Where are all the new guitar heros?

Is the guitar hero dead in current new music and artists today?
I miss the days where I can instanly recognize who's soloing in a song without hearing the rest of the song. What happened to those days? And before people start throwing names like Tom Morello and the Pearl Jam guitarists' out remember these guys have been around for over 10 years now. I'm talking within the past 5 years or less- sorry Kenny Wayne Shepard and Jonny Lang have been around for more than 5 years too.
It's all generic soloing crap now. All these new guys are all schmoos and have no trademark sound.
It's sad!
Am I missing out on any hot-shot new guitarists out there or is there really not any? The only one I can think of is maybe John Mayer and Pete Yorn and Pete Yorn doesn't even really solo much.

 

The guitar solo in popular music is passe. Blame Nirvana. John Mayer is technically skilled, but I haven't heard him play any solos in the songs I've heard on the radio. Pete Yorn? Get out of town.

The last guitar hero was Jerry Cantrell. When you think about it, all the guitar players in the big grunge bands were no good except Cantrell. Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Nirvana - all mediocre on a good day.

 

I think I was strechinga bit w/ Yorn. mayer does actually solo a lot in concert and his non-singles.

I don't think soloing is dead. Bands like Fuel and Godsmack solo in their songs. I have some of their CD's but I can't even tell you the guitarists name in either band nor do they have a trademark sound.

 

Ah yes, the guy in Fuel is not bad, but he doesn't solo much and is more of a songwriter than guitar soloist. I think there is only one solo on the entire Sunburn album - on the song Sunburn. The Godsmack guy is OK, but he is just a lesser clone of Jerry Cantrell.

 

Joe Bonamassa?

Jack White? (I'm sure plenty will disagree.)

 

Who's Joe Bonamassa?

 

Johnny Greenwood - Radiohead. Great player with a very distinct tone. Very melodic player, great, compact emotional solos, and equally skilled at making cool sounds via a wide array of effects.

Chris

 

Let me be the first!

I haven't heard Joe Bonamassa, but I wouldn't classify him as "popular". I think the guy my brother has been touting is Chris Duarte, I haven't heard him yet either.

 

Well if we are going back that far then I will name Adam Jones of Tool. Not many solos, but tons of cool sounds.

 

Nope, band has to be recording no more than 5 years. Radiohead & Tool does not count. If they counted we get into a thread where everyone mentions their favorite guitarist of the past 35 years and then it turns into a Beatles UK vinyl thread!

: )

 

Well I think it's safe to say there aren't any guitar heroes selling lots of albums or on the radio, so I will name Derek Trucks, nephew of Butch Trucks of the Allman Brothers. His first album was in 1997 and he is really good guitar player. My brother gave me one of his albums to listen to and I thought it was kind of boring. But if you get a chance to see him play live definitely check him out. The dude can play!

 

Again, mainstream guitar music is dead. You have to look elsewhere for scorching solos.

 

Damn good call.

I had been reading about Derek for a while in various guitar mags, but had not heard him until recently, when I picked up the new Allman CD, Hitting the Note.

The kid is a freakin monster. I defy anyone to listen to some of his work on this CD, and NOT think he was Duane. And I don't mean that he sounds a little like Duane, I mean he IS Duane.

Cool thing about this CD; in the liner notes it says that Derek is on one side, and Warren Haynes is on the other. You can sit there and listen, knowing who is playing what part. That's kind of handy, since Warren is not exactly a slouch either.

BGL

 

Actually, I'd blame the Sex Pistols. It was punk that made any kind of instrumental virtuosity in Rock passe. FWIW, I thought Kym Thayil of Soundgarden was pretty good (long before your 5-year time frame) though he didn't solo much.

My favorite young guitarist these days is Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree (unfortunately he's been recording for 10 years - until quite recently in total anonymity, so maybe he counts?). He's incredibly versatile, experiments with many different sounds and textures in his solos, and can be very lyrical when he chooses to be (and he does quite often).

 

What is Derek Trucks' best album out so far?

 

I saw Radiohead live at the Skydome last week, and Greenwood rocked my world! I can't wait for the Bodysong soundtrack (movie sounds interesting, too)!
Another artist I'd add is the (criminally?) unknown and underappreciated Lewis Taylor. M'f'er can play like Hendrix, sing like Marvin Gaye (admittedly the Marvin of I Want You and Here My Dear, not What's Going On) and layer vocals like Brian Wilson. His self-titled debut album is the only thing that makes me doubt whether OK Computer is the greatest album of the 1990s.

 

Guitar hero? I think the guitar hero is "dead"... except guitarist like Joe Satriani or Jeff Beck.

 

The only one I've heard is Out of the Madness from 1998 and I didn't dig it much. Why don't you buy them all and let us know? I didn't know he played on Hitting The Note. It's now on my list. Thanks!

 

Jack White?

Yes!

Awesome player with passion...



Ben

 

Let me be the SECOND!
Anyone that would insult SRV should have both hands bitten off by rats!!!!

 

The first thing I thought of when I read the thread title was Derek Trucks, too. What a bad-ass. His solo stuff is weak because the songs are, but he's gold with the Allmans.

If you want to hear some cool guitar stuff from a real heavy band, check out Opeth. I can't spell their names (singer plays lead and there's another guitarist) because they're Swedish.

 

What about Robert Randolph?

 

Anyone notice the lack of guitar solos on the last Rush studio album? Even the older bands are doing this to try to sound contemporary. Soloing of any type in contemporary music is taboo these days. One of the things I dislike about most "modern rock" is all the musicians compete for the same space 100% of the time.

 

Yes, "Soul Serenade" and his most recent CD's are outstanding. I believe that he's marrried to Susan Tedeschi ... Other than Trucks though, I'm also at a loss.

Well, we've all still got all those old Cream records, don't we ?



Mike

 

Rush hasn't really soloed since the late 70s.