Brian May vs Ritchie Blackmore

Hi follks been listening to a lot of Deep Purple recently and i wondered who you guys thought was the better guitarist in their prime?

i will get flamed to f*ck on here...but i've always (just) preferred ritchie blackmore

brian's playing always sounded a little too "clean"...
think i like blacker's because of the interplay between him and jon lord ...and later in rainbow with don airey...

also...as mentioned on another thread....i love the arabic scaled playing he deploys....

fnally, good as brian is - i don't hink i've heard a whole queen album where i love his guitar-playing on every single track. but that is the case (for me) whenever i listen to "machine head"...fantastic playing throughout

I suppose I'm the opposite. Richie has moments of absolute genius but I don't think he's consistant. However, I would probably prefer to hear Richie playing improvised solos rather than Brian as Richie can't play a solo the same way twice so is always improvising whereas Brian isn't the most spontaneous guitarist (hence same-ish Brighton Rock solo for 30 years).

Brian is my favourite guitarist and the reason I first picked up a guitar over 20 years ago. For me though Blackmore wins hands down as the better guitarist, he's up there with the very best.

You cant compare them cause both are very different musicians.

In order to compare their works you also need to compare the bands around them:

Brian just played with Freddie, John, Roger and Paul as a band and, even when he has been playing with lots and lots of awesome musicians, he havent developed more than just a few songs with them so he has been unable to take a direct influence from other musicians (except, perhaps Cozy Powell, who was known for keep pushing all the time)

Ritchie has been playing with lots and lots of other musicians but he pretty much use all those musicians to fulfill his own musical ideas... Except in Deep Purple when he got a lot of Lord's and Paice's classical and jazz background to improve his skills.

There are many other differences, like the fact that Blackmore is just moody and he can be the most amazing musician or just a lazy asshole... While Brian keeps things very much in order. Also they play different kinds of music (specially Blackmore in his 3 different bands) and both have an amazing guitar technique in their own fields. Brian and Roger's cover of Smoke on the water is a proof that they are different and should not be compared.

I play guitar so as a guitar player, if I have to choose one it would be Blackmore but as a music listener and someone who loves not just a great guitar player but a great band, I think I would choose Brian... Both of them are in my all tive fav top 10

Both are similiar in style and sound but May could kick ass live and when he let himself just go he would sound menacing and frantic! Live Killers shows this.

Really? Brian and Ritchie similar in style and tone?

This guitar (0:04 - 1:13) doesnt sounds like Brian's tone:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX_kDttOPHE

In which album/bootleg Brian played something like this?:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLhmhfkphd0

Perhaps you talk about songs like Rainbow's cover of Since you've Been Gone... If that's the case, then I must consider that Russ Ballard also is very similar to Brian and Ritchie, let's listen to Russ Ballard version...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA5hIHTMtgk

[QUOTE] [b]winterspelt wrote:[/b]
Brian and Roger's cover of Smoke on the water is a proof that they are different and should not be compared.
[/QUOTE]
Oh, I love that cover (though it's more than just Brian and Roger. Ritchie was also involved). Brian's guitar solo starting at about 2:26 is superb, my favorite solo of the five on the track. Looooove that Red Special tone.

[QUOTE] [b]brENsKi wrote:[/b]
brian's playing always sounded a little too "clean"...
[/QUOTE]
There's some dirty-sounding stuff on the debut album, though that's probably just a result of rawer production more than anything.

Anyway, um, in general I prefer Brian May, although I pretty much agree with all of brENsKi's points.

Brian May clearly has the better hair HANDS DOWN.

Are you kidding me??!

cheesus cripes, man.



I do love Ritchie's Hats though.

Yeah but Richie has a better top hat.

Although i am very fed up with Brian May since about 03 my opinion of him as a guitar player hasn't changed. Of course May is better than Blackmore. First of all listen to Good Company, that is his masterpiece not Brighton Rock. May succeeded in many genres , his solos are very well known not just one. May also is the best pop/rock player there is , Queen was able to arrange pop songs like a rock song, very tight and fast that made their pop songs different from others. Wasnt it Stevie Ray Vaughn who once said not sure about the wording " i can copy the style of any guitar player but Brian May, thats how good he is " Heck even i can play Smoke on the Water, nuff said about this nonsense.

It was Steve Vai who said that about Brian, not SRV.

It's important to remember that Steve Vai was talking out of his arse when he said that. For better or worse, he sounds like Steve Vai. I think that statement is just a bit of hyperbole to illustrate how highly he thinks of Brian's style.

Blackmore might have more 'chops' (although that's a vague determination). But I have a lot more respect for Brian, mainly because he's not in Blackmore's Night. What a pile of vomit. Thanks Yoko.

I don't think I would characterize his words that way. Vai's comments as I recall related to the Red Special and the extent to which it's unique tone lay so thoroughly in Brian's fingers. Neither's words about the other as glowing as they are seem to be anything but genuine expressions of true mutual respect, both in fact and degree.