Gilmour...

poopot

Guitar genius?

or

vastly overrated?

IntoTheRough

Neither. Very good player with exceptional feel and tone. Tasteful rather than tasty, as it were

octatonic

It depends on what criteria you use to make a judgement.

If you are of the 'taste, texture & tone' school of thought then perhaps a genius.
If you are 'brutalz shred' school then it might not hit the mark.

stonevibe

His rendition of Postman Pat was a masterpiece

Teetonetal

Neither. Was a great fit for pink floyd and as a part of that band created a very distinctive sound. But take the other elements of the band away and he is not really able to stand alone.

So what you have in my opinion is someone whose natural style fitted very well with his band members and elevated the collective above the individual talents.... but his contribution required the support of the others to hit the heights.

As evidence, I would reference his entire solo / post waters PF catalogue...

stickyfiddle

Really great guitarist who made a handful of massive contributions to the list of all-time great songs (Comfortably Numb, Money, WYWH, Shine On). An ok songwriter but useless without Waters.

Definitely also overrated by many many guitar players. 

AlexC

I would say - great musician. He writes songs that evoke a time and a place and world view. And his guitar playing is a huge part of that. I’ve heard some people refer to him as a ‘feel’ player as opposed to a ‘technical’ player. I don’t really get that... IMO the point of being a musician is to make music not demonstrate your ability to play scales quickly or whatever.

dazzajl

As a HUUUUUUGE Gily fan, I'm not sure I'd say genius. To me genius suggests an intellectual approach and presence in their art that is vastly above most in the field. With Gilmour it looks to me like it's all instinctive and the part of his talent that sets him apart is nearly all emotional.

Whatever it is that he has, I adore listening to it more than any other guitarist and it's clear that no one else can do it.

As evidence, I would reference Roger's entire solo touring career post PF

dazzajl

Also, I would say that Waters is a lyrical genius. You can't write Floyd songs without Roger and you can't perform them without Gilmour. Post Sid era of course. 

randella

Teetonetal said:

Neither. Was a great fit for pink floyd and as a part of that band created a very distinctive sound. But take the other elements of the band away and he is not really able to stand alone.

So what you have in my opinion is someone whose natural style fitted very well with his band members and elevated the collective above the individual talents.... but his contribution required the support of the others to hit the heights.

As evidence, I would reference his entire solo / post waters PF catalogue...

It's odd - his post-Floyd material has the ingredients: his guitar playing, his voice which has led Floyd for however many years, and the songs which *sound* like they should work. But it still leaves me cold.

I watched the 'Rattle that Lock' documentary and was left feeling that I still like his playing as much as I did, and he seems very affable, intelligent, and interesting to listen to, but I wasn't in any hurry to hit up Spotify for a repeat listen of the album after the programme finished.

randella

Maybe it's true after all - 'needs a Floyd'

Loobs

Genius? Not even close. Barrett was closer to genius than Gilmour will ever be. 

Gilmour is a very good guitarist with a good voice who can write ok songs and who made some great contributions to PF's music. 

Loobs

dazzajl said:

Also, I would say that Waters is a lyrical genius. 

Breathe, breathe in the air. Don't be afraid to care. 

Hardly Leonard Cohen, was he? 

Gassage

I once asked Guy Pratt who was the greatest guitarist he'd ever worked with.

He looked at me as if I was an idiot and said this:

"Imagine that Vai, Satriani, Slash and others went down a diamond mine...

"Three days later thay emerge- each carries 500 amazing diamonds, as good as you've ever seen and, proudly, they lay them on the ground in front of you and you're absolutely amazed and in awe...."

" A few hours later, David emerges from the mine. In his hands is just one diamond, set on a perfect velvet cushion- but it's the biggest, the most brilliant, the most perfectly cut diamond that you've ever seen, so perfect and so magnificent it takes your breath away, so intense that this moves you with its emotion and perfection, so much so that you remember it for the rest of your life."

That's the difference.

earwighoney

He doesn't get as many games for Chelsea as he should.

A real prospect.

SPECTRUM001

Hmmm, how on earth to measure the definition of Genius...

I would suggest that he is one of the greatest guitar players to grace popular music, and way more talented than we quite realise. Every artist/player has their ups and downs - Bowie was quite vocal about having to wade through the crap to get to the gems, so it is ok to excuse the duffers.

IMHO, "On An Island" and "Rattle That Lock" cemented Gilmour's ability to come up with exquisite LPs that commented on the world and times they were created. Gorgeous albums.

And going solo when part of a band such as PF is a pretty tall order. How many solo careers are as good as the respective band members' repertoire - Robert Plant/Jimmy Page ? Johnny Thunders ? Graham Coxon ?

In fact, new thread time...

Loobs

SPECTRUM001 said:

Hmmm, how on earth to measure the definition of Genius...

I would suggest that he is one of the greatest guitar players to grace popular music, and way more talented than we quite realise. Every artist/player has their ups and downs - Bowie was quite vocal about having to wade through the crap to get to the gems, so it is ok to excuse the duffers.

IMHO, "On An Island" and "Rattle That Lock" cemented Gilmour's ability to come up with exquisite LPs that commented on the world and times they were created. Gorgeous albums.

And going solo when part of a band such as PF is a pretty tall order. How many solo careers are as good as the respective band members' repertoire - Robert Plant/Jimmy Page ? Johnny Thunders ? Graham Coxon ?

In fact, new thread time...

I dunno, Johnny Thunders did write "You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory." Coxon has done some great solo stuff. I would personally say Gilmour's solo music is absolute middle-of-the-road guff. 

dazzajl

Loobs said:

dazzajl said:

Also, I would say that Waters is a lyrical genius. 

Breathe, breathe in the air. Don't be afraid to care. 

Hardly Leonard Cohen, was he? 

I didn't say every word was perfect. For that, there is only Paul Simon.

I'm really not a Waters fan, he comes across as a big headed and petulant 6 year old to me but I can't not credit him with some truly great work.

SPECTRUM001

Loobs said:

I dunno, Johnny Thunders did write "You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory." Coxon has done some great solo stuff. I would personally say Gilmour's solo music is absolute middle-of-the-road guff. 

Yes indeed, both Johnny Thunders and Graham Coxon released some great material outside of their bands' repertoire - but I would contest whether they actually outshine The New York Dolls and Blur ? 

Obviously it's all subjective, and answering my own question, of course Clapton, Frampton etc have had enormous success post being in bands.

SPECTRUM001

Back to Gilmour though. 

If he is "vastly over-rated", then....errrr....

dazzajl

Gassage said:

I once asked Guy Pratt who was the greatest guitarist he'd ever worked with.

He looked at me as if I was an idiot and said this:

"Imagine that Vai, Satriani, Slash and others went down a diamond mine...

"Three days later thay emerge- each carries 500 amazing diamonds, as good as you've ever seen and, proudly, they lay them on the ground in front of you and you're absolutely amazed and in awe...."

" A few hours later, David emerges from the mine. In his hands is just one diamond, set on a perfect velvet cushion- but it's the biggest, the most brilliant, the most perfectly cut diamond that you've ever seen, so perfect and so magnificent it takes your breath away, so intense that this moves you with its emotion and perfection, so much so that you remember it for the rest of your life."

That's the difference.

Guy really does talk a LOT doesn't he. Very seldom wrong mind.