I voted Dimebag. Not only is Pantera one of my all-time favorite bands, Dime's sound pretty much single-handedly pushed metal in a heavier, more groove-oriented direction. His style was inimitable and he was a classic rock 'n roll character with limitless stories told about him. A genuinely friendly man who loved his fans, to boot. Jimmy Page is my runner-up. No explanation needed there, really. Rhandy Rhodes would be my second runner-up. He was a huge influence on an entire generation of metal, Dimebag in particular, and like Dime he played both lead and rhythm with a sound so huge it sounded like an army of guitarists. Ozzy's "Tribute" disc is one of my favorite live albums. It's hard to discuss metal guitarists without acknowledging the contributions of Hetfield, Mustaine and Kerry King. EVH is great, but I never cared much for his long, showy solos, honestly; I was more of a DLR fan. Nowadays the era of the shredder is pretty much over, with only Zakk still holding it down. The innovative playing of Meshuggah's Fredrik Thorendal hints at where the style is headed in the future.
kirk hammett. not many ppl like him, they say he uses the wa-wa too much. i like it though, i think thats what defines his style. rhodes, hendrix (if he counts as metal), and hetfield also.
Hammett was ok...especially when held up to inspection with his peer group..not spectacular...not very original...just ok.. i really think this poll should be renamed Favorite Rock Guitarists since so many listed are not really *metal* in its purest sense... Deliniation should be made between great rock guitarist like Clapton, Page, Hendrix et al.. and metal\hard rock\heavy metal guitarists...Randy\Mustaine\Dimebag\Slash and their type... they were all great for different reasons. got me thinking tho....next topics...Favorite metal basssists, Favorite Dual Guitar teams, Guitarists that could have been so much better if they hadnt died, Does Shredding have any real artistic value?...the possibilities are endless..
Well, Steve Harris and Lemmy also deserve a little consideration (Harris for his chops, Lemmy for his attitude) and some people might also mention Billy Sheehan (even though he should be disqualified for playing "Be With You"). But Cliff really does deserve as many accolades as possible. I wish Metallica would release re-mixed versions of Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets so that you could actually hear the bass.
Honestly, I'd put Geezer Butler ahead of those guys, too. If we're discussing Page, we might as well toss John Paul Jones on to this list, too. The main reason I rank Cliff as #1 is because he completed Metallica's sound and his talent for composition was the most crucial factor in Metallica's evolution from the party-chug of "Kill 'Em All" into the more complex and accomplished writing on "Ride the Lightning" and especially "Master of Puppets." He was always the band's heart, IMO.
I'm confused as to why you guys getting your panties all bunched up... the poll says favorite, not best
I picked "other" as Randy Rhoads was my favorite Metal guitar player. I don't really consider Eddie Van Halen Heavy Metal per se. Hard rock or even pop but no Metal. Eddie is, however, easily one of the two the most innovative rock guitar players of all time. THe other was Jimi Hendrix. The difference between the two is that everyone plays like Jimi now (which is why young people don't always understand why he was so great) whereas no one plays like Eddie. Eddie is just too weird. I should point out that Eddie is NOT my favorite guitar player (that would be a list of players including, but not limited to, Eric Johnson, Alex Lifeson and Michael Hedges).
Even though his band's body of work doesn't come close to the band bodies of work of the other guitarist in the poll list, I have to go with Dimebag. The guy just had his own style and he totally owned everything he did. The guy was the master of the sloooooow, thumping head bang riff.
I agree. Jimmy Page by far is my favorite guitarist that is listed on this poll (and 2nd all-time behind only David Gilmour) but I wouldn't classify him as "Heavy Metal" but as "Hard Rock" or "Classic Rock".
Dont get me wrong...Cliff ranks right on up there in the top 5 for me...I totally agree with what you say about his importance to Metallica's best stuff(everything before Justice)..and it even carried on to Justice and the Black Album since it was obvious Newstead was tryin to imitate Cliff's style as best he could.....but Ill bet that if you were able to ask Cliff who he looked up to as a bassist.....he would probably mention both Steve and Geezer prominantly among his influences. Their respective influences on the genre and how they brought the bass out of the far background of the songs can be seen in how he played imo...tho I would imagine that Steve's influence may not have been as dominant as Geezer on him since he was already playing when Maiden became well known on this side of the pond There are many great bass players of other genres that could be considered more influential on bass players in general....but when it comes to metal, there are very few that did what Geezer and Steve did to influence current bassists. but realistically...that discussion could take up a whole nother thread...since Im sure that some could(and would) argue otherwise. lpbman....I dont see where you think anyone is getting bunched up...looks like a normal musical discussion to me.
Turbonegro's Euroboy. Also, whoever played guitar for Anthrax on Sound of White Noise. Or maybe just credit the songwriters, 'cause that's really all I'm rating here. That's all that matters anyway. I don't know anything about guitar.
Sorry about the lack of choices y'all. I had originally intended to include about 30 or 40 different poll choices but the BBS software only allows you 10.
