lzzoso Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 (edited) Hello! I know that this is "officially" a Led Zeppelin website and forum but I have to ask this question to the many thousands of RUSH fans that are out there. Although I will give my life to say that Jimmy Page is the greatest guitarist, musician, producer and showman of all-time, I may have to give the second best of these titles to my other man, Mr. Alex Lifeson. Besides perhaps, Joe Perry of Aerosmith, I think that Alex may be the most under-rated guitar player of all-time. Not to mention that even Alex says that his master was and is Mr. Jimmy Page. That in itself is a huge complement to Jimmy Page. I know that all of us of the Led Zeppelin nation are loyal to only the best, I must ask what most of you think of the "second" raters that may or may not still carry on the LZ flag. And I do not mean that the "second" raters are any less important than the originators. I think Alex Lifeson is one of those that has and will always carry "OUR" flag. Edited July 11, 2009 by lzzoso Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternal light Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 (edited) Hello! I know that this is "officially" a Led Zeppelin website and forum but I have to ask this question to the many thousands of RUSH fans that are out there. Although I will give my life to say that Jimmy Page is the greatest guitarist, musician, producer and showman of all-time, I may have to give the second best of these titles to my other man, Mr. Alex Lifeson. Besides perhaps, Joe Perry of Aerosmith, I think that Alex may be the most under-rated guitar player of all-time. Not to mention that even Alex says that his master was and is Mr. Jimmy Page. That in itself is a huge complement to Jimmy Page. I know that all of us of the Led Zeppelin nation are loyal to only the best, I must ask what most of you think of the "second" raters that may or may not still carry on the LZ flag. And I do not mean that the "second" raters are any less important than the originators. I think Alex Lifeson is one of those that has and will always carry "OUR" flag. Alex Lifeson is quite good. Jimi Hendrix was also excellent. Edited July 11, 2009 by eternal light Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xtazy Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 (edited) He is great and under-rated. The thing is that many people, when they think of Rush, they go 'Oh, the band with that awesome drummer' and they completely forget about the guitar player. So he is probably overshadowed by Peart's ability to play drums like no other (well, almost ), or by Lee's not-so-common vocal register. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MebM9-w5woc. Sounds a bit Zeppelin-esque. Edited July 11, 2009 by Xtazy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xtazy Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 Much hard-rockin' : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mav12Hm8fSs. It's off their first album which was recorded with John Rutsey on drums and released in 1974, but the video was shot in 1975 shortly after Peart joined. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfman Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 I feel the same way with David Gilmour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leddy Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 Hello! I know that this is "officially" a Led Zeppelin website and forum but I have to ask this question to the many thousands of RUSH fans that are out there. Although I will give my life to say that Jimmy Page is the greatest guitarist, musician, producer and showman of all-time, I may have to give the second best of these titles to my other man, Mr. Alex Lifeson. Besides perhaps, Joe Perry of Aerosmith, I think that Alex may be the most under-rated guitar player of all-time. Not to mention that even Alex says that his master was and is Mr. Jimmy Page. That in itself is a huge complement to Jimmy Page. I know that all of us of the Led Zeppelin nation are loyal to only the best, I must ask what most of you think of the "second" raters that may or may not still carry on the LZ flag. And I do not mean that the "second" raters are any less important than the originators. I think Alex Lifeson is one of those that has and will always carry "OUR" flag. I actually do not think he is underrated, in the circles I mix with he is cosidered a true great and original guitarist. But I know where your coming from I guess, when it comes to polls etc its the usual suspects of Vai, hendrix, Claptout etc being in the top 10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SgtPepper67 Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Alex Lifeson became one of my favourite guitar players since I got into Rush last year, and he's totally underrated, I think I had never heard his name mentioned before that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zosodude13 Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 He is overlooked as a guitarist, but I can think of guitarists with more talent who are more underrated then Alex Lifeson. Eddie Hazel comes to mind... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hots on for nowhere Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 how about Robby red Kreiger (sorry if i spelt the name wrong) the doors werent a super guitar focused band but he still has some really good stuff like "peace frog" to name one, yet you rarely here him being talked about Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmsofAtlas Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Joe Perry is underrated? I'd say the opposite. He has a very basic style and he doesn't do anything that blows my mind with his playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danelectro Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 (edited) Alex is a great player but I don't think he is underrated. Rush is a very famous band and every member get suitable props for their obvious talent. To be underrated there has to be some degree of measurable consquences for