London Music Schools Name Top 25 Guitar Performances Of The Last 25 Years
Posted by Mitch Michaels on 01.03.2008
Foos, Rage, Nirvana, Bloc Party make the list...
To celebrate 25 years in setting the benchmark in teaching music, the students and staff of Tech Music schools in Acton, West London (home of the world's fist musical performance degree and now covering 15,000 sq. feet) have compiled a list of the top 25 guitar performances of the past 25 years. Hundreds took part and here are the results:
Top 25 Guitar Performances Of The Last 25 Years Survey
1) Guns N' Roses Sweet child of Mine
2) Deep Purple - Smoke On The Water
3) Bloc Party Helicopter
4) Dire Straits Money For Nothing
5) The Cult She Sells Sanctuary
6) Nirvana Smells Like Teen Spirit
7) The Police - Every Breath You Take
8) Arctic Monkeys Teddy Picker
9) Oasis - Cigarettes And Alcohol
10) Radiohead - Airbag
11) Aerosmith Walk This Way
12) Iron Maiden Can I Play With Madness
13) Metallica Enter Sandman
14) Slayer Angel of Death
15) Offspring The Kids Aren't Alright
16) Red Hot Chilli Peppers Otherside
17) Faith No More - Ashes to Ashes
18) Ocean Colour Scene The Riverboat Song
19) Van Halen/Apollo Four Forty - Ain't Talking bout Dub
20) The Cure - The Forest
21) Supergrass - Richard III
22) Foo Fighters - The Pretender
23) Foo Fighters Monkey Wrench
24) Kings of Leon Aha Shake Heartbreak
25) Rage Against The Machine Bulls On Parade
Some classic performances are included here, and there are more than a few notable ones missing. However, it's also noticeable that the more recent likes of Bloc Party and Arctic Monkeys are high in the list. And Foo Fighters are the only act to appear twice.
This is an absolutely awful list. Bloc Party the third best guitar performance of the last 25 years? They weren't even the third-best the year that album came out! And I'm the first one to toot the Kings of Leon horn but there's absolutely no way they should be winning guitar awards for anything.
Posted By: JCullen (Guest) on January 03, 2008 at 07:26 PM
Worst...Guitar List...Ever. Seriously, "Every Breath You Take?" Really? Sorry...while it's a good song, it's not a great guitar performance...it's not even a GOOD guitar performance. And "The Forest?" Again, great song, but not one of the best guitar performances of the last 25 years.
Bloc Party, really? Kings of Leon, Arctic Monkeys? What kind of music morons do they have at this "music" school?
Posted By: JeremyThomas (Registered) on January 03, 2008 at 07:45 PM
its nice to see cobain getting recognition for his guitar playing
Posted By: Jcon (Guest) on January 03, 2008 at 07:55 PM
Gotta appreciate the double shot of Foo's
Posted By: Joel Yeomans (Guest) on January 03, 2008 at 08:00 PM
Isn't Smoke on the Water the song that like EVERYBODY can play?
Posted By: Joel Yeomans (Guest) on January 03, 2008 at 08:01 PM
Next time don't let the students vote, they're still trend slaves.
I can play about half of the list decently, and I'm a pretty piss-poor guitarist.
Posted By: Torad (Guest) on January 03, 2008 at 08:10 PM
Yeah freakin right! Nirvana? Foo Fighters? Red Hot Child Porn? Give me a break! Where's the f'in Megadeth!!!?? How about some Zakk Wylde solos up there? Ever heard "Floods" by PanterA? This school of retards needs to stop listening to top 20 Billboard crap and get an original thought for once!
Posted By: gatesoftanhauser (Guest) on January 03, 2008 at 09:07 PM
No Jack White?
Posted By: Mike (Guest) on January 04, 2008 at 03:01 AM
I've got to throw down here, too, even though I posted this. This is a really awful list. I tried to think about it as "well, this is restricted to 1983 and on", but still so much missing. Anything by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Dream Theater, especially "Under A Glass Moon", MUCH better Metallica guitar moments, Pearl Jam, Prince, real Van Halen songs...damn, this is mind numbing...
Posted By: Mitch Michaels (Registered) on January 04, 2008 at 01:26 PM
List is so ignorant it deserves no comment other than to say where are guitar-oriented bands such as Priest, Lizzy, Michael Schenker, etc? What about Vai? Satriani? No Led Zep? Please...how ridiculous. And let's not forget, some of these are OVER 25 years old.
Posted By: songremainsinsane (Guest) on January 04, 2008 at 02:18 PM
I'm not one to preach...but... to the students and staff that were polled for this list, I have just one bit of advice. DON'T SMOKE CRACK!
Posted By: dwskynyrd13 (Guest) on January 04, 2008 at 03:31 PM
hm, this list must be a joke, right? every breath you take? otherside? walk this way? what is this? i suppose it to be pop!! hm, no jimi hendrix, no srv, no zz top, no eric clapton? and only one straits'? if you want to listen to good music, there are plenty of internet-streams, my favourite one is arrow classic rock! by the way, how old are those makers of the list? let me guess: 13-year-old girls?
Posted By: no, thank you (Guest) on January 09, 2008 at 02:23 PM
hey, britney spears and the backstreet boys are missing!
Posted By: rocker (Guest) on January 09, 2008 at 02:26 PM
ok, jimi is already dead for quite some time, but I fully agree that he was a hero of guitar!
Posted By: jimi (Guest) on January 09, 2008 at 02:38 PM
I think by all rights and by pure common sense, any top 5 list of top guitar performances has to include Eddie Van Halen, Slash, Ace Frehley, and Jimi Hendrix, and if not, need a convincing argument as to why.
For the record, my personal favorite is Van Halen's turn in Beat it by Michael Jackson. It didn't even make the list.
Posted By: BJC (Guest) on January 11, 2008 at 12:55 PM
Every kid who voted for Helicopter has a copy of Guitar Hero somewhere lying around. It's the only reason it would be that high on the list.
Posted By: OmegaSox (Guest) on January 14, 2008 at 01:28 PM