Axemen Deathmatch

No match up this time but what do y'all think of Tom Morello as a guitarist?

Morello is pretty cool man, I love the Rage stuff and the Audioslave, even some of his solo album I heard was not too bad. He's got a style that you hear and go "oh that sounds like Tom Morello from Rage"

Yeah, he's carved his own niche for sure but there's times he does good stuff and times where he does stuff that gets on my nerves. I wish he'd vary up his riffs more.

Yeah I know what you mean, his style is very recognizable as his own, but it's very repetitive at times.

Morello is a good guitarist, but he's WAY too reliant on his effects pedals. I prefer his playing in Audioslave to Rage.

Me too, he was more versatile and smooth in his delivery.

Ok nobody is thinking up a challenge so:

Jimmy Paige vs. Richie Blackmore

let's get it on!

Page, he was more creative and put more feeling in his playing. This is a tough one b/c I dig Blackmore, he brought a Neo-Classical approach to Rock/Metal.

Page by wide margin. Jimmy has the total package and is light years ahead of Blackmore in the songwriting department. He's my favorite rhythm/acoustic guitarist.

Don't get me wrong, I love Richie and he was an influence on an entire league of guitarists...unfortunately most of the people he influenced weren't nearly as good as he is.

Blackmore was an improviser...but for some reason most of the people he influenced weren't.

Interesting feedback on that one, I was going to cast my vote for Richie, but you guys make some good points in Jimmys defense.

So yeah, I'll go with Jimmy Page.

I'll have to go with Page...
His acoustic guitar skills are top notch(the guitars in the verses of Tangerine with the double picking techinique is way cool!!!). In the studio he is a magician, but live I always thought that he was very sloppy.



I do like Ritchie but, he is just now doing what Page did on LZ III and the song Battle Of Evermore. Has Blackmore's Moon covered that song?

Jimmy Page

Pagey. Been listening to him for what seems like forever. Blackmore's only been a discovery for me in the last 5 years or so. And he loses points for the medival crap he does now.

Brad Whitford vs Malcolm Young

Malcolm. Genius in simplicity. (listen to his rhythm guitar track during the Thunderstruck intro)

That intro is as simple as Malcolm gets! I dig his rhythm on, hell too many to mention but Overdose, Gimme A Bullet and If You Want Blood (You've Got It) come to mind.

Oooooo tough one. My inner-Aerosmith fan boy wants to vote for Brad, but I gotta go with Mal on this one. His playing really defines AC/DC's sound. He gives it that distinct crunch.

Malcolm Young fer sure.

Dave Mustaine vs James Hetfield
Rhythm guitar only...

Dave for me, no contest.

We're comparing a rhythm player to a guy who plays both, but I'll go with Mustaine regardless. James does have an amazing right hand though.

Alas, James plays lead as well. He even did leads live before the Load era. But let's just keep it to rhythm. Load and ReLoad had a few Het solos.

He would generally have about 1 solo per album, not enough for me to get a reading on his style in that area.

He seemed really Bluesy on Load/ReLoad, I didn't know he soloed on the other albums other than the harmonies w/Kirk. His solos on 'The Outlaw Torn' were good.

Dave for sure, I just never cared much for Hetfield

I think he solos on Orion from Master Of Puppets, he also did the solo for Nothing Else Matters. I can't remember the others off the top of my head.