The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists
Encyclopedia
The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists is a book by British author Joel McIver
, published in 2009 by Jawbone Press and featuring a foreword by Glen Benton
of Deicide
. Foreign-language editions appeared shortly after the original English language
version. It contained a list of 100 guitar players in reverse order. The majority were interviewed by the author for the book between 2005 and 2009.
The book, McIver's fourteenth, attracted an unusual amount of attention from the guitar players listed in it, notably Dave Mustaine
of the thrash metal
band Megadeth
, who was placed in the No. 1 spot in the book. As Mustaine told Dave Ling of Classic Rock
magazine shortly after the book's publication,
Explaining the concept behind the book, the author told Blabbermouth.net
,
Joel McIver
Joel McIver is a British author. The best-known of his 20 books to date is the bestselling Justice For All: The Truth About Metallica, first published in 2004 and selling close to 50,000 copies in nine languages since then. McIver's other works include biographies of Black Sabbath, Slayer, Ice...
, published in 2009 by Jawbone Press and featuring a foreword by Glen Benton
Glen Benton
Glen Benton is an American heavy metal musician best known as the vocalist and bassist for the death metal band Deicide, although he prefers not to use the 'death metal' terminology. He is also the studio vocalist for Vital Remains, and has performed live with them on a few occasions...
of Deicide
Deicide (band)
Deicide is an American death metal band formed in 1987. Their first two albums, Deicide and Legion, are ranked second and third place in best-selling death metal albums of the SoundScan era.-As Amon/Carnage :...
. Foreign-language editions appeared shortly after the original English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
version. It contained a list of 100 guitar players in reverse order. The majority were interviewed by the author for the book between 2005 and 2009.
The book, McIver's fourteenth, attracted an unusual amount of attention from the guitar players listed in it, notably Dave Mustaine
Dave Mustaine
David Scott "Dave" Mustaine is the founder, main songwriter, guitarist, and lead vocalist for the American heavy metal band Megadeth. Prior to Megadeth, Mustaine was the first lead guitarist and a co-songwriter of the heavy metal band Metallica until he was fired from the band in 1983. In 2009, he...
of the thrash metal
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
band Megadeth
Megadeth
Megadeth is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California which was formed in 1983 by guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine, bassist Dave Ellefson and guitarist Greg Handevidt, following Mustaine's expulsion from Metallica. The band has since released 13 studio albums, three live albums, two...
, who was placed in the No. 1 spot in the book. As Mustaine told Dave Ling of Classic Rock
Classic Rock (magazine)
Classic Rock is a British magazine dedicated to the radio format of classic rock, published by Future Publishing, who are also responsible for its "sister" publication Metal Hammer. Although firmly focusing on key bands from the 1960s through early 1990s, it also includes articles and reviews of...
magazine shortly after the book's publication,
"It was especially sweet when I found out that Joel has written books on MetallicaMetallicaMetallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
. I looked at my copy of the book – I wasn’t on the cover or the back. I figured I’d be somewhere like No. 69. So I thumbed through it; it’s a really comprehensive, good book. I got to No. 50 and I thought, ‘Am I in here?’ I’d been told that I was, but not which position. I saw HetfieldJames HetfieldJames Alan Hetfield is the rhythm guitarist, co-founder, main songwriter, and lead vocalist for the American heavy metal band Metallica. Hetfield co-founded Metallica in October 1981 after answering a classified advertisement by drummer Lars Ulrich in the Los Angeles newspaper The Recycler,...
. I thought, ‘Wow’ because I respect James. I’m a better lead player than he is, but he’s one of the three best rhythm players in the world. . .So I got to the Top 10… I still wasn’t in there. Every page I turned, I became more excited. I [see] Kirk HammettKirk HammettKirk Lee Hammett is the lead guitarist and a songwriter in the heavy metal band Metallica and has been a member of the band since 1983. Before joining Metallica he formed and named the band Exodus. In 2003, Hammett was ranked 11th on Rolling Stones list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time...
, and I thought, ‘Thank you, God’. At that point it didn’t matter [which position I was]. To be better than both of them [Hetfield and Hammett] meant so much – it’s been one of the pet peeves of my career and I’ve never known how to deal with it. I didn’t realise that it has had so much bearing upon my life. Then I got to No. 2 and it was John PetrucciJohn PetrucciJohn Peter Petrucci is an American guitarist and songwriter best known as a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. Along with his former bandmate Mike Portnoy, he has produced all Dream Theater albums since their 1999 release, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory...
[of Dream TheaterDream TheaterDream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to further concentrate on the band that would...
] and I froze. I was No. 1. What made it better still is that the guy wrote: ‘This isn’t about Dave as a person because he’s been a cock’ – [interjects with a bray of laughter] – ‘These four pages are about his guitar playing, which is the best. There are people who are better at one thing that Mustaine does, and others that are better than another, but no-one who’s as good at everything’. All I thought was… I win!"
Explaining the concept behind the book, the author told Blabbermouth.net
Blabbermouth.net
Blabbermouth.net is a website dedicated to heavy metal and hard rock news, as well as album and music DVD reviews. Blabbermouth.net was founded and is run by Borivoj Krgin. The first version of the website was officially launched in March 2001...
,
"The idea came to me a couple of years ago after I read a list of the supposed 100 best metal guitarists of all time in a popular guitar magazine that should really know better. The list contained all these non-metal guitarists like Neil YoungNeil YoungNeil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
and Kurt CobainKurt CobainKurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
, so I thought, 'Fuck this!' and wrote my own list, which became an 80,000-word book. The 100 guys I've included are pure metal: there's no-one taken from the hard rockHard rockHard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
world, as much as I respect the rock shreddersShred guitarShred guitar or shredding is lead electric guitar playing that relies heavily on fast guitar solos. While some critics argue that shred guitar is associated with "... sweep-picked arpeggios, diminished and harmonic minor scales, finger-tapping and ... whammy-bar abuse", several guitar...
. This one features musicians from heavy metalHeavy metal musicHeavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
, thrash metalThrash metalThrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
, death metalDeath metalDeath metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
, black metalBlack metalBlack metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
, power metalPower metalPower metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a...
, doom metalDoom metalDoom metal is an extreme form of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other metal genres...
and grindcoreGrindcoreGrindcore is an extreme genre of music that started in the early- to mid-1980s. It draws inspiration from some of the most abrasive music genres – including death metal, industrial music, noise and the more extreme varieties of hardcore punk....
bands and that's it."
Reaction in the media
McIver wrote on his website that the book received far more attention than he had expected, with the press requesting dozens of interviews. In a three-hour special broadcast by The Classic Metal Show, the author defended his division between hard rock and heavy metal for a large American audience. He also explained that his choices had been based on a combination of each guitarist's technical skills and influence on other musicians. As he told Ultimate Guitar,
"There’s hard rock and there’s heavy metal, and it’s reasonably easy to differentiate between the two. I’m absolutely not a categories nerd and would be the first to admit that the best bands have a bit of everything in them, but in this case I wanted to celebrate the achievements of the metal musicians and no-one else. There were loads of amazing axemen who didn’t make it into the Top 100, even though they’re world-class musicians: assembling the final list was agony."