Nick McCabe from The Verve gets my vote. I love the way he approaches the guitar,almost as if it were a synth, the way he layers and builds loops and the general wall of sound created is just incredible.
The late, great Rowland S. Howard. The six strings that drew blood have never cut so sharp or deep since he left us.
Both getting a long overdue re-release next month. His collaboration with Lydia Lunch - Shotgun Wedding - was also re-released recently. Still sounds incredible. Teenage Snuff Film is one of my very favourite albums.
I didn't know about the re-releases! Excellent! I feel the same way abput TSF. Dead Radio and Sleep Alone!
Buck Dharma of BOC has rattled off a lot of solos that get thrown around as the best of all-time yet he never makes any lists of top 100 guitarists. I would recommend Last Days of May (live), the brief solo on Reaper, Veteran of the Psychic Wars (live) and Take Me Away. Pete Tolson of Eire Apparent and The Pretty Things was awesome but stuck in bands that guaranteed he would get overlooked. Jimmy Page said he was underrated. I would recommend hearing the end of October 26 or Joey. Pete Ham was a great guitarist and many of the blistering solos on Badfinger albums belonged to him, not Molland. I would recommend hearing the end of Timeless as example.
Winwood’s a very good example; particularly as mentioned he’s instrumentally speaking, known as a B3 aficionado. Going through much of this thread is confounding to me as many of the guitarists mentioned are understood generally to be some of the greatest players ever. I’m not the first to mention this of course. I think we need a more precise definition of underrated for the thread to carry greater weight.
I appreciate your specific detailed reasoning for the players you’ve denoted as underrated. Many others who haven’t should take your lead.
I think Pat Simmons is a more versatile player but I love them both. "Long train running" with Tom right speaker and Pat left speaker. In most mixes with a few overdubs.John M.
That's a fair point and made me realise that I didn’t attempt to describe in words how Rowland S Howard influenced me, in my earlier post. I suppose I thought I’d let the music talk. But if I had to put it into words, I would mention how his shimmering, reverb-drenched guitar sound betrayed his influence of Phil Spector 45s, while at the same time riding the zeitgeist of gothic new wave. It straddled that line perfectly - drawing from the past and pointing towards the future. He also had a huge influence on me as young guitarist when it came to a choice of tools. His passion for the Fender Jag and the Twin Reverb amp made me look at what I was working with and consider how much these bits of equipment changed the sounds that I made - and how I could use them better. His use of octave fuzz completely changed my perspective on what can be done with a box of electronics. I’ve shamelessly bought one of Reuss’ RSH fuzz boxes, just to be able to capture that sound - because it leaves me in awe. I would never use it to define my own sound (as if I even have the talent for that!), but learning what made my heroes sound good has helped me no end in finding my own way. Reuss RSH-02 Pedal Review So, that's what Rowland S Howard meant to me. He was a critical part of my musical journey. I think the reason that he's underrated is that he had a similar impact on many people of my generation. You can hear his sound in many subsequent records. He left a huge mark on alternative music, yet out there in the big, wide world, he's barely recognised.
