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User
Reviews 76
Approval 95%
News Articles 1
Band Edits + Tags 8
Album Edits 11
Album Ratings 214
Objectivity 80%
Last Active 11-29-16 7:16 pm
Joined 02-16-16
Review Comments 502
| My Favorite Guitarists (And Why)
Right so these are my favorite guitarists. I realize that I'll probably get slammed here because these aren't crazy-technical players, but listening to them makes me feel something and I love to play along. I'm not trying to shove anything in your face or force you to like this, I just wanted to put this up. I'm sure some people will still be nasty and brick-headed but that's the way of the world I guess haha. Thanks for the read! | | 1 | Anthony Armstrong(RED)
It is no secret that RED is my favorite band and are major heroes in my life, but don’t just attribute Anthony’s placement to my bias. For one, the guy has such a wide range of talent. He’s able to effectively utilize single notes, octaves, and power chords in RED’s heavier moments, sometimes all at once. “Breathe Into Me” shifts from simple power chords to glaring octaves, while “Fight To Forget” pounds out thrashing single notes and energetic power chords. “Feed The Machine” and “Lie To Me (Denial)” both boast extremely proficient riffs and even lean more to RED’s technical side, as does “Release The Panic”. And remember, these are only just a few examples. Secondly, he’s capable of more than just heavy riffing. The acoustic work on tracks like “Pieces” and “Take It All Away” is heart-wrenching and absolutely beautiful, while “Hide” and “Wasting Time” both showcase tapping lead lines. He also utilizes pedals effectively and moderately to give just the right feel to the song, such as | | 2 | Brian "Head" Welch (Korn, Love And Death)
This man is a genius. There’s a reason korn struggled when he left. Actually though, I’ll start at a bit of a different end of the spectrum: his usage of pedals is tremendous. He likes them and uses them a fair bit, but it always adds to the music rather than detracts. Who could forget the eerie, siren-like wail of “Freak On A Leash” ? Though he did back off of the pedals a fair bit for work with Love and DEath (possibly due to the addition of guitarist JR Bareis), these also permeated his deeply personal solo album and created the atmosphere of fear and redemption that the album needed. Not to mention the fact that he was a major part of popularizing the seven-string guitar. As for his riffing, it’s not necessarily the most technical, but it’s absolutely pulsating. Yes, there’s the band’s breakout single “Blind” but there’s also the pure force of the opening riff of “Prey For Me” or the frenetic feel of “Ball Tongue”. | | 3 | Benjamin Burnley/Aaron Fink (Breaking Benjamin)
Yes, there’s a reason there are two of these on the same number, because I’m not entirely sure which one of these guys wrote specific BB riffs and I don’t wanna bother with worrying about it. Anywho, these are some other guys who can play in virtually any tuning and sound superb. They’ve used DRop C#, Drop C, and Drop B flat, crafting effective and forceful riffs in all tunings. “Wish I May” displays interlocking octaves, while “Diary Of Jane” and “Failure” both focus on single note pounding. “Medicate” relies on the beautifully picked guitar in the verses, while “Firefly” and “So Cold” soar with their anthemic, energetic riffs. The stop-Start and palm-muted chunking of “I Will Not Bow” is simply unforgettable for the alt-metal fan. Looking at them acoustically is interesting, because while some of their ballads are all fine and well, it’s cool to see how they would pepper in bits of acoustic guitar in their earlier works, especially on the Saturate record. | | 4 | Trevor McNevan (Thousand Foot Krutch)
This guy is much more diverse than people give him credit for, especially considering his roots and the beginning of TFK. Yes, debut album SEt It Off had the detuned Nu-Metal riffs in tracks like “Puppet” or “Up Comes Down”, and while these are by no means bad, much of the album was filled with funky, RHCP-esque riffs and chords. Though these don’t show up near as often now, they still bleed through in tracks like “Give Up The Ghost” and “War of Change”. Other than this, Trevor is a decent guitarist, though his reliance on the same two tunings all the time does get old. Still, one can’t forget the force of “Welcome To The Masquerade”, “Hand Grenade”, “Move”, or “Falls Apart”, nor can they forget the eerie picking in “E For Extinction”. There’s even some grunge leanings in his playing, displayed on tracks like “Small Town” and “Breathe You In”. He’s typically not one to get technical, but the chord progression in “Phenomenon” is quite a treat. | | 5 | Honorable Mention
Jasen Rauch (RED, Breaking Benjamin, Love and Death) | |
MrSirLordGentleman
10.23.16 | eww | JokineAugustus
10.24.16 | ;D Really great list. Brought the laughs! | ScuroFantasma
10.24.16 | Brian is pretty great. Rest of these guys and their bands bore me/don't interest me. | Lord(e)Po)))ts
10.24.16 | End yourself | bentheREDfan
10.24.16 | Scuro thanks for your honesty man! Appreciate the relevant comment... your IQ is much higher than Jokine and Lorde, the bands they like must suck because they feel better trashing mine. | BrandNewEyes
10.24.16 | somehow i already knew which tool album you'd have at a 5 | bentheREDfan
10.24.16 | Freaking love that record Brand. You were not far off at all! |
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