best all around musician?

[Rev0lver]

who do you guys think is the best overall musician out there? as in someone who can pick up an instrument and come up with a solo in less than a day.

personally, i think Sully Erna from Godsmack is great. hes got skillz with guitar and bass, and typically at their live shows comes out and does a drum battle/solo with their regular drummer. maybe not the greatest singer, but better than alot of others.

[Eastern-Eagles]

Billy Corgan is my pick. He's an incredible song writer, an underrated guitarist, a very good singer, and he played both guitar parts and the bass parts on Siamese Dream, one of the greatest albums ever made.

[velvetFREAKINrevolver]

ru ***!!???!!!!!

[velvetFREAKINrevolver]

sooo true !!!

[jeebuz]

definitely prince.

[jeebuz]

also eccentric as crap

dave grohl plays all instruments well

but if its all around good at everything i say Prince....dont laugh that guy can do anything while getting your girlfriend


totally!!!!!!!

[BhindBluEyes430]

I can write a solo in five minutes it and play it in that five minutes and it can kick most people wrtitten solos ass. Improvizing takes alot more skill than tabing out a solo. plus do you think jimi hendrix ever played the same solo twice?No. All great song solo's are improvised

[polishdog90]

I can write a solo in five minutes it and play it in that five minutes and it can kick most people wrtitten solos ass. Improvizing takes alot more skill than tabing out a solo. plus do you think jimi hendrix ever played the same solo twice?No. All great song solo's are improvised

Are you serious? It takes so much skill to compose a great solo. I can improvise and it sounds awesome, but I have trouble composing solos. Your logic doesn't even make sense. Your saying just because something is written it is worse. To write a great solo it takes just as much if not more skill than being great at improvising. If you think writing a great solo doesn't take skill just listen to Pink Floyd. David Gilmour wrote some of the most amazing solos. Jimi Hendrix was amazing and probably my favorite guitarist, but saying all great solos were improvised is dumb.

[StealthBeagle]

Edward.
Van.
Halen.

[battle_axe_of_doom]

^ rofl

the real answer is frank zappa

[frith]

Jack Black. He's got the whole package.

He can songwrite, sing, play guitar, and call you a douche for illegally d/l'ing songs in PSAs :)

[Seattle_Sound]

Billy Corgan or Dave Grohl

Billy is such a genius.....

[wickedbadz]

who do you guys think is the best overall musician out there? as in someone who can pick up an instrument and come up with a solo in less than a day.

personally, i think Sully Erna from Godsmack is great. hes got skillz with guitar and bass, and typically at their live shows comes out and does a drum battle/solo with their regular drummer. maybe not the greatest singer, but better than alot of others.


Jimmy Page without a doubt, so many great guitarist owe all their talent to Jimmy, even Eddie Van Halen credits Jimmy for his style. Without Jimmy Page we may not even know who alot of the great guitarist of today are. The sound Jimmy got from a Marshall back in the day was just amazing, even to this day it's difficult to mimic alot of what he did.

[AMnOesIa-drummer]

Billy Corgan or Dave Grohl

Billy is such a genius.....

I agree with you

[Seattle_Sound]

I agree with you

Yeah well Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie are pretty frickin amazing. People bash Zeitgeist but its really not that bad, its just not as good as SD and MCIS.

[jedbeetle]

i think question "who is the best musician?" is a little too open -
how do we define greatness in a musician? there are a variety of skills in the "musicianship" skillset and certain players will excel in one area or another.
so like -
who'se the best songwriter?
who's got the best chops on their instrument, and which instrument, and how many instruments?
who is the most creative player?
who plays with the most feeling?
who rocks the hardest?
who plays the best with others?
who is the best improviser?
who is the best at playing guitar and singing at the same time?
who is the best all-around?

also these things are difficult to judge objectively....

for me? Jimi, in the Rock world, covers a lot of those.

[Wangsandsuch]

Dave Grohl can play any instrument ever made. On drums alone he can melt faces.

[starkukraine]

I'll go with Prince or Stevie Wonder.

Grohl is pretty good for a pop musician. He is amazing on the skins though.

Josh Homme too since he can play guitar, bass and drums. First Queens of the stone age album played all by his lonesome.

[sephiroth702]

I may not like most of what he does, but Beck stands out above just about any other pop musician.

[starkukraine]

Beck is a songwriter... As far as a musician... I am sure he has other musicians play most of the instruments you hear on the albums with the exception of the album Sea Change. His earlier albums he played a lot of acoustic guitar but that hardly qualifies as "best ALL-AROUND musician"

[sephiroth702]

Beck is a songwriter... As far as a musician... I am sure he has other musicians play most of the instruments you hear on the albums with the exception of the album Sea Change. His earlier albums he played a lot of acoustic guitar but that hardly qualifies as "best ALL-AROUND musician"

Out of curiosity, do you have any proof about what he played on what albums? I was under the impression he played pretty much everything on all of his albums. Anyway, according to Wikipedia, he plays guitar, keyboards, bass, drums, harmonica, percussion, and sitar. A little more searching revealed that he played the accordion in a movie.

