Where is Brian May on the list of greatest guitarists of all time?

I was wondering how good you thought Brian May is compared to the all time greats.

Most people would agree Jimi Hendrix is the best of all time. I personally think Jimi Page of Led Zeppelin is the next best, he was the original heavy riff player and some of his solos where great, not to mention Stairway to Heaven.

From there it is all up for grabs. It might be Eric Clapton, Eddie Van Halen, Slash, David Gilmour, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Chuck Berry, Keith Richards, Ritchie Blackmore, Pete Townshend or our own Brian May.

I tend to think that Eddie Van Halen is better then Brian May, and Eric Clapton is probably a technically better guitarist although it could be close. Also Angus Young, although isn't technically as great as the others is the most energetic and entertaining of them all if you ask me.

What does everyone on hear think? how good is Brian May at guitar compared to the all time greats?

Number One! May created his own guitar and invented a couple of new concepts while at it. The Red Special is like no other guitar ever made, and there's nothing Brian can't do with it. All of this may be BS, but as a Queen fan on a Queen board, I have the right to make such allegations. Besides, no one else was going to.

For my money Brian is the best overall. None of the others have his artistry, though their technical skills may be better.

Brian May is respected by his peers. His artistry speaks for itself. You can't measure who the best is because music is not measured by objective means (we can all tell the worst LOL).
For my money I'll listen to him any day even though my favourite guitarist is Jeff Beck.

1. randy rhoads (listen to Blizzard - and you'll see)
2. jimmy page
3. tom scholtz
4. ritchie blackmore
5. eddie van halen
6. pete townsend
7. brian may

oh. and hendrix....? do me a favour...being stoned out of you head doesn't make you great...if yu;re stoned then everything WILL sound different

I don't recall where I saw the list but I saw one where Brian appeared at #5... ahead of people like Eddie Van Halen and Angus Young.

To answer this question as a group, we would have to agree on what makes a guitarist "great". Is it technical skills? The ability to play the widest variety of music(blues, rock, country, flamenco, classical, etc.)? Is it the ability to convey emotion thru the instrument? Does it include the ability to blend/mesh/complement the band as a whole? Is it the ability to lead other musicians? Or, it is something that should be measured by popularity with the fans? (One could easily make the argument that the best guitarist is the one preferred by the most fans.)

Most of my favorite guitarists have already been named in various postings on this thread. But for me, the greatest guitarist is Brian May. Not because he has the best technical skills or can play the widest range of music. Rather, my vote goes to Brian because I love his music, because I prefer to listen to his music and playing over all other artists, and because he never ceases to be amaze me at how well he plays his guitar. The man is a master in his musical genre.

I admit to being biased on this topic, as I love Queen's music. And I have very high regard for Brian May as a human being, where he stands head and shoulders above most other artists.

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]<font color=green>Bren<font color=orange>ski wrote: [/QUOTENAME]

oh. and hendrix....? do me a favour...being stoned out of you head doesn't make you great...if yu;re stoned then everything WILL sound different
[/QUOTE]

You're entitled to your stupid opinion I guess... lol

I don't know what poll it was, some top 100 anyway... and he was placed at 34! How can that be?! Listen to him for heaven's sake! The man should be right up there at the top. 34 is just out of the question, really...

i would say......
1: david gilmour
2: brian may
3: stevie ray vaughn
4: Slash
5: jimi Hendrix

thats just my weird oppinion however :P althoguh i think its acurate for my tastes lol!

lol coz hes the best.

Brian May is one of the best, though i think Jimi Hendrix is.

"oh. and hendrix....? do me a favour...being stoned out of you head doesn't make you great...if yu;re stoned then everything WILL sound different"

I don't care if he was stoned or not, listen to Hendrix, the man was a freak, i mean people still trying to figure out how he did some of that stuff. Also i heard (might not be true) that he could play the guitar upside down as well ie. left hand plays right hand and vice versa. I've seen Eric clapton do this too so this for me puts these two along with Jimi Page right at the top of the list.

Yeah Cmon man.

Hendrix deserves every bit of the legendry status he's attained.

For just three years he was around the scene, and he single handedly re-wrote the rules as far as electric guitar is concered.

To me, Hendrix was fundamentally a blues player, and a great blues player at that.
I had a live "Hear My Train A Comin" on an LP years ago that was just absolutley brilliant! The name of the LP escapes me now. It was a live album released in the 80's.

eatch one of them have his own kind of playing and his own music whick he know to play

we cant say that this one is better than this one