[Porsche-O-Phile]

Great topic!

I have to agree with a lot of what's been said. I think David Evans is one of the most underrated out there - what he does with timing/delay is nothing short of genius, and he's been doing it for years. AND he pushes the envelope constantly, not getting caught in a particular sound or style like so many others - yet you can still always tell its him... He's very, very good.

Just D/L-ed a bunch of old Eric Johnon faves on iTunes, I don't tire of his stuff (ditto Satriani) but some of his other material just gets old quickly (too many minor pentatonic scales). Malmstein bores the hell out of me for exactly that reason. How many damn scales can a guy listen to - no matter how quickly they're played?

Surprised nobody's mentioned Steve Vai. I think he thinks he's better than he really is, but he's still talented. Don't particularly care for his style, but I can appreciate it. I think Nuno Bettencourt's stuff is pretty good too, but again not my cup of tea for style in most cases.

Alex Lifeson is definitely underrated. If you're a Rush fan, pick up "Victor" (his solo album). You'll be pleasantly surprised at what else he can do. He's a good and talented musician and it's fun to hear him just unloading and having fun without being "burdened" by the high expectations of Rush fans for technically-composed music. "Victor" is more him just screwing around jamming and having fun.

Hendrix is always fun to listen to - ditto OLD Clapton and Mike Rutherford (Genesis). All solid and competent. Same with Bobby Kreiger (Doors). None of them are particularly "genius" in the sense of having timeless vision or irreversibly changing the direction of the art (exception: Hendrix) but all are good and solid and fun and have cranked out some timeless pieces individually.

I find Yes' old stuff good also.