Metal Guitarist loses his **** on Watchmojo's Top 20 Most Insane Guitar Shredders

[@BecomeTheKnight]

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[@exploringthemusicaluniverse]

Who are the greatest song writers who are also very capable guitarists.

[@jaymzafish]

@@exploringthemusicaluniverse Randy Rhoads, Jake E. Lee & Slash would clearly be at the top of that list.

[@Ryo7_7]

Watchmojo is like buying, and eating, sushi from a gas station.

[@matthewduncan9405]

😂😂😂 best comment I’ve seen all week

[@JakNasty69]

I've never had gas station sushi but I'm guessing it's pretty bad 😂

[@JackDiamond_FBOW]

“Wha oh! Looks like someone put a roofie in our gas station sushi, we wake up in a sewer full of fish…”

[@1MusicsMyLife1]

That's offensive to sushi from a gas station. And my comment is as original as WarchMojo.

[@Warlock_UK]

And then needing their bathroom, but they tell you that you have to buy something else first and suddenly a queue formed and the assistant can't work out how to do their job. So you finally get to the checkout and pay for a pack of gum, barely holding the sushi in... only to discover that not only is the bathroom out of order, but it's just a fuckin' painting of an Acme toilet door on the wall and they have no toilet.

[@JoseEchoes378]

Mike is pissed off that Lil Wayne didn't make it onto this list. Understandable

[@daydragoon331]

He’s too good to be on the list

[@johnzahm193]

Ah yes Lil Wayne, the greatest guitar virtuoso of all time no one can come close to his mind blowing talent

[@RatelHBadger]

TO THE WINDOW.... TO THE WAAAAALLL

[@eduardoromero2611]

OMG! I'm shocked... I feel you bruh... 💔

[@SesamemeFrog429]

He was snubbed

[@benjaminbrownbass]

Not even a mention of Guthrie Govan, I’m in pain

[@BecomeTheKnight]

And to miss Alan Holdsworth while we're at it...

[@benjaminbrownbass]

@@BecomeTheKnight Oh holy shit, you’re right. Insanity.

[@MidnightAvalon]

What a terrible day to have eyes. And ears.

[@EpictheEpicest]

Guthrie is great, but do people who don't play niche technical guitar know who Guthrie is? He has 1 album and has been a guest players on some other tracks. If you're going by influence/output, he isn't on this list.

[@BaneOfXistence4]

​@@EpictheEpicest You do know he has a band called The Aristocrats that have five albums, right? Along with Marco Minneman and Bryan Beller. Erotic Cakes is his one solo project sure, but The Aristocrats is a wealth of material to base his prowess on.

[@GordonHeaney]

Akira Takasaki was recording those arpeggios way before Michael Angelo did, of the Disillusion album, '84 or '85, can't remember, but he was ahead of his time

[@themadmattster9647]

Loudness even injected a prog metal edge on their albums before many others.

[@DenkendeMystik-ll8oi]

I totally agree! This guy does not know Akira? He knows little of the history of shred guitar!

[@joshuadeau06]

Akira Takasaki was the guitarist for the band loudness. Pretty big band back in the day. I remember my dad showing me some of their songs as a kid.

[@75190255508]

Also, he was absolutely huge in Japan back in the day and a major player when it came to get kids to pick up the guitar. Jason Richardson, Tosin and some of the other guys are big in the anglosphere, but Akira was a rock god in the late 80ths Japan.

[@Ogrelord5150]

Guy doesn't know who he is, so much for the credibility of this video, had none anyway.

[@themadmattster9647]

Highly influential and terrific band. This guy making this video is mid af and completely out of it “John Sykes plays pinch harmonics?” durr durr duh!

[@TimmyJay02]

@@themadmattster9647 His band sucks too his music is generic as hell (at least the one track they posted up). The old story of a failed (something) who becomes a critic of that subject he failed in as revenge for his failure. Best example is Roger Ebert, a failed filmmaker who became a critic bashing other people's film.

