Zane Lowe's Top 50 Guitarists

I was unfortunate enough to watch Zane Lowe's Top 50 Guitarists on TMF (The Freeview version of MTV, just as bad, and just as tacky). Now, seeing as Zane Lowe is a hip hop DJ, I wasn't quite sure how his opinion on guitarists could hold any water. As I watched this program, getting more and more infuriated, I realized how much credit this guy must have lost after they aired this for the first time...

Once again, mainstream media succumb to tacky attempts at trying to get 13 year old indie kids to watch and jack themselves off at seeing their wonder heroes get placed above guitarists, who were so important and influenced guitar more than anybody.

50 - KINGS OF LEON - MATTHEW FOLLOWILL
49 - BIFFY CLYRO - SIMON NEIL
48 - JEFF BUCKLEY - JEFF BUCKLEY
47 - THE KILLERS - DAVE KEUNING
46 - SLIPKNOT - MICK THOMSON
45 - SOUNDGARDEN - KIM THAYIL
44 - MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE - FRANK LERO
43 - GREEN DAY - BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG
42 - YEAH YEAH YEAHS - NICK ZINNER
41 - MANICS - JAMES DEAN BRADFIELD
40 - BLINK 182 - TOM DELONGE
39 - KISS - ACE FREHLEY
38 - ARCTIC MONKEYS - ALEX TURNER
37 - PINK FLOYD - DAVE GILMOUR
36 - PIXIES - JOEY SANTIAGO
35 - REM - PETER BUCK
34 - SYSTEM OF A DOWN - DARON MALAKIAN
33 - THIN LIZZY - GARY MOORE
32 - SUEDE - BERNARD BUTLER
31 - PEARL JAM - MIKE MCCREADY
30 - THE STROKES - NICK VALENSI
29 - SMASHING PUMPKINS - BILLY CORGAN
28 - NEIL YOUNG - NEIL YOUNG
27 - OASIS - NOEL GALLAGHER
26 - FOO FIGHTERS DAVE GROHL
25 - THE CLASH - MICK JONES
24 - AEROSMITH - JOE PERRY
23 - BLUR - GRAHAM COXON
22 - PRINCE - PRINCE
21 - RADIOHEAD - JOHNNY GREENWOOD
20 - BLACK SABBATH - TONY IOMMI
19 - U2 - THE EDGE
18 - JANE'S ADDICTION - DAVE NAVARRO
17 - THE ROLLING STONES - KEITH RICHARDS
16 - STONE ROSES - JOHN SQUIRE
15 - QUEENS OF THE STONEAGE - JOSH HOMME
14 - THE WHO - PETE TOWNSEND
13 - THE WHITE STRIPES - JACK WHITE
12 - QUEEN - BRIAN MAY
11 - NIRVANA - KURT COBAIN
10 - Tom Morello - Rage Against The Machine
9 - Johnny Marr - The Smiths
8 - Angus Young - AC/DC
7 - Eddie Van Halen - Van Halen
6 - John Frusciante - Red Hot Chili Peppers
5 - Matt Bellamy - Muse
4 - Kirk Hammett - Metallica
3 - Jimmy Page - Led Zeppelin
2 - Slash - Guns N' Roses
1 - Jimi Hendrix - Jimi Hendrix

No Eric Clapton, No Duane Allman, No Randy Rhoads, No Eric Johnson, No Steve Vai, No Joe Satriani, No Stevie Ray Vaughan, No Ry Cooder, No Yngwie Malmsteen, No Glenn Tipton, No KK Downing, No Marty Friedman. I could go on, and on, and on, and on alllllllll day... complete joke. And whats more, fans of Matt Bellamy WERE COMPLAINING! Matt Bellamy, this is the guy who plays in that crappy indie rock band Muse... HE GOT ABOVE EDDIE VAN HALEN. Joke, complete joke. Rant over!

It does make you wonder these lists!


If honest I think there's only a handful of guitarists "THAT CHANGED ROCK GUITAR" - & I'm not talking about who are your favourite's!
Ace Frehley may be a great player but he wasn't / isn't groundbreaking! Michael Schenker is another!

These are the players I feel changed rock guitar forever

Jimi Hendrix - Where it all started, period! - Pete Townsend could only dream!

Eddie Van Halen - Who else played like that in 1978? - Not that I'm taking any credit away from players like Rhoads, Lynch, DeMartini, Satriani, Dime, or Lukather but they all are extensions of Eddie & his playing! (But I will agree on this, Eddie has not progressed as a guitarist since 91 while others have!)

Tony Iommi - Gave us the "Doom" riff!..Every Mainstream, Power, Thrash, Death, Black, & Nu Metal band owes Iommi a pint & a packet of scratchings!

Yngwie Malmsteen - Faster than a speeding bullet - An army of Neo Classical players followed because of this man. I'm not a fan of the Neo Classical style but you have to give credit where its due!

Steve Vai - Probably the only player that took Van Halen's playing to a "new" level with whammy bar & tapping techniques, I heard David Coverdale say he had landed the best guitarist on the planet when Vai joined Whitesnake back in 1989, I wouldn't of argued with that!


Opinions will vary

I couldn't agree more Matty. I named some obvious guitarists who were missing from that list. In my opinion the guitarists you named, I would have probably stated myself. When people ask me who influenced guitar the most, i say, probably Jimi, then Eddie, then Yngwie, because in the end, Jimi changed guitar at the time to allow people like Eddie to become into a mainstream spotlight. Eddie revolutionized slick, scalear guitar solos, and Yngwie took neo-classical playing to a level in which it became the norm to be able to do it.

I think my anger was more about the guitarists that WERE in this list. I mean, some of these guys, are absolutely dreadful. The Edge??? THE EDGE? How the hell did he get in and Steve Vai, Yngwie, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Not get in? It just sickened me watching it.

For me Matty, it was just another cheap MTV attempt to get little indie kids watching.

I have to say I HATE all these 'Top whatever' progs...they say they're voted for by viewers but I've not once seen a poll for any of them! But what I really hate is the absolute total nobodies they have giving their opinions... ...please. I don't want to listen to your dumb, moronic, inane waffle.

exactly. the funny part was, none of us watching actually knew who the hell zane lowe was. I had to look him up and then when I realized he was a hip hop DJ, i thought, well you stick to it, because guitar aint his strong point is it lol