90s British Guitar Legends

dogload

JookyChap said:

Totally agree with them. Nick McCabe is seriously underrated. I'd add Terry Bickers, though more for when he was with Levitation than House of Love. 

This, for sure. Bickers was great in Levitation, if a little mad - Terry 'Mental' Bickers I think he was known as in our circle! Not very PC, I know. 

Doffed cap to Bic Hayes, also of Levitation and The Cardiacs. 

McCabe made Verve - their early, trippy stuff was brilliant, and sounded incredible live.

JookyChap

dogload said:

JookyChap said:

Totally agree with them. Nick McCabe is seriously underrated. I'd add Terry Bickers, though more for when he was with Levitation than House of Love. 

This, for sure. Bickers was great in Levitation, if a little mad - Terry 'Mental' Bickers I think he was known as in our circle! Not very PC, I know. 

Doffed cap to Bic Hayes, also of Levitation and The Cardiacs. 

McCabe made Verve - their early, trippy stuff was brilliant, and sounded incredible live.

Good call on Bic Hayes too. I remember seeing Levitation and Bickers looked like a rock god, while Bic looked like his guitar playing pet gremlin

axisus

No-one in this thread mentioned so far does anything for me, but then I was still listening to prog rock in the 90s (still am actually). 

EricTheWeary

Wow, this is such a lost period for me musically. I don't know who half these people are, although I did see The Verve live and thought they were an abysmal shambles. Right, back to the 1970s... :-SS

bigjon

Dominic Miller with Sting.
Allan Holdsworth did his best work in the 90s - the Hard Hat Area album in particular.

JookyChap

Another one - Tim Bricheno from All About Eve, The Mission and Sisters of Mercy. Can't beat a bit of goff

xSkarloey

I should be working but then I made the happy mistake of clicking on this thread.... 

Okay for me here's who deserves the title: 

Top of the tree has got to be John Squire, the man who made it OKAY TO SOLO again, after all that often tasteful but too buttoned up at times 80's approach. 

James DB out the Manics. Yes I hear what people are saying about variable output, but I've got two words for youse lot: Motorcycle Emptiness. That wins him a place in the Pantheon on its own, before we even begin talking about the masterclass that is the album Everything Must Go. 

After that I suppose I'd have to say Noel G, not because the's any great shakes as a player, but he was massive for a time and played the guitar. 

After that it all gets a bit moot IMO. So many great player burned brightly for a bit but couldn't keep it going. 

The lads out of Primal Scream in the Screamadelica era. That band got it absolutely right in the mix of techno/ trance and rock for a while. 

Terry Bickers but it all tailed off. 

Will Sargent of the Bunnymen I  know is more associated with the 80s, but was doing great stuff in the 90s for a while. That whole album Evergreen is great IMO and has some great playing on it. 

Ride were good for a while, esp. the "Leave it all behind" era. 

Skin Tyson: not a household name, but he was in Cast and he's a great sideman for Robert Plant these days.  

Reverend

Bill Steer!

Both for the extreme metal side with Carcass and for his blues rock work with Firebird and Gentleman's Pistols. 

not_the_dj

What about some of the rockier guys? 

Bruce John Dickinson from The Little Angles, Luke Morley and Ben Matthews in Thunder and Tantrum on the first two Almighty albums. 

That was a great period for homegrown rock bands.

english_bob

Heartfeltdawn said:

Given the impact Loveless has had since its release in 1991, then any list of 90's guitarists should have Kevin Shields on it. 

Stuart Braithwaite with Mogwai - if we're talking influential, then his work as main guitarist on Young Team has been huge. 

I thought someone would probably mention those two bands. I would have, but I thought it would be better coming from someone who actually liked them.

mudslide73

Gaz Coombes. Was listening to "In it for the money" just this morning. Skin Tyson from Cast was a big fav of mine too (now with Sir Robert Plant).

Squire, Coxon, Butler etc. Ftw.

english_bob

GavRichList said:

I'd be putting Dominic Chad on this list too. Subliminally influenced more of my penchant for batshit than i'd perhaps instantly realise.

I'd completely forgotten about Mansun. I need to go home and check if I've still got their albums.

Interesting Whammy pedal stuff as I recall...

Alnico

@Skarloey has just reminded me by mentioning 'Cast' that 'John Powers' doesn't get the recognition he deserves. He led the band 'The La's' in the 80's, my friend 'Phil Butcher' being the drummer.

John is a great singer and guitarist but he's also a great songwriter and a really decent bloke if you ever meet him.

xSkarloey

@alnico

I thought Mavers was the boss in The La's?

I never bought any Cast albums but I liked the singles a lot. What I liked about John Powers was the way he got on with things and did well with Cast after the start-stop nature of things with The La's.

Alnico

Skarloey said:

@alnico

I thought Mavers was the boss in The La's?

I never bought any Cast albums but I liked the singles a lot. What I liked about John Powers was the way he got on with things and did well with Cast after the start-stop nature of things with The La's.

@Skarloey

Now you might be right there. Phil always spoke of John as 'Knowing what he was doing' and i always kind of presumed him to be the band leader - the actual politics may have been different and / or i have just misunderstood what i was told but John was the serious talent in that band - what he went on to achieve with 'Cast' far outshone anything 'The La's' ever did and that was all down to John.

I like 'The La's' but i know what you mean about that stop-start thing. Phil emigrated to LA soon after it all finished and has been there ever since.

From Seaforth to Santa Monica. The boy done well !

hobbio

I love 90's music, but I don't really associate that decade with "Guitar Legends" In my head it's where guitar basically stopped being a soloist's instrument and dropped back into the rhythm section.

If we're talking textures, I'm surprised that nobody's mentioned Mark Day. Yes, the Mondays formed in the mid 80's but the early 90's is when they were HUGE. Some of the guitar work on Pills Thrills and Bellyaches is superb.

xSkarloey

@alnico Interest piqued I've popped 'The Las' on. What a feckin great record!

According to the booklet Mavers wrote most of the tracks. They could have been one of the greats but there you go...

Good on JP for moving on and hitting big.

@hobbio Mark Day. That was him. Tracks like 'Step On'. Great stuff. I mean where else were kids going to hear proper feedback in a Top 40 tune back then?!

randomhandclaps

With regards to The La's we actually know Lee and that crowd (via the Shack boys) and let's just say Lee may have led the band but someone would have needed to lead Lee to where he needed to be on time.

hobbio

@Skarloey Loose Fit has one of my favourite guitar parts from any song. I really should learn it one day.

richardhomer

hobbio;868521" said:

@Skarloey Loose Fit has one of my favourite guitar parts from any song. I really should learn it one day.

I love that song - I agree about the guitar part. It has a really hypnotic quality to it.