WHAT WAS THE GREATEST GUITAR SOLO OF THE EIGHTIES?
How about the best guitar riff? The ultimate guitar album? The decade’s most underappreciated player? Was Back to School better than Back to the Future? (At least one GW editor screams yes!) Did A Flock of Seagulls’ Mike Score really have a more bitchin’ hairstyle than Steve Stevens?
Well, whether you remember or not, we at GW have already opined on at least some of these burning issues — probably even more than once (and it all started with the February 1990 issue). Hey, we’ve been around for 42 years! This time, however, we decided to open things up to a host of guitar stars (plus a few GW editors), some of whom were already doing their thing 35 years ago, and some who weren’t even born yet.
WE ASKED THEM TO ANSWER THESE 10 QUESTIONS ABOUT THE EIGHTIES — AND TO ELABORATE WHENEVER THEY DEEMED IT NECESSARY:
1. Greatest guitar solo
2. Best riff
3. Ultimate guitar album
4. Piece of gear that screams “Eighties”
5. Guitarist of the decade
6. Greatest shredder
7. Underappreciated hero
8. Best movie
9. Greatest hairstyle
10. Ultimate Eighties accessory.
Below, you can check out their answers — plus one or two kinda interesting sidebars along the way. Enjoy! And, by the way, for more about the February 1990 issue of GW, check out page 47!
VERNON REID (LIVING COLOUR)
SOLO: “Devil Take the Hindmost” by Allan Holdsworth. Insane fluidity like [Eric] Dolphy, ’Trane and a space alien all at one go.
RIFF: “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses. That riff is basic, but it feels elemental. It’s like the guitar played itself and Slash just channeled it.
GUITAR ALBUM: Discipline by King Crimson. It’s incredible that two guitarists with radically opposite approaches made such a beautifully subtle and colorful album. A total reinvention of Crimson. Adrian Belew and Robert Fripp basically made the rock equivalent of a David Lynch film.
GEAR: ADA MP-1 preamp into a VHT power amp.
MOVIE: Aliens
HAIRSTYLE: Mike Score of A Flock of Seagulls
GUITARIST OF THE DECADE: Allan Holdsworth. Every other metal or rock guitarist had to deal with the fact that Allan fundamentally shifted the game.
SHREDDER: Steve Vai, the mad, mercurial scientist. His openness and extraordinary range, not to mention insane chops. From David Lee Roth to Public Image Ltd., remarkable.
UNDERAPPRECIATED HERO: Greg Howe was amazing then and is phenomenal now. His evolution from metal to fusion — with stops at bebop along the way — is incredible. Why is he consistently underappreciated? You tell me, or go ask Kermit the Frog.
ACCESSORY: A fanny pack. Never be caught dead with one.
JOHN PETRUCCI (DREAM THEATER)
My favorite band is Rush, so I think of the solo in “YYZ.” Not only do I love Rush and Alex [], and that’s an instrumental, but the solo he did just became very influential to me. It has a kinda exotic sound; he’s using open strings and pull-offs, and it just has this nice slippery, slinky vibe to it. I love the whole vibe.
