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Joel McIver
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100 Greatest Metal Guitarists Paperback – Illustrated, 24 Mar. 2009

by Joel McIver (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars 23 ratings
"The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists" is a controversial and much-needed guide to the world of metal guitar, featuring the most accomplished performers from the vast legions of metal. As well as celebrating the classic metal musicians who have defined the scene since the 1970s, author Joel McIver delves deep into the modern thrash metal, death metal, black metal, doom metal, power metal and battle metal movements to unearth those players for whom no tremolo divebomb is too high and no tuning is too low. This book is no mere list for geeks, though. McIver's objective in writing this book is to recognise the incredible skills that these players possess.Moreover, although they're all masters of sweep picking, fretboard tapping and the other tricks of the modern shredder, these players are far from simple speed freaks. "The 100 Greatest"...makes a point of featuring players whose feel and instinct for the values of metal outweigh mere technical mastery. If you've ever wielded a tennis rack in anger in front of a bedroom mirror, or even if you're a metal musician yourself, you need this book - the world of the overdriven guitar will never look the same again.
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  1. Print length
    224 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Jawbone
  4. Publication date
    24 Mar. 2009
  5. Dimensions
    21.59 x 1.27 x 27.31 cm
  6. ISBN-10
    1906002207
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1906002206
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Product description

About the Author

Joel McIver writes for Total Guitar, Metal Hammer and many other music magazines and is the author of 11 books to date. The best-known of these is Justice For All: The Truth About Metallica (2004), which has sold over 30,000 copies in eight languages.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Jawbone; Illustrated edition (24 Mar. 2009)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1906002207
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1906002206
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 21.59 x 1.27 x 27.31 cm
  • Customer reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 23 ratings

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Joel McIver

Joel McIver

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4.4 out of 5 stars
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Top reviews from United Kingdom

  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Present for my son: "Best X-mas present ever! ...
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 December 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Present for my son:
    "Best X-mas present ever!!"
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  • Gordon Heaney
    4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting read
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 January 2010
    Verified Purchase
    I would guess that when you attempt to write a book on the top 100 heavy metal guitarists, it's almost inevitabe that it ends up looking like "the guitarists from my top 100 favourite bands" - and this is what it looks like with this book. I may well be wrong. That aside, Mr McIver has done a good job in putting this book together.

    I have been into metal since 1981 but there are many, many players in here I have never heard of, in bands I have never heard of. Maybe that's my age! The downside of that is that I don't really want to read about players I don't know - but the upside is that there may be one or two bands I need to go away and listen to!

    McIver himself acknowledges that any attempt to rank metal guitar players is going to be controversial - and he's right! Looking at, for example, the top ten he ranks, I agree with most of the entries but not in the order he places them. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but his number one greatest heavy metal guitarist is indeed an interesting and controversial choice. A metal icon of recent times, yes, a writer of some great riffs and songs, yes- but the best ever? Hmmmm. At least there is recognition of James Hetfield, his awesome rhythm playing and his huge influence on metal (he played all the guitars on the first five Metallica albums other than most of the solos, therefore becoming one of the most influencial players of the 1980's and early 90's). In my view, Kirk Hammet is over-rated as a player. But most people do not share that view.

    What would have been useful is maybe a list of criteria that McIver used to decide on the ranking e.g. infuence, technical ability, riff writing, etc.

    At the same time, I'm confused over his categorisation of styles - e.g. Randy Rhodes does not appear at all in the top 100 because McIver classifies him as a 'shredder' (highly debatable in itself) and not a 'metal' player. But all the Iron Maiden guitarists make it in - so Ozzy is not metal but Maiden are? Also, in the list of shredders, Paul Gilbert is number 11! And Jason Becker even further behind! But that's ranking players for you - someone always disagrees........

    There are one or two minor errors I have spotted in the book, but that is inevitable given the amount of research that goes into a book like this. But I would still recommend this book for entertainment value and for the joy of reading someone's work that (mostly) aligns with my views and opinions. I like the quotes from the players themselves on who they themselves rate and enjoy. Worth a read.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Mr. S. Barnes
    4.0 out of 5 stars 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 February 2010
    Verified Purchase
    Very good book, informative, interesting and very detailed. McIver goes into a lot of detail that is interesting to players as well as anyone who has never touched a guitar.

