense that he does not think about the guitar being the centerpiece of everything Rush does. Every song is truly a "band" effort. Alex thinks more in terms of "colors" and "textures". He's like a master painter at a canvas.

 

The absolute best thing that can be said about Alex is that when he is playing on a song, you automatically know it's him. He has a sound and a style that not only defines Rush, but anything he does. In fact, "Promise" from his Victor project could easily have been a Rush song. This is very refreshing in an era where most new rock songs sound exactly the same and even Eddie Van Halen is incredibly over-imitated!

[mortkort]

Alex is the best guitarist ever, followed by John Petrucci

[lerxt1990]

QUOTE (-D-RocK- @ Nov 24 2006, 03:00 PM)

Call me biased, but to me the one and only Lerxt is the best there is, the best there was, and the best there will ever be.

I am Lerxt - Alex is Lerxst. Ba ha ha haaaaaa!!!!!!!!!

[Sticklah]

Alex may not be the best guitar player but is still a really

good song writer.

 

[Alsgalpal]

Alex is top notch in my book, with my good friend Foxx coming into a close second...

 

 

Edited to add that I wouldn't mind one bit if he did another solo album. Victor was absolutely awesome, and if he did more work like Strip and Go Naked, I would be free of any complaints...

[Stormtron]

Alex is in my top 4 after Buckethead, Bumblefoot, and Eddie Hazel.

[Rush!]

Alex is one of my top 3 favorite guitarists. The other 2 are David Gilmour & Frank Zappa. There are probably better guitarists out there in terms of technical skill and playing, but Alex just packs so much emotion into his playing and always seems to enjoy himself when he plays. His rhythm playing is nice as well, his solos are great.

[apetersvt]

I put him in my top 6 with Hendrix, Clapton, D. Allman, Page, and Garcia.

[treeduck]

Interesting opinions but not totally surprising...