Loudwire: Vote Adrian Smith for Greatest Guitarist

I'd doubt it.
Dave Lombardo from Slayer will probably win.
But Nicko deserves it.
 
Meh, I like Clive but looking at that matchup I'd vote for Mikkey Dee tbh.

Also, Lars is in it... therefore it's a farce to begin with.
 
Maturin said:
Sorry, but Randy Rhoads was better than Smith by far, there's no question about that.
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I think you'll find most guitarists judge him (RR) by the quality of his guitar playing. This isn't an "artist" or "musician" vote, it's a guitarist vote. That said, Adrian is widely overlooked as a guitarist. But greatest? I don't think so.
 
I (a guitarist, judging him by his guitar playing) think Randy had the potential to be one of the greats, unfortunately his death destroyed that chance and we're left with the few records he actually played on. He was great yea, but there are better players just from his era alone.

The problem I have with these sorts of lists is they try to make the winner out to be the objective greatest whatever. Adrian is one of my favorite guitarists, even though there are plenty of people out there who are technically better. Take Steve Vai for example, if they put him up against H and I actually bothered to vote, I'd go for Adrian without a second thought.
 
Without your fan boy glasses on, how many Maidenfans truly consider Adrian among the all-time hard rock/metal greats? I'd have trouble not putting him in my top five.
 
I like him for his phrasing and tone. His solos almost act like songs in themselves, Ace Frehley is kinda like that too. But the thing that puts him above most other players from his circle is the fact that 30 years later, he is still evolving. Lots of hard rock/metal players, even some of Adrian's bandmates, have pretty much the same style and sound as in the 80's. Seemingly every time an album comes out with Adrian on it, he's doing something new. Loads of respect for that.

Edit: And to prove that this isn't some fanboy comment, even on Primal Rock Rebellion, an album I didn't like, there was new ground for H.
 
Personally, I do have him in my top 5 guitarists and not just because of the 'fan' factor. I really love his guitar playing. It speaks to me in volumes I really can't describe. Sometimes, I do have trouble trying to explain why I like things the way I do and this is because it's more of a feeling I get that I can't put into words and that's what Adrian's guitar playing does for me. Same goes for any other guitarists I admire. I can't say things about liking tone or phrasing or style or any of those other guitar techy type things. I love guitars but I don't play nor am I tech savvy with them. I just know what I like in terms of sound. What makes a great guitarist for me is someone who can make me feel something when I hear them play a solo or a riff or anything else in between. When they have such an impact on me that I just want to listen to them play over and over again and never get tired of it. I can easily get lost in their playing and it takes me somewhere else when I need to get away for a bit. It's all just feeling for me. Not anything technical.

But going back to the original point: Would Adrian be considered one of the all-time greats? Maybe he is to some people and maybe not to others. I honestly think it's just all a matter of opinion. One persons 'great' might be on another persons 'shit list'.
 
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mckindog said:
Without your fan boy glasses on, how many Maidenfans truly consider Adrian among the all-time hard rock/metal greats? I'd have trouble not putting him in my top five.
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I find his playing very intriguing, especially amongst Maiden, due to the way he constructs his solo's. I enjoy his playing a lot and find it's rarely overdone, no throwing in notes just because he can etc... but I do agree there are far better guitarists out there in terms of raw ability. It may well be that H can match some of them and simply hasn't had cause or chance to, but I would for instance call Paul Gilbert or Steve Vai a better guitarist in terms of capability. As usual, there is more to it than raw talent though when it comes to "All time greats" and similar categories, Ron Thal has done some pretty intense stuff but is hardly going to be mentioned due to his lack of prominence etc.

The lists always end up populated by guitarists who rose to fame 40 years ago and/or died, Hendrix, Claption, Page etc. Which whilst I would agree they were great guitar players.. certainly wouldn't top my list.
 
Crimson Idol said:
I do agree there are far better guitarists out there in terms of raw ability. It may well be that H can match some of them and simply hasn't had cause or chance to, but I would for instance call Paul Gilbert or Steve Vai a better guitarist in terms of capability.
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Maybe I'm just confused by your terminology, but I would argue the opposite. I think H has more raw talent than those you mentioned, and that's why he's so fantastic. He's a lead guitarist with the heart and soul of a songwriter and he constructs his solos from that mindset.

There are absolutely more learned guitarists out there that could play circles around H...Vai, Petrucci, Gilbert, Satriani (though I would argue he's got more soul than the others). What makes H so great is his ability to use melody, structure, and composition to evoke a feeling, rather than illicit the awe of technical wizardry.
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
There are absolutely more learned guitarists out there that could play circles around H...Vai, Petrucci, Gilbert, Satriani (though I would argue he's got more soul than the others). What makes H so great is his ability to use melody, structure, and composition to evoke a feeling, rather than illicit the awe of technical wizardry.
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I would argue though that Satriani, Petrucci and Vai as well do all of that (I've never been able to get into Gilbert), while still maintaining a high level of technical wizardry.
 
Yax said:
I would argue though that Satriani, Petrucci and Vai as well do all of that (I've never been able to get into Gilbert), while still maintaining a high level of technical wizardry.
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True, especially of Satch and, to a slightly lesser extent, Vai. Petrucci has his moments and is certainly no slouch in the songwriting department. But he's also no slouch in the mindless wanking department. I think Adrian plays more "from the hip" than any of these guys, though, in that he doesn't ever seem to be playing for the sole purpose of sounding impressive (not even in a live setting). The others in discussion have made it their profession to sound impressive.
 
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