There's an apocryphal story about a pair of poets arguing:
First poet:I wrote two lines in the last three days. Second poet:Ha! I can write a thousand lines in that time! First poet:And that is how long they will last.
Jeff Beck can say more with one well placed note than Malmsteen can with a hundred. Flashy and/or
fast playing is worthless unless it accomplishes something, e.g. Brian May's orchestrated and
multitracked guitars.
I gotta agree here, but only on the boring issue. Malmsteen is probably one of the best guitarists
out there, but I can't get into most of his stuff. When he works with a good vocalist he can produce
some pretty good "fluff" songs like "Heaven Tonight". The rest of his stuff I just can't get into,
it's not for me.
I'd say Eddie Van Halen is probably the most overrated guitarist ever. He's the prime example of
outstanding technique coupled with a musical quality that is close to zero.
I actually think that Yngwie is an incredible guitarist. Not only is he technically proficient, but
he also creates musical masterpieces deriving inspiration from his classical upbringing. Have you
heard him playing with that orchestra? It's amazing.
Although I agree that Joe Satriani is also a great guitarist, he cannot help but show off and play
stupidly fast trills and arpeggios which have no meaning, whereas Malmsteen incorporates amazingly
fast playing into his neo-classical style. In technical terms, I doubt the guitar can go much
further than he has taken it. And to be fair, Malmsteen is not exactly overrated, as none of my
friends who aren't actually guitarists have heard of him, yet every one has heard of the likes of
EVH.
23 May 2008 18:02
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