Brian the Ax Man

A little thread prompted by my 19 year old son, when he asked me "how I rated Brian May as a guitarist?"

Now my son... shall we say... tolerates Queen, though he does acknowledge the curly haired one as a good guitarist, which coming from someone who is into SlipKnot, Metallica, Children of Bodom, Machine Head etc, etc, and various Finish metal bands, I think is saying something!

Anyhow, as for me, a difficult one to answer with a definity as BM has his own disitinctive style and is clearly respected by his peers.

He is up there in my opinion with your Blackmore's, Page's, Satriani's and Iommi's of this world, but cannot say with any certainty whether he is in fact better (whatever that means) or a lesser accomplished artizan of his craft.

Just wondered what everyone in Queenzoneland thought on the subject?

I think he's pretty good.  They should keep him.

Well the most pleasant surprise of the last album was voodoo because the style of guitar playing was not Brian but he did a good job on it. Off course he is a great guitar player but more important he can build a orchestra with only his guitar. But comparing is something completely different. You can''t compare Jimmy Hendrikx with David Gilmour but both are outstanding in their own league. Eric Clapton and George Harrison did admire each other but where completely different. Brian May is a big fan of Hank Marvin for instance. The only thing you can say about Brian May is that he unique, just as unique as Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Jimmy Page, Yngwie Malmsteen and so on and so on

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[b]Micrówave wrote: [/b]

I think he's pretty good.  They should keep him.[/QUOTE]

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Of course Page is on his own league... nobody play so awfully sloppy like him!!!!!! my god...

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[b]Markman38 wrote: [/b]

Well the most pleasant surprise of the last album was voodoo because the style of guitar playing was not Brian but he did a good job on it.[/QUOTE]
Nah - white bread blues. Sounded just like a Bad Company record, and Mick Ralphs is very limited as a guitar player. Don't get me wrong, I love BM, but he is not a blues player.

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[b]Micrówave wrote: [/b]

I think he's pretty good.  They should keep him.[/QUOTE]

I agree.  Plus, he's always got the PhD to fall back on if this whole music thing doesn't take off for him.

Brian is a guitar hero and genius, maybe his guitar playing is not as fast as Vai or Malmsteen, but the way he constructs his solos, the soul impregnated in every note that he plays and the sound that comes from him is simply amazing, absulotely out of this world, two examples of his greatness would be the solo of good company and the solo/last horizon of return of the champions - so much feeling in each and everyone of those notes! watching that made me realize brian is the greatest ever

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[b]Brangwen Rocker wrote: [/b]

 SlipKnot, Metallica, Children of Bodom, Machine Head etc, etc, and various Finish metal bands, I think is saying something!

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I can assure you all of those guitarists would say Brian is awesome, if not an inspiration of them

Brian is a better musician than he is a guitarist.(which is a good thing)

The mainstream will always be the mainstream...

But in the business, Brian is one of the most respected guitarists in the industry.  And his tone is definitely one of the most coveted tones ever.

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[b]Crazy LittleThing wrote: [/b]

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[b]Micrówave wrote: [/b]



I think he's pretty good.  They should keep him.

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I agree.  Plus, he's always got the PhD to fall back on if this whole music thing doesn't take off for him.




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true.

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[b]teleman wrote: [/b]

Brian is a better musician than he is a guitarist.(which is a good thing)
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what are you trying to sound like sebastion?....think for yourself young man!....Brian is in the same league as the other greats.  top 10 or 15 best in rock history?....sounds about right.

Thanks for all your responses!
Perhaps not the most thought provoking of threads, as topics such as these are so subjective, when it comes to comparing whether one individual is better or worse than someone else in a similar field.

It's always nice to hear other peoples opinions nonetheless.

Thanks again.

I think Brians sound is very distinctive. As soon as you hear his tone, you know who it is, which in my book makes him a good player? Thats my opinion anyway......