Gilmour...

wellsyboy

I am certain that if I got to watch him work or sit and watch him write etc I would be mesmerised but Pink FLoyd have never done it for me - no matter how hard I try I can’t bear listening to them. I tried agin recently and it didn’t work out. Hey Ho - its basically subjective - as a guitarist I admire his invention and touch but..............

proggy

He is a genius. Just one bend of one note and you know straight away it's him.
Despite Waters' lyrical skills, Floyd albums wouldn't be as great without the Gilmour sound.

Careful with that axe you genius....

wellsyboy

Gassage said:

Stuckfast said:

The Madcap Laughs is a work of pure genius. Personally I find everything Floyd did after Echoes crashingly dull.

I don't really understand why you'd venerate Gilmour as a guitarist when there were much better players in other 70s prog bands -- Fripp, Howe etc.

Because music is measure subjectively, not objectively.

The only way you can measure objectively is by how many albums sold and how many guitarists he inspired to play/influenced or play his licks, and on both of those measurements, he's miles ahead of Fripp and Howe.

I agree about the subjective comment but how do you measure genius? I understand the definition of genius but who decides? And then you come back to subjectivity to a certain extent.

sweepy

I’ll just leave this here, a few notes and you know who it is

https://youtu.be/Q85rVFZ9zaI

Gassage

wellsyboy said:

Gassage said:

Stuckfast said:

The Madcap Laughs is a work of pure genius. Personally I find everything Floyd did after Echoes crashingly dull.

I don't really understand why you'd venerate Gilmour as a guitarist when there were much better players in other 70s prog bands -- Fripp, Howe etc.

Because music is measure subjectively, not objectively.

The only way you can measure objectively is by how many albums sold and how many guitarists he inspired to play/influenced or play his licks, and on both of those measurements, he's miles ahead of Fripp and Howe.

I agree about the subjective comment but how do you measure genius?

You can't. You have to contextualise the word- so 'creative genius' ?

Loobs

:-D 

MagicPigDetective

Genius is a difficult word to define. How about 'fucking awesome'....? 

Gassage

sweepy said:

I’ll just leave this here, a few notes and you know who it is

https://youtu.be/Q85rVFZ9zaI

"David, can you send me some noodlely stuff over for my solo album?"

"Sure- you can have this- I did it for All About Eve, but it'll work the same...nobody'll notice"

All About Eve - 'Wishing The Hours Away' (1991) w/ David Gilmour - YouTube

earwighoney

Gassage said:

The only way you can measure objectively is by how many albums sold and how many guitarists he inspired to play/influenced or play his licks, and on both of those measurements, he's miles ahead of Fripp and Howe.

Re this point, I'm not disagreeing with you but in the metal/math rock and so on side of things Fripp has a had a huge thumb print and the realms I'm familiar with Fripp is massively influential.

The spheres of Gilmour's influence however are ones I am less familiar with.

IMO, the greatest guitarists aren't the ones with the best skills or the greatest song writers but are ones who inspire others to pick up the instrument, but that's just my opinion.

Loobs

talk about flogging a dead horse

Stuckfast

I don't think you can measure the greatness of a guitarist in number of albums sold or number of people inspired to pick up a guitar. If that was the case then Bob Dylan would be a great guitarist.

You could perhaps measure it in terms of originality or technical ability or versatility or in having an identifiable sound. In which case Gilmour would score highly on the last of them but not so much the others.

I think Gilmour's appeal as a guitarist actually lies in the fact that what he does is relatively easy to understand and imitate. The reason there aren't many Fripp or Howe copyists is that you'd have to dedicate years of your life just practising to be anywhere near able to play like that. Whereas most competent players with a Strat and a delay pedal can produce something that sounds reminiscent of Gilmour, even if it doesn't necessarily capture all the nuances of his playing.

Offset

SOYCD is the acid test for all you non-believers.  One of the best pieces of electric guitar work, period.  Still brings a lump to my throat after all these years and if someone put a gun to my head and asked me to pick my all time favourite track, it would be that song.

TheBigDipper

Stuckfast said:

The Madcap Laughs is a work of pure genius. Personally I find everything Floyd did after Echoes crashingly dull.

I don't really understand why you'd venerate Gilmour as a guitarist when there were much better players in other 70s prog bands -- Fripp, Howe etc.

Gilmour is a unique player with his own sound. I think Syd had more creative spark as a songwriter and singer, but the Syd PF and the Dave PF are two different animals from two different times. DG has the art of making difficult things to get right sound very easy indeed - and they're not always... 

BTW, I'm a prog head and love the playing of Fripp and Howe as much as Gilmour, but I've never considered Pink Floyd as being a prog band myself. 

stratman3142

Stuckfast said:

I think Gilmour's appeal as a guitarist actually lies in the fact that what he does is relatively easy to understand and imitate. The reason there aren't many Fripp or Howe copyists is that you'd have to dedicate years of your life just practising to be anywhere near able to play like that. 

Those are fighting words His string bending and vibrato aren't easy to imitate. Some players dedicate years of their lives practicing and don't acquire the skill of a decent vibrato.
 

Teetonetal

Gassage said:

Stuckfast said:

The Madcap Laughs is a work of pure genius. Personally I find everything Floyd did after Echoes crashingly dull.

I don't really understand why you'd venerate Gilmour as a guitarist when there were much better players in other 70s prog bands -- Fripp, Howe etc.

Because music is measure subjectively, not objectively.

The only way you can measure objectively is by how many albums sold and how many guitarists he inspired to play/influenced or play his licks, and on both of those measurements, he's miles ahead of Fripp and Howe.

I've never been comfortable by rating music by the number of copies sold. There are so many factors behind that from marketing & promotional power, to accessibility and fashion of the time.

There is a genius in being able to write any piece of music that sells - but I suppose the real genius in this context is when you can step into the mainstream with something that was up until that point either niche or uncool. Did PF / Gilmour do that?

impmann

Teetonetal said:

There is a genius in being able to write any piece of music that sells - but I suppose the real genius in this context is when you can step into the mainstream with something that was up until that point either niche or uncool. Did PF / Gilmour do that?

Yes.

Dark Side of the Moon.

viz

More of a musician than a guitarist I’d say, which is no slight on his guitar playing - I think he’s a good guitarist; he has a nice natural feel and a lovely sound. But I do like his writing, I really like On An Island. And I REALLY like the way his artistic voice has grown and aged with him. He’s not trying to be the same person he was when he was young. So he still has something genuine to say, and a genuine way to say it, and that’s what I’m interested in. 

Stuckfast

stratman3142 said:

Those are fighting words His string bending and vibrato aren't easy to imitate. Some players dedicate years of their lives practicing and don't acquire the skill of a decent vibrato.
 

Yes don't get me wrong, I'm sure that sounding exactly like Gilmour would be difficult. But you can do a sort of pastiche of the sound quite easily which isn't really the case with Fripp for example.

Gassage

I would hazard a guess that he's mentioned more on guitar forums than any other player alive or dead.

Would be interested if it were measureable.

I would also guess his famous namesake 'Dave Gilmore' would be in second place...

Chuffola

He's one of my favourite guitarists to listen to, without a doubt and has probably influenced my own style, for what it is, more than any other. 

I love the first two solo albums and saw him on the About Face tour which was among my earliest concerts. He's contributed to some of the most iconic music produced and arguably one of the greatest guitar solos in Comfortably Numb.  I think he's rated just about right - not over or under. 

Genius is a term bandied about too often though - he's not Frank Zappa - but definitely one of the most influential and melodic guitarists / musicians around, even now.