being overlooked. IMO very well known bands and musicians that have a huge fanbase, appear in magazines marketed to musicians and have signature model guitars can not be underrated. Lots of players far better than Alex have toiled in obscurity. Edited July 13, 2009 by danelectro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahfin Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Alex is a great player but I don't think he is underrated. Rush is a very famous band and every member get suitable props for their obvious talent. To be underrated there has to be some degree of measurable consquences for being overlooked. IMO very well known bands and musicians that have a huge fanbase, appear in magazines marketed to musicians and have signature model guitars can not be underrated. Lots of players far better than Alex have toiled in obscurity. You have to remember this is the same board where someone has tried to make the case that Queen are "underrated". For the life of me I'll never understand the entire underrated/overrated thing and how folks come to their conclusions for either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danelectro Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 You have to remember this is the same board where someone has tried to make the case that Queen are "underrated". For the life of me I'll never understand the entire underrated/overrated thing and how folks come to their conclusions for either. I only understand it when there is some effort made to establish why artist X is either. The problem is most of the time it comes down to a fan having issues with others not having the same admiration for their favorite musicians. But yeah most of the time it's someone making an underrated claim for an artist that has been more than adequately acknowledged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lzzoso Posted July 15, 2009 Author Share Posted July 15, 2009 I only understand it when there is some effort made to establish why artist X is either. The problem is most of the time it comes down to a fan having issues with others not having the same admiration for their favorite musicians. But yeah most of the time it's someone making an underrated claim for an artist that has been more than adequately acknowledged. All who have responded have made good points. The best point is this one. How or why does someone consider their "artist X" to be considered "under-rated"? It does seem up to the point of view of the author. The reason I say or consider Alex Lifeson to be under-rated is the fact (as much as I have seen or read) is that his name does not seem to come up in the top 10 when I see the latest polls of the best guitarists of all-time. Sure, all these polls are subjective and speculative. How can a magazine or poll really say who is the best or greatest of anything or anything at all? My #1, Jimmy Page, may be yours or thiers #28 or #42. And vice versa. However, I personally think Alex Lifeson is in MY top 5 best guitar players of all-time. Again, my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danelectro Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 (edited) Polls rarely establish anything other than the winners tend to be well respected musicians favored by the target audience the poll will likely be viewed by. Personally I would be suspicious of any poll placing Alex in the top 10. Not because he lacks ability but because his overall contribution to music is that of guitarist that is very derivatve, and though he is somewhat technical he's a long way from being the best example of highly technincal playing. Anyway back to polls, IMO polls are always flawed. Without exception when ever there is a "best" guitarists poll it is limited to rock guitarists. I'm never surprised that I see Hendrix top the polls every time, his contributions to music are obvious and he was a game changer. But to exclude all the amazing jazz, country, blues, classical etc. players makes the poll meaningless. Taking that into consideration when ever I see "best ever" polls I view it as entertainment not fact because it never is complete or accurate. Either way polls start getting into that music as competition thing which IMO misses the point entirely. Music is art not a game with a score or a finish line and it's worth is entirely up to the listener. Though I think it can be established if someone made an impact on how music was played or introduced a new way of playing music as a way to emphasize that particular musician's importance. Edited July 15, 2009 by danelectro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xtazy Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Either way polls start getting into that music as competition thing which IMO misses the point entirely. Music is art not a game with a score or a finish line and it's worth is entirely up to the listener. I double that ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pagemccartney95 Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Alex is good. But I think these 2 gentlemen are a bit underrated. But Jimmy will always be my favorite guitarist. , Jo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zosodude13 Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 just in overall response to the comments about comparing artist too each other. It's all a personal, subjective thing to each individual person. Sure, I guess you could find general trends that exist amongst people... like 'Jimi Hendrix is a top 3 guitarist of all time'. Something like that doesn't stir debate or opinions. The overrated/underrated thing is a broadcast of your personal opinion, thus likely to get people saying who THEY feel is overrated/underrated and thus a debate, of sorts. There is never a decision made of something like this, it's more or less a public forum for us to say how how we feel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom kid Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Anyone seen the episode of Trailer Park Boys with the Rush concert in it? It's great, Alex is in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.