Paul Gilbert ruuuuules. Wicked sense of humor too.

MARK TREMONTI!!! Most know him as the guitarist for the band Creed. If you listen to his playing closely this mans roots are in metal and he IMO is the best hard rock guitar player out there in the last 10 years. This guys lives and breathes on his guitar and has transformed himself into one hell of a player. The video I chose is FIND THE REAL an ALTER BRIDGE tune where Mark is doing a lot of improvising between verses..

I agree with you. Mark Tremonti is a great guitarist.

one of the best guitarists in alternative music today.

Oh ... and did I mention Madonna is metal too.

Yeah ... she sure is. Just listen to those drums. Very metallic. Um hmmm.

Victor Smolski...Guitarist for the band RAGE and IMO one of the most original guitarists out there in terms of style. This guy can do it all....

Some of his albums with the band have been varying in quality but other times he's perfect. GREAT tone too. Here's another wankalicious clip..



He also wrote a bunch of stuff for that Nuclear Blast compilations (Into the Light), and he has some solo stuff with orchestra. Classical composition is in his family, so it's pretty much always there in some way.

If anything, I think Tremonti is more in the nu metal camp but a great player.

Victor is a very original player but sometimes uneven.

RAGE is one of my favorite bands, but I don't care for Victor much. He has a style reminiscent of Steve Vai, whom I do not care for. The later day Rage albums pale in comparison with the earlier stuff, mainly because of the guitar wankery, but to each their own.

I think the early to mid period Rage stuff is definitely the best as well. I like Viktor a lot more than Vai, however. Mainly because he can riff.

So true. If by mid era you mean The Missing Link through Unity, I agree.

yes, I refer to this era. Right now I think Victor is doing so much stuff at once that his contributions to the band are getting really stale and boring...

STEVE VAI...What more needs to be said?

I love Steve Vai!!!


Don't forget to mention Steve Stevens in this thread! He deserves a post!

I love Vai's stuff with David Lee Roth and Frank Zappa. He played some great stuff! His solo material, however, is pretty lame.

JEFF LOOMIS.....One of my fav metal players who plays with tremendous confidence and just lets loose with his riffs and leads. He not only shreds but in a lot of his solos he hits what I call the perfect notes and runs. He also amazes me with his sweep picking technique. All in all one of my favs and a true metal god...

Good call on Jeff!

Tremonti: Quite good indeed.
Victor: Pretty good based on those clips.
Jeff: Sorry, not impressed.

Jeff is cool considering the style he plays in with a lot of his soloing...not a fan of Nevermore however..

The NeoClassical genius Yngwie Malmsteen...He is one of the first real shredders I ever stumbled upon. His technique can sometimes seem repetitive but one cant take away this guys talent on the guitar. Black Star amazed me for many years and is still ob eof my fav instrumentals especially the intro...