Originally Posted by Elastic Man
(Post 601677)
Maybe I overreacted. It's certainly not the worst list I've ever seen but, at the same time, it's far from the best. I just get a little frustrated when someone puts so much time and effort into compiling such a list and I feel like I've learnt nothing from reading it. In fact it just seems like repetition of things I've disagreed with before, which can be tedious. Oh well.
As for Malmsteen... I stand by what I said before. His playing is just embarrassing. Technically gifted he may be but this really means very little when it comes down to it. Much as I disagree with Scaruffi on many other matters, I think he is worth quoting on this point because I sincerely agree with the sentiment - "There is a difference, in my opinion, between a juggler and an artist. If the playing is barely passable, but it delivers a lot of emotion, that musician is a genius." Players such as Fred Frith, Jimi Hendrix, John Fahey, Sonny Sharrock, Joe Pass (okay so maybe I'm moving out of the 'rock' sphere a little now...) are what I would deem to be geniuses because they play with passion, creativity etc. whilst also retaining a sufficient degree of technical proficiency in order to express themselves adequately. Malmsteen's playing, on the other hand, is (to me) technical wank of the worst kind. It is utter musical masturbation, which I find not only entirely uninteresting but even quite repulsive.
And I still don't find the popularity of a particular player to be any indication of greatness. A whole host of other factors come in to play to decide whether a particular thing is popular quite apart from its 'likability'.
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