Is John Frusciante the best guitarist of his generation?

Umm no there is nothing special about the way he plays that puts him in the above average guitar player category. The only guitar player of this generation that I think deserves the spot of Best is Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys.

i don't give a **** about the OP. i do, however, give a **** that people put morello above frusc. jesus christ, man. thomas payne's been dead for years but people still read and discuss common sense.

Originally Posted by unjung

Click to expand...

This thread is three years old. The OP is not going to read your response.
So?

I think Joe Bonamassa deserves at least an honorable mention. he has excellent technical skills, but he isn't an emotionless machine.

Originally Posted by unjung

Click to expand...

This thread is three years old. The OP is not going to read your response.

he's still around, posted not too long ago.

And nobody gives a **** any more, we're just talking about modern day guitarists for the sake of discussion. You didn't relize this?

Originally Posted by benecios

Click to expand...

I have been listening to the Chili Peppers for the last few months and I think John Frusciante's guitar playing is incredible.I personally cannot think of anyone who can touch him.
I hasten to add I can't play a note myself and know nothing about what goes into a great guitar riff,solo etc...So is he amazing or do I know nothing?

Sorry, but not even close. You know nothing.

Bernard Butler is, in fact, the best guitarist to emerge in the later '80s/early '90s. But, then, I wouldn't expect Americans to know that.

To my mind, Bernard Butler's finest hour was The Wild Ones; quite Hendrix-inspired and yet still recognisably his own style.

If we're allowed to include nominations for who could compose and play the best combination of complementary guitar parts on record (i.e. you'd need at least a half-dozen guys to replicate it live), then Johnny Marr is as good as anybody I can think of. Great playing and much more imaginative than Frusciante.

I basically learned guitar and bass by copping BloodSugarSexMagik note-for-note. Superb album of a band at their best, but any reasonable guitarist with a year or so's experience should be able to play all Frusciante's parts...nice writing, but nothing to suggest that he's "the best guitarist of his generation".

Originally Posted by Sherlockian

Click to expand...

To my mind, Bernard Butler's finest hour was The Wild Ones; quite Hendrix-inspired and yet still recognisably his own style. If we're allowed to include nominations for who could compose and play the best combination of complementary guitar parts on record (i.e. you'd need at least a half-dozen guys to replicate it live), then Johnny Marr is as good as anybody I can think of. Great playing and much more imaginative than Frusciante.
"The Wild Ones" is something of a mish-mash of Roxy Music's "Oh Yeah" and Pet Shop Boys "Suburbia". Quite the mish-mash, however. And, if we're disallowing the generational thing, then, of course, Marr would be head and shoulders above the rest. The greatest pop guitarist, bar none. He's the reason I own a Rickenbacker 330.

Well if we're going to limit ourselves to a generational analysis of guitarists I would rank the following from best to worst: - Johnny Greenwood & Derek Trucks (completely different styles though) - John Mayer (but I'm not a fan of his work anymore + he's overrated + is very limited to blues music) - John Frusciante Is there anyone else that could be added to the list? This is based on level of formal education and what they can churn out in both the composing process and what they are able to do live. Below is footage of Trucks, Mayer and Frusciante playing for a Rolling Stones cover shoot; Frusciante can't even keep up with the other two.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: No media files are hosted on these forums. By clicking the link below you agree to view content from an external website. We can not be held responsible for the suitability or legality of this material. If the video does not play, wait a minute or try again later. I AGREE

TIP: to embed Youtube clips, put only the encoded part of the Youtube URL, e.g. eBGIQ7ZuuiU between the tags. Generations aside, my current favourite guitarist is Tommy Emmanuel. He has a combination of both a technical understanding of music and is quite creative; something that unfortunately a lot of popular guitarists don't have. Also, he is able to play in a polyphonic style (several melody lines) which is known to be the hardest to play and write in Western music. The Baroque period in music was well known for this (think Bach).
IMPORTANT NOTICE: No media files are hosted on these forums. By clicking the link below you agree to view content from an external website. We can not be held responsible for the suitability or legality of this material. If the video does not play, wait a minute or try again later. I AGREE

TIP: to embed Youtube clips, put only the encoded part of the Youtube URL, e.g. eBGIQ7ZuuiU between the tags.

Jonny Greenwood's pretty good, but I think they've really done such a good job evolving into a collective (on the music side, at least) that it doesn't make sense to consider him a guitarist qua guitarist.

Originally Posted by Albern

Click to expand...

Below is footage of Trucks, Mayer and Frusciante playing for a Rolling Stones cover shoot; Frusciante can't even keep up with the other two.


in his defense, 12 bar blues can ******* suck it.

Originally Posted by Sherlockian

Click to expand...

If we're allowed to include nominations for who could compose and play the best combination of complementary guitar parts on record (i.e. you'd need at least a half-dozen guys to replicate it live), then Johnny Marr is as good as anybody I can think of. Great playing and much more imaginative than Frusciante.

Good call on Johnny Marr. I've thought about the Johnny Greenwood thing here, and while I love Radiohead, I've never considered Johnny Greenwood 'The Best'. It's hard for me to separate him from the band, and what I mean by that is the sum is greater than the parts, much like the Beatles. It's not like he's like the aforementioned Johnny Marr or my choice, The Edge, at least for the bands they were in.

Should Kevin Shields be included? His MBV stuff is still mind-blowing, though not technically skilled.

The guitarist that has most bent my ear of late (for the past few years) is not even a rock guitarist- Dave Rawlings. His skill level and creativity on Gillian Welch's records has me listening over and over.

Originally Posted by grundletaint

Click to expand...

in his defense, 12 bar blues can ******* suck it.

+1

I doubt he is even the best guitarist in the group he is currently "˜occasionally' playing with.