BEST BAND EVER: Results!

Voted for Marty Friedman, Eddie Van Halen, Slash (Brian May is probably a better musician, but Slash is superior at pure guitar playing) and Chuck Schuldiner.
 
Only tough matchup was the first one. Went with Marty Friedman because he has more work that resonates with me.

Tough break for Mark Knopfler. I voted for him but he probably doesn't stand a chance against Eddie Van Halen.
 
Although I haven't got all 32 in my mind, it feels as if the Knopfler vs Van Halen battle might be a little too early. Two giants that both could have come further.

Some nice work from Knopfler and Buckethead, particular players with feel for good melodies:
 
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The problem with the first pairing is that both have written a ton of stuff & my guess is that very few people have listened to that much of it. I know I'll be accused of focusing on that pairing as Buckethead is there; but have that many people listened to more than a couple of Friedman's solo albums?
 
I only heard Marty in Megadeth. And I did actually listen to a few Buckethead albums.

Btw. matches in this round were drawn like this: #1 vs #32, #2 vs #31, #3 vs #30, and the rankings were determined based on the average votes in the game so far.
 
I've listened to a fair amount of Friedman's solo stuff (apart from some of his recent releases) and they're pretty good. Anyone who likes someone like Satriani (instrumental guitar music) would probably quite like his solo stuff. Although if you like his Megadeth playing try listening to his first album Dragon's Kiss; basically Megadeth without Mustaine singing. Not sure how to word this: like Satch, Friedman does emotion but it's tinged with this cringeworthy, for lack of a better word, cheese. It's just so fucking smootchy sometimes; and this robs it of true emotional impact, for me anyway. Buckethead, while doing stadium-rock-soloing-cheese fairly well, has a deep undercurrent (in much of his work) of heartwrenching pathos; an emotional depth that I genuinely don't hear in quite a lot of other instrumental guitar music e.g. Friedman, Vai, Satch, Malmsteen, Gilbert, Lane, etc etc. Deeply resonates with me anyway. And I know it's hard to imagine for those of you who've just seen videos of Buckethead playing Jordan & shredding etc; but seriously, Buckethead has written some beautiful, haunting music that deserves a wider audience. There's also a rawness & unpolished feel to much of his music which I find refreshing (sometimes) in comparison to most production-heavy Metal/Rock music.

Still, if it's ToS-solo vs. the-guy-who-wears-a-bucket, then there's only one winner really.
 
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Saw some pretty obscure nominations, just assumed someone had mentioned him & I missed it...

Buck stops with you though. Your fault he's not here!
 
I'm more familiar with Buckethead's solo material than I'm with Friedman's. Still went with Friedman though. His work in Megadeth is excellent and I appreciate a guitarist who's able to shine that brightly even when the spotlight isn't on him.
 
Band-wise, I definitely want Buckethead in mine. Not only is he a genius, but he seems open to just about anything. So long as he can keep the mask and bucket, he's cool.

Marty's great, but Dave is better.
 
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