[@sabrethemoment6799]

I would argue that Tosin Abasi, Jason Richardson, Plini, and the Polyphia guys have had the greatest influence in the era of internet/bedroom recording guitarists that popped off hard in the 2010s to now. These guys don’t get the most airplay or recognition but their impact to the modern aspiring guitarist is incredible.

[@BecomeTheKnight]

I think that's a totally understandable position to have! I'm even inclined to agree in a way. Just not sure yet....but. 🤷‍♂️ They're amazing and I love them lol

[@porkypile]

I disagree on the criticism of Yngwie. Just because he got sloppy during later eras of his career doesnt make him a sloppy, unclean player as a whole. Absolutely not. He also basically created the entire music genre of neo-classic metal, without him the entire league of shredders like Michael Romeo wouldnt exist or the lot of insane Japanese guitarists like Syu (Galneryus) or Takayoshi Ohmura. Talking about putting Jason on the list out of sympathy, now you want to exclude Yngwie out of dislike for his personality. Yngwie is also a phenomenal blues player and your Paul Gilberts and hair metal shredders in general would not be around if it wasnt for Eddie Van Halen and Yngwie.

[@vince8081]

I Agree, Malmsteen defined a style of sound and playing and is one of the most influencial rock/metal soloist. But yeah he's stuck.

[@porkypile]

@@vince8081 Yeah, Yngwie get shit on for stuff he did or said 20 years ago. You ignore what he did because of this. The dude knows Blackmore and Hendrix like the back of his hand. Clearly not a bad player by any means.

[@ralcogaming7674]

​@@porkypilehe wasn't a part of a G3 for no reason.

[@lostalone9320]

Yngwie is just a deeply dislikable person, and I do kinda dislike his music because I dislike him. But he can shred like absolute crazy.

[@porkypile]

@@lostalone9320 And he can blues. Look it up! :)

[@marcinmcula99]

Jason Becker absolutely deserves to be on there. Not only was he an amazing songwriter and musician but just talking about technque alone, nobdy was doing 5 string sweep arpeggio sequences before him, he brought sweep picking to a whole new dimention

[@kc_jones_gaming]

Jason Becker absolutely deserves a spot on the list because he is STILL WRITING MUSIC WITH HIS EYEBALLS. Sure he has other artists perform the piece, but he still writes the music through a very complicated translation process. Listening to the new music and knowing how it had to be written is absolutely insane

[@ChilyCheezeFryz]

I'm actually surprised that they didn't put Alexi Laiho in a spot. Probably between 20 and 15. The only thing that he has in common with Syn. Gates is that they both kept shredding even when it was out of style in their genres. Aside from a small handful, Alexi's solos were just so well structured and musical. Every note felt like it had purpose. He's definitely NOT the greatest, but he certainly deserves to be towards the bottom of the list.

[@SesamemeFrog429]

The clip in the intro was basically spot on

[@theyetidude]

Yngwie was a huge influence on your heroes Paul Gilbert and John Petrucci. You can't deny his influence on shred guitar, he was revolutionary for his era. He lost a step in the 90's on, but his playing is monumental in the 80's. BTW, Vai has a tremendous amount of respect for him for changing the game and could not replicate his solos when he took over on guitar in Alcatraz for him.

[@The_blue_Manc]

No shade to yngwie, but there are a number of live performances where he plays most of yngwie’s solos correctly but he just adds his own flair to them.

[@theyetidude]

@@The_blue_Manc In the Alcatraz live performance I saw Vai had to replace Yngwie's picking technique with tapping since he couldn't reproduce it.

[@The_blue_Manc]

@@theyetidude Just because Vai tapped part of the jtj solo doesn’t mean that he couldn’t pick it, as he did it flawlessly before he tapped the last bit of it

[@Malaneth]

@@The_blue_Manc Steve Vai REPEATEDLY stated that Yngiwe was a much better guitarist and he felt completely overshadowed by him in every way. Steve obviously became a much better guitarist after that point. I'd say Yngwie is still better, but Steve Vai imporved a lot.

[@ericforsyth]

Huge influence on Becker as well

[@GordonHeaney]

Jason Becker was a technical and compositional monster, probably the most technical for the late 80's, but it was the fact he was so good so young

[@the_walrus_is_me]

I'm surprised Dimebag isn't here, I certainly would put him up there

[@chetwilson]

Wait the black tooth grin maker dimebag darrrell wasn’t on here?