[starkukraine]

Wikipedia says for Sea Change:
Performers

* Beck Hansen – vocals, acoustic guitar, background vocals, electric guitar, percussion, synth, glockenspiel, banjo, harmonica, keyboards, piano, string arrangement, wurlitzer
* Justin Meldal-Johnsen – electric bass, upright bass, percussion, background vocals, glockenspiel, electric guitar, piano
* Roger Joseph Manning Jr. – clavinet, synth, background vocals, percussion, piano, wurlitzer, banjo, indian banjo, glockenspiel, harmonium
* Smokey Hormel – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, acoustic slide guitar, percussion, background vocals, bamboo saxophone, megamouth, piano, tape recorder
* Joey Waronker – drums, percussion, background vocals, beatbox drums
* James Gadson – drums
* Jason Falkner – electric guitar, background vocals, percussion
* David Campbell – string arrangement, conducting
* Nigel Godrich – keyboards, percussion, string treatment, synth
* Suzie Katayama – cello

Wikipedia says for Midnite Vultures :
* Beck – synthesizer, guitar, piano, keyboards, programming, vocals, choir, chorus, producer, vocoder, horn arrangements, mixing
* David Campbell – viola, string arrangements, string conductor
* Larry Corbett – cello
* Joel Derouin – violin
* Brian Gardner – mastering
* Bernie Grundman – mastering
* Greg Leisz – pedal steel
* Jay Dee Maness – pedal steel
* Johnny Marr – electric guitar
* Michael Patterson – mixing
* Herb Peterson – banjo
* Fernando Pullum – horn
* David Ralicke – trombone
* Joe Turano – horn, background vocals
* Arnold McCuller – background vocals
* Smokey Hormel – guitar
* Joey Waronker – percussion, drums
* Beth Orton – background vocals
* Chris Bellman – mastering
* The Dust Brothers – scratching, programming, producer, engineer
* Robert Carranza – string engineer
* Steve Baxter – horn, background vocals
* Justin Meldal-Johnsen – synthesizer, bass, guitar, percussion, background vocals, handclapping, shaker, upright bass
* Steve Mixdorf – second engineer
* Valerie Pinkston – background vocals
* Roger Joseph Manning Jr. – organ, synthesizer, piano, tambourine, background vocals, choir, chorus, clavinet, percussion, shaker, vocoder
* Mickey Petralia – programming, producer, engineer, mixing
* Shauna O'Brien – project manager
* DJ Swamp – scratching
* Eve Butler – violin
* Charlie Gross – photography
* Arroyo Bombers – choir, chorus
* Arroyo Tabernacle Men's Chorale – choir, chorus
* Jon Birdsong – trumpet
* Derek Carlson – second engineer
* Eye – artwork, art direction, design, collage
* Gimbop – layout direction
* Michel Gondry – collage
* Tony Hoffer – guitar, programming, producer, engineer, editing, mixing, wah wah guitar, sound design
* David Arthur Brown – tenor sax

Wikipedia says for Guero :
* Beck – vocals, guitars, bass guitars, additional sounds, percussion, slide guitar, 12-string guitar, clapping, stomping, programming, tambourines, harmonica, vocoder, piano, celeste, drums, beats, keyboards, kalimba, strings arranger, art direction, design, producer, recording, mixing
* The Dust Brothers – beats, claps, producers, recording, mixing
* Paolo Díaz – "dude" (speaks in the background of "Qué Onda Guero")
* Charlie Capen – additional sounds
* David Campbell – strings arranger
* Roger Joseph Manning Jr. – clavinet
* Justin Meldal-Johnsen – bass, guitar sounds
* Money Mark – organ
* Joey Waronker – drums
* Smokey Hormel – electric guitar
* Christina Ricci – forehead slap solo on "Hell Yes"
* Jack White – bass on "Go It Alone"
* Petra Haden – vocals
* Danny Kalb – engineer

Wikipedia says for One foot in the Grave:

* Beck – bass, guitar, drums, vocals
* Calvin Johnson – vocals
* Chris Ballew – bass, guitar
* James Bertram – bass
* Sam Jayne – vocals
* Scott Plouf – drums
* Mario Prietto – bongos


I see they credit him for much of the instruments but credit also refers to the original person who came up with the riff or how it was written. For exactly who played what on what you would have to refer to the linear notes. The more complex parts obviously is not Mr. Hansen. But he does come up with the sounds on his own... As far as how much he plays by himself I am not 100 percent sure.

Grohl played all the instruments on the first Foo Fighters with the exception of a solo by greg dulli on a song that I forget the name of.
Trent Reznor is another guy who plays most of the instruments on his albums too... Prince as well...

[gablemancer]

The best all around musician for me in terms of styles, emotions, etc. Would probably be one of these two people: David Bowie and Jerry Garcia (In that order).

[FLYmeatwad]

Bob Dylan, enough said.

[returnx]

Gackt.
I like his piano stuff best.

[Gambit77]

I'll go with Prince or Stevie Wonder.



Is the right answer :D

Or Trent Reznor.

[KISSfreq3]

Overall - Prince
Best Drummer - Neil Peart
Best Bassist - Geddy Lee
Best Guitarist - Y. Malmsteen

[Nickzilla]

I've got to give it up for Grohl. You could say he's just a pop musician, but I think if you listen to a lot of the Foo's music it shows he's got a great deal of heart and range. Don't believe me? Check out Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace.

[Wangsandsuch]

Not to mention Grohl can play any instrument and sound amazing at it.