If one guitarist plays music with more speed and accuracy, and with more feeling...

[72-10]

Overdrive, Metallica might be fifth, they do have a lot of great riffs such as Battery, Sanatarium, The Unforgiven, the list goes on, you're right, but I'm not sure I buy that they're better at it than, and I don't mean to beat a dead horse, Hendrix, or Clapton. Riffs like Changes, Power of Soul, and SWLABR are completely brilliant.

And all of those ATG bands are pretty amazing. I prefer them to solo artists.

[Overdrive]

Overdrive, Metallica might be fifth, they do have a lot of great riffs such as Battery, Sanatarium, The Unforgiven, the list goes on, you're right, but I'm not sure I buy that they're better at it than, and I don't mean to beat a dead horse, Hendrix, or Clapton. Riffs like Changes, Power of Soul, and SWLABR are completely brilliant.

And all of those ATG bands are pretty amazing. I prefer them to solo artists.

I really don't like ranking artists. I would tell you who isn't first, but never who is.

Mark Knopfler shits on all the fools brought up in here. He displays the best mix of technical proficiency, melody, and emotive ability.

I love him. One of my favs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG__SwkV3wg

[Prometheus]

Sorry to not answer your question sooner - I did not feel like addressing a large post atm. Vocal harmony, dude. That is mostly what I meant. The Stones have sung together on many songs. Ruby Tuesday, for example. Zeppelin did once or twice in their whole career, and they weren't real classics.

I'd have to think more through the Stones' extensive catalogue to come up with some good answers for instrumental harmony, but Jumpin' Jack Flash, Tumbling Dice, Loving Cup, Brown Sugar and You Can't Always Get What You Want for starters.

Each of those songs is made out of like 3-5 basic triads. All of tumblin dice is I-V-IV in a single key. It would be difficult to find music that is harmonically simpler... maybe Nirvana.

A good example of instrumental harmony by one of the "big five" would be "Nobody Home" and "The Trial" by Pink Floyd. But Bob Ezrin helped write those... turns out rock musicians aren't usually all that sophisticated in composition.

[Prometheus]

Also yeah if you meant vocal harmony then you're right.

[72-10]

Mark Knopfler shits on all the fools brought up in here. He displays the best mix of technical proficiency, melody, and emotive ability.

I've heard Dire Straits' debut, and although he is clearly great at the instrument, and I'd still have to say Sultans of Swing is a bit of an outlier, I have to disagree wholeheartedly based on that and what I've heard on radio (mostly Brothers in Arms). Thanks for bringing up another guitarist, though.

Knopfler's approach reminds me a lot of Gilmour's.

[72-10]

Each of those songs is made out of like 3-5 basic triads. All of tumblin dice is I-V-IV in a single key. It would be difficult to find music that is harmonically simpler... maybe Nirvana.

A good example of instrumental harmony by one of the "big five" would be "Nobody Home" and "The Trial" by Pink Floyd. But Bob Ezrin helped write those... turns out rock musicians aren't usually all that sophisticated in composition.

You don't think Brown Sugar and You Can't Always Get What You Want are harmonically perfect? If so, I'd have to wonder if you're tone deaf.

By the way, for the purposes of list making, it wouldn't matter if a session musician were to help write or compose something, it would still be credited to the recording artist in the sense of a list… you seem to think more along the lines of ensembles.

Now, nobody was better at employing a little help than the Stones.

[Smoke117]

I've heard Dire Straits' debut, and although he is clearly great at the instrument, and I'd still have to say Sultans of Swing is a bit of an outlier, I have to disagree wholeheartedly based on that and what I've heard on radio (mostly Brothers in Arms). Thanks for bringing up another guitarist, though.

Knopfler's approach reminds me a lot of Gilmour's.

lol. You haven't heard shit then:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG5XQqaSwbM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxaSLYmfVFc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O78v_GhEtgk

[Prometheus]

You don't think Brown Sugar and You Can't Always Get What You Want are harmonically perfect? If so, I'd have to wonder if you're tone deaf.

I love both of those songs. I never said anything about them not being... "perfect". I just said they are exceedingly simple. I never said that was a bad thing. Some of my favorite songs are very simple.

If I didn't like simple music, I would only listen to jazz and 19th-20th century classical music. I wouldn't even talk about rock.

This all came from you claiming LZ was "lacking in harmony". I only meant to point out that they actually composed harmonies more complex than anything done by the Stones. I've been very consistent this whole time about insisting that DOES NOT make them "better".

Beast of Burden has been in my small handful of absolute favorite songs for my entire adult life, and iirc that is basically the same four chords from start to finish. Sometimes four chords is all you need.

[Overdrive]

Knopfler's approach reminds me a lot of Gilmour's.

How?