[@maxjudge2318]

Should of had dime instead of zakk

[@TimmyJay02]

Dimebag is not a shredder and there are a lot of shredders who can outplay him. Pantera has a lot of solos but not fast shredding solos.

[@The_blue_Manc]

Bro got his script from Chatgtp

[@belltolls1984]

Definitely.

[@Linkmitch]

Jason becker left alot of impression in music listeners that go beyond the shred guitar communities. Also, he is one of those guitarists that wove his legacy into the the many recent guitar heroes that we look up to like herman Li, John mayer, guthrie etc. Most apparant of his normie reach is 'altitudes', you have all these 80's shrapnel shred-era guitarists with their solo albums/works but NO ONE has ever had normie reach as much as jason becker did from that era. As an anecdotal I've had 2 instances when I was discussing music with a bunch of normies and the mention of Jason Becker's altitudes flew out of their mouth, no one knew who Marty, George, Paul was and yes not even wingy momsteen, but because of altitudes Jason Becker was put on the map beyond our zeitgesit and may have spawned a huge amount of interest in the instrument more than any other shrapnel shred guitarist of that era.

[@BecomeTheKnight]

I'm not sure if I agree, but I'm more than willing to take another look at it! Appreciate you sharing your opinion. Jason Becker is a true BA \m/

[@Johnnysmithy24]

Mike… you’re definitely wrong on Jason Becker. Since when do we rate players based on how long they are playing? Jimi Hendrix is on every list and he lasted nothing, same with Randy Rhodes Fact of the matter is Jason was one of the craziest shredders back then, and he’s left his mark on plenty of people

[@JDUBB2399]

The title is most insane guitar shredders. Not guitar players. As far as shredding goes, Jason Becker and Yngwie are at the top. Buckethead as well.

[@Johnnysmithy24]

@@JDUBB2399 agree

[@KyleMosteller]

When you talked about Victor Wooten's thumb technique, I believe you were referring to his double thumb slapping. Double thumb is when you slap up and down with your thumb, allowing for greater speed. Some other individuals who have done this technique are Marcus Miller, Charles Berthoud, etc

[@BecomeTheKnight]

YES!!!! Thank you for clarifying! All the bassists you mentioned DESTROY

[@MaksymLazirko]

Akira Takasaki was arguably the first major shredder from Asia, he has his own line of guitars "Killer Guitars" and has a huge influence on Asian guitarists. He has a style that incorporates pinch harmonics into rhythm. Id suggest listening to thunder in the east (by loudness) to hear his actual playing instead of him just messing around.

[@TimmyJay02]

Dude don't like him cus he is Asian.

[@ChainedGraboid]

Only a handful of youtubers can get me to stick around for nearly 40 minutes. Thanks for this kisses BTK

[@BecomeTheKnight]

Honored and flattered! Happy you enjoyed it!!!

[@MattFromWiiSportsResort]

on the jason becker stuff: If you're arguing that Jason shouldn't be on this list (or that high) because he currently can't play guitar, then technically Eddie Van Halen shouldn't be on this list, and Jason is still composing music today. Most of the people on this list can't play guitar to the technical level they used to be able to and most of their best songs are from the past, so for me it's about "best shredders in their prime". Unless I misunderstood your point I agree with most of your points otherwise though

[@darkdudironaji]

Jason Becker didn't make it to his prime though. The last time he played guitar on an album, he was 19. He was a really good guitarist. But he didn't actually play much professionally.

[@chetwilson]

So dime and Randy shouldn’t be on the list even though their playing kept on improving until their death?

[@JDUBB2399]

The list is the most insane guitar shredders. When it comes to how insane of a shredder they are, Jason Becker is at the top. Jason Becker has songs that maybe 1% of all guitarists can play note for note.

[@xXMachineGunPhillyXx]

Well at least we had a video game celebrity narrating this. I felt very special being in his presence. I almost asked for an autograph.