    It's a well illustrated book, some great pictures in there and it's a decent sized read, far from anything like a mindless 'Kerrang top 100' list. No, this has been carefully ordered and backed up, often Miciver gives examples of what he is explaining and so you don't have to go just by his word all the time.

    Overall a worthwile purchase and nice edition to any music fan's collection.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Rilla7
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 July 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Brilliantly written, really good to own
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  • Amazon カスタマー
    3.0 out of 5 stars Has limits
    Reviewed in Japan on 5 February 2021
    Verified Purchase
    A couple of issues with this book. It was written in 2010 or so, so it is about ten years out of date. The author unapologetically decided that all 80s Glam metal doesn’t count, all speed metal doesn't count, and most of 70s metal doesn't count. So if you are looking for the names of Jimmy Page, Yngwie Malmsteen, Randy Rhoads, George Lynch, Steve Perry or Eddie Van Halen, this is not the book for you. However, if you think obscure Swedish death metal is the pinnacle of metal, you might enjoy it.
    Also, I know it is metal, but couldn’t you put at least a few color pictures in it? At least of the top 5 guitarists?

    Still, he did rank Dave Mustaine first, who is my favorite guitarist, so he gets three stars.
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  • FW
    5.0 out of 5 stars Hier findet man 100% Metalgitarristen
    Reviewed in Germany on 9 March 2010
    Verified Purchase
    Gitarren-Götter wie Angus Young sucht ihr hier vergebens, denn dieses Buch hat sich ausschließlich der Kategorie "Metal" verschrieben.
    Da die Medien alles strikt in Schubladen stecken wollen, gibt es ja so viele "Metal-Richtungen". Doch oft ist die Linie zwischen 2 Abspaltungen viel schwammiger als es manche wahrhaben wollen.
    Hier ist für jeden was dabei: von deutschem Powermetal über black/deth-Metal aus dem hohen Norden bis hin zu Thrashmetal aus den US of A

    In englischer Sprache präsentiert euch Joel McIver seine Top 100 der besten Metalgitarristen.
    Hierbei hat auch der Einfluss des jeweiligen Spielers auf die Szene ein großes Gewicht.
    Über jeden erwähnten Musiker erfährt man das ein oder andere...McIvers eigene Eindrücke, Bandgeschichten, Interviews, Bilder...und bei jedem wird eine Hörprobe empfohlen
    (so kann man andere Bands des Genres für sich entdecken)
    McIver ist kein unbeschriebenes Blatt. Weitere Werke befassen sich mit Metallica, Slayer und Black Sabbath. (Wobei "Justice for All - Die Wahrheit über Metallica" wohl den höchsten Bekanntheitsgrad genießt.)

    Das Buch ist wie ein Countdown aufgebaut(Man beginnt also bei Platz 100 und landet am Ende bei der Nummer 1)
    Je besser die Platzierung des Gitarristen ist, desto mehr könnt ihr über ihn erfahren.
    Blättert nicht zum Ende, lasst euch überraschen wer es verdient auf Platz 1 geschafft hat.

    Ein Muss für alle die der Musikrichtung etwas abgewinnen können oder selbst in die Saiten greifen.

    PS: Auf den seitenfüllenden Fotos sieht man jeden Fingerabdruck.
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  • Ibishead
    5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read for Advanced Guitar Players
    Reviewed in the United States on 23 December 2012
    Verified Purchase
    I am not an advanced guitar player; I am a raw beginner, but if I were an advanced guitar player, I would say this: the book is awesome because the author tells you which guitar and equipment each of the musicians uses. He also interviews many of them, so you'll get some neat insight into their personality. At the end of every musician's chapter, the author writes about his "moment of genius." It is usually the most difficult, groundbreaking song the musician has played. You'll also find suggestions for what songs or albums you should listen to for the particular artist and his band.

    I can't relate to the book's information much at the moment, but as I become more entrenched in guitar playing, I know I will appreciate it more and more. I have never heard of most of the guitar players and bands mentioned in the book, so if you're new to this, you're sure to learn something new. If you are a metal fan, you have to buy this book. If you are a guitar player, consider buying it if only to explore new terrain. You may find someone you like in there, and if you practice some complex metal songs, you will undoutedly become more dextrous and will be able to play a wider range of tunes in your own musical style. Don't get stuck in your point of view. Explore, and you will grow.

    Btw, don't expect to find things about Slash and Steve Vai. The author has a section at the end of the book where he lists his top 20 slashers, but he rightly says that they are not metal players, but hard rockers. Eddie Van Halen was on that list, and so was Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen, and the two mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph.
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  • H. f M.
    4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, goo writing, no tech descriptions....
    Reviewed in the United States on 24 December 2010
    Verified Purchase
    Lets start by saying that this is a really good list... really good. I think that Joel puts down the really top 100; you might disagree with a couple of guitarist player spot, this should be up or down, whatever.... The bottom line is that whatever the spot he really spent some time researching and putting some brain on this. The logic behind this is very objective.

    I disagree in some guitarist spots like Marty Freidman, martys should be closet to the top 10.

    However the only flaw i found is the technical description of the style of each player. Here make some comments about some player but is not a consistent part of the book. I was expecting for a book like this a section in ALL PLAYER describing the technical part, for example, Tapping, arpeggios, scales, shred, skip strings, creativity, etc like a metric score matrix or something. This approach is more objective that what he did (that is very good)
    Lets say (example just for illustration purpses) from a scale from 1-10, 10 being the best
    Mary Friedman
    Tapping- 2
    Skip strings - 5
    Creativity - 7
    Scales arsenal - 8
    Arpegios - 5
    Wah - 3

    Overall is a must for a metal guitar fan
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  • N. Jacobs
    3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not great
    Reviewed in the United States on 27 August 2009
    Verified Purchase
    Well, this thing lives up to its name, but it's not without some serious flaws. I haven't read any of Joel McIver's other work, and I was really, really looking forward into delving into his Slayer biography as well as the Cliff Burton biography. After reading this, however, I have some doubts about the thoroughness of his writing.

    First of all, there are some obvious taste issues here. Yes, I know that this is a book detailing McIver's personal opinion, and I'm not going to deny him that. If he wants to put Slipknot, Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet for My Valentine, and Rage Against the Machine in here, I'm not going to gripe. For the record, I do actually really agree with including Tom Morello in here, as well as Mick Thomson of Slipknot, as both of these players, though out of mainstream metal, did contribute quite a lot. But the serious problem with this, is that it really ends up being half players who brought something to the table, and the other half just a sloppy compilation of the most currently popular guitarists in metal.

    Which brings us to the next problem: players that really don't belong in here. Kirk Hammet? Are you serious, Joel? Maybe he's iconic, but his soloing brings NOTHING to the table. Jeff Hannemann, yes, for his atonal soloing and whammy dives, way more important than Kirk. And I see that Dennis "Piggy" Amour, made the list of 150 great guitarists, but for the love of God! His playing was way more influential and groundbreaking than a hell of a lot of the guys in this book.

    When he does introduce some reasonably overlooked, but genius players, he really leaves out great details. Take Chris Poland, a phenomenal, highly original lead player. His "genius moment" is the "nifty riffs" from Megadeth's "Mechanix," a song written solely by Mustaine. I personally would have probably said the smooth soloing all over Peace Sells, namely the intro solos to "Good Mourning" and "Bad Omen." Mind you, Poland never wrote any songs, let alone riffs, for Megadeth.

    McIver also focuses primarily on a band's recent work. Let's take the case of Opeth: he constantly refers to Ghost Reveries, while not mentioning the pioneering spirit of their early work (while we're on the subject, Akerfeldt does deserve to be in the book, but ex-guitarist Peter Lindgren? What EXACTLY did he bring to the table?).

    Now, here are some gaping flaws:
    1. He says Sepultura are from Sao Paulo, when in fact they are from Belo Horizonte.
    2. When discussing Mercyful Fate's Michael Denner, he mentions several of their early albums, but NOT Melissa. Any serious metalhead would view this as blasphemy, as Melissa is quite equal to Don't Break the Oath, and AT LEAST deserves to be mentioned.
    3. McIver doesn't concentrate enough on each player's technical abilities. This book would have profited immensely from a more scholarly approach and focused view of each player's style.

    All in all, it's a great coffee table book, and highly enjoyable, but it is quite lacking.
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