[@cristianconnolly2709]

14:13 Freddy Krueger and then the Chucky laugh Mike does lol.

[@BecomeTheKnight]

Lmao!!! Didn't even notice that

[@UhOh_ItzJDX]

5:37 that was fucking cold 😂 i love it also they messed up Tosin's name too, they put Ton Abasi

[@Gee-no]

Loudness were a huge influence in Japan. They had a hit here in the US too. Crazy Nights (i think).

[@FuzzyGaKill]

Crazy Nights, Let It Go, and Soldier of Fortune

[@TimmyJay02]

@@FuzzyGaKill Toured with some big American bands back in the day too.

[@nathanielstoltz6525]

As somebody who's recently gotten into Japanese metal a lot over the past couple years, I'm actually gonna stick up for the Akira Takasaki selection. Metal is obviously huge over there, and Loudness is one of the biggest (probably THE biggest in my understanding) bands in popularizing that. Have they crossed over into a Western sphere of influence all that much? No, but there are undeniably a HUGE amount of incredible guitar players in the Japanese scene who take as much influence from early Japanese shredders like him and Kyoji Yamamoto as they do from Van Halen and Rhoads and the like. Particularly when one considers the different harmonic vocabulary of Japanese metal, I do think that's a real and notable contribution, and Takasaki was doing some pretty inventive post-Van Halen/Rhoads stuff by the early to mid '80s that the one solo you looked at doesn't really capture. He's not like a *necessary* inclusion or anything, the sloppy listmaking overall feels like he was just a token nod anyway, and I'd pick Syu (from Galneryus) if I had to pick one Japanese guitarist, but I could see a more appropriately-compiled list putting Takasaki 17th and that being a legitimately solid call. Otherwise, the only quibble I'd have with any of this analysis is that I think that you maybe undersold Becker's influence a bit--Loomis, for one, has always been very vocal about how influential Becker was on him. Totally get where you're coming from in thinking 7 is really high, but having him on the list to begin with does feel appropriate to me. I guess I'd also say Buckethead has a lot more thoughtful stuff out there than you portray, but there's also such a massive volume of it that sifting through it to actually find the quality material is indeed a crapshoot.

[@daveataway1952]

Says "6 String wizards" in the exact moment Steve Vai is shown with the hydra, having 4/7/12/[whatever amount of strings that Harp thing has] strings

[@randomheroz]

This feels like WatchMojo just put 20 names into a random number generator

[@evanraygosa]

Akira Takasaki is one of the best metal guitarists/most unique shredders of all time, listen to Solider of Fortune that one of the greatest metal solos ever!

[@TimmyJay02]

White boy is racist as hell too in this video. I mean, he is from the south so it isn't a surprised. Just a failed musician this dude is with a sh!tty generic band.

[@paulthemole]

Yngwie is the King of Shred guitar and Steve Vai is my top player, I can't entirely agree with your thoughts on Jason Becker and Zakk, but I agree about that Japanese guy and Syn as well Shawn Lane, such charts are mostly ridiculous also very personal but in this one, I agree for the first place, Yngwie invented the shred, long live the King!

[@dewapd1169]

Dude, how do you NOT know Akira Takasaki?! He is a LEGEND! The guitarist for Loudness! You heard literally 2 min of his playing..but he has 4 decades of albums out! You have to hear SDI, Let It Go, Soldier Of Fortune..... I totally agree, what you heard wasn't much, but like I said, he has 4 decades of music.

[@ricksenske8787]

The title was "Top 20 Most Insane Guitar Shredders". Not influence. Not stage presence. Not staying power. I like your channel, but your rants were waaaay off the topic. That said, I didn't agree with most of their picks either.

[@Johnnysmithy24]

Right, that’s such a weird rant. If you put Shawn Lane next to Eddie Van Halen and simply told to judge who’s playing is more “insane” are you seriously telling me it would be Eddie?

[@JDUBB2399]

Exactly. The list has nothing to do with their presence or influence. It's about shredding. Yngwie outshreds almost everyone, and that's why he's at the top. But I'd put Jason Becker at 1 personally.

[@USMarine75]

6 albums a year? At one point when Buckethead was releasing the Bucketheadland series I think he was releasing an EP a week lol.

[@hhgreg2969]

He's been averaging around an album a week for a very long time. He came out with roughly 500 albums in the last decade. And yes, many of them are not very good, but a surprising number of them are pretty good. But I think it's very apparent he's not exactly right in the head and never has been.

[@Johnnysmithy24]

⁠@@hhgreg2969 Honestly still found the comments by Mike very disappointing. Like, most bands and celebrated classic musicians take years sometimes decades to release anything, and many time it’s average compared to their classics. Yet that never affects how people rate them Bucket already has a shit ton of great music, and just happens to want to release whatever comes through his mind nowdays. So what? Some people find value in it. He could be releasing nothing at all like most people

[@hhgreg2969]

@@Johnnysmithy24 Yeah, he was really reaching for negative things to say. Very lame. Respect for the BH and EJ acknowledgement 👊 both are awesome.

[@Johnnysmithy24]

@@hhgreg2969 Yep 🐐

[@riverdunlap5826]

@@hhgreg2969 asked mike one time if he would ever put a video out on buckethead and he said " theres really not much to say." Like really? Of every guitarist you look at the guy with a kfc bucket on his head and theres not much to say?

[@ragecandy]

Jason becker's 10 second recording of him playing serrana is enough to top this list lmao

[@CocoonMasterBrendan]

Ngl, I’m pretty tired of Michael Romeo always being omitted from these types of lists. You’d think his work with Symphony X would cement him as one of the greats, but I guess not

[@andymccallum8090]

He's one my favourites for sure what an killer player so underrated

[@hank35682]

Him and symphony X didn’t sell out and go mainstream, that’s why you’ll never hear him talked about

[@williamlanger9229]

@@hank35682 who on this list is mainstream? Van Halen. that's pretty much it. Most people on the list are unknown to almost everyone.

[@jaymzafish]

Loudness was huge in 1985 - 1987 LOVED Akira.

[@TranceSFX]

You know that light red watery goop that you get in an old ketchup bottle? Yeah, that's WatchMojo

[@fadetoblack2888]

You don't know Akira, but you should most definitely check out his work with Loudness. Thunder in the East is an absolute diamond of an album and one of my favorite 80's shred classics.

[@UchihaZoSo]

Wow, really wasn't expecting that kind of take on Yngwie. Maybe he just really doesn't like Yngwie? I don't know. But Yngwie is undeniably one of the most influential guitarists of all time, arguably the most influential in the neoclassical genre, next to maybe Rhoads or Blackmore. In his prime (Alcatrazz and after til I'd say around 1987) Yngwie was, imo, very creative and tasteful, and balanced his melodic playing well with his shredding (which obviously was insane, at least for that time period). Sure, I think he became a bit uninspired as time went on, but to deny his lasting impact, as well as his earlier works and his playing is pretty ludicrous. Overrated and highly popular or not, Yngwie inspired numerous guitarists who came after him, and during his prime he was practically untouchable EDIT: I am by NO MEANS claiming he's the "greatest guitarist ever" or even the "greatest shredder". I'm simply saying that in a top 20 list of greatest shredders, Yngwie by default has to at least make the list. I personally wouldn't put him at number 1, but honestly I do think he's an easy top 5, top 10 at the very least

[@skullgamer255]

He's actually right about Syn and Alexi. It's in an article with Revolver M. Shadows said that for City Of Evil, Children Of Bodom was a huge inspiration guitar-wise as the band they were looking up to at that point saying they "wanted to play better than Children Of Bodom; be an American-style band but still have euro elements"

[@GabiBrooks]

I've been enjoying the No Cover show. Tosin is a judge there and he always gives such insightful suggestions to the bands. And he's memable af 😂

[@originalnackster3743]

Virgin teen guitar players are into Yngwie Malmsteen? I kind of doubt that. He wasn't even hip with the kids in the 90s. I think that description would better fit Tosin Abasi or that Polyphia guy.

[@gergoretvari6373]

nah, it's Dave Mustaine for sure. just think about it

[@christianstojgtr]

I think you're wrong about Becker, while he cant play now, the few albums he released was just so much better than anyone else, he could literally play anything. I'd say hes second place technical wise to Shawn Lane.

[@hhgreg2969]

BRO EJ's playing isn't even that exciting? You're baiting for hate harder than Mojo ever did. It's not even possible to have taste that trash.

[@predeterminedmeat5024]

Buckethead is a great songwriter. The hell are you talking about. Population Overide, Electric Tears, Enter The Chicken, Colma, Electric Sea, Welcome to Bucketheadland Giant Robot and Crime Slunk Scene are fantastic albums also his pikes aren't albums most of them are throwaway aside from obvious examples (most pikes released in tribute to people are really great) And he's one of the most popular shredders around today and he's only getting more popular, and started in the 1980's so his staying power is good. Yngwie does really suck though, don't know why he's at 1, good call there

[@riverdunlap5826]

Albino slug is my personal favorite. Buckethead rules.

[@predeterminedmeat5024]

@@riverdunlap5826 Good one! Slipped my mind while writing the comment but it is a great record

[@JDUBB2399]

​@riverdunlap5826 I did an improvised cover of Siege Engine because it's possibly my favorite song of his, and his backing tracks are so fun to solo over. He's an insane writer.

[@thomasanthony5021]

I remember seeing the great Kat In the mid 2000s when I was searching for fastest guitar players ever. This was before Facebook took off, and KZbin was only barely a year old. She would show up on these lists on these obscure websites of players who play really fast. She’s obscure now, but I think she had a little bit of a following back then. I wonder if she put on any records since. I do know that she stirred up some controversy in the late 90s for something that I can’t remember.

[@symbiosisai]

The 2nd Cacophony and Prepetual Burn albums are enough for Jason to be on this list

[@Lambis7]

Thanks for recommending the Paul Gilbert track. Checked it out and all I can say is the guy's a freak of nature!

[@blazingmonolith4323]

That was an excellent ad read for strike force. Nice job there Mike.

[@BecomeTheKnight]

Thanks

[@manny75586]

Uh you had a slight inconsistency here. You wanted to disqualify Becker because he can't currently play, but you say EVH, who also currently can't play, deserves #3 is logically inconsistent.

[@leerobbo92]

That literally wasn't his argument. It was about not having enough of a discography to properly judge him.

[@Yenneffer]

You could argue that the list was not really supposed to be about who is the best guitarist or the most influential, but specifically about who is the most "insane shredder". And if you were to ask me what guitarist shreds the most, I think Yngwie and Michael Angelo Batio would actually be one of the first to come to my mind... because shredding specifically is kind of their main thing (to a point of complete self indulgence). Then again, this take doesn't reeeeally fit with some of the other players on the list, but I don't think WatchMojo spent too much (or any) time actually defining what the most "insane shredder" means. They just threw a buncha well knows guitarists with a couple curve balls in a list knowing full well people would argue about it in the comments lol.

[@Michael0416]

I can remember the days of Hot Licks VHS tapes and Shrapnel Records. These are some of the artist that I would say fall into the "shredder" category, because that's when the term was coined. Vinnie Moore, Paul Gilbert, Tony McAlpine, Michael Angelo, Yngwie, John Petrucci, Chris Impellitteri, Jason Becker, Marty Friedman, Shawn Lane, Michael Romeo, Bruce Bouillet, and these are just the guys that I had instructional videos by.

[@maxpalmer3212]

Your reactions from 5 to 1 are hilarious 😂

[@TheFinerPrint]

Previously on Law and Order: Special reactors unit: Victim's body is identified as Mike, aka, Become the knight. Cause of death: overdose of booming radio VOs from watching watchmojo tierlists.

[@yeller3956]

The guy almost sounds like someones sonic impression after they got kicked in the balls and are trying to hide the pain

[@Hrkortegaard]

I like that in the beginning on the Synyster Gates-bit, it was all pictures of Zachy Vengeance 😂

[@williamreynolds3487]

I understand he isn’t very well known whatsoever, but to shit on Buckethead like that when he’s objectively one of the most talented and unique musicians ever is crazy.

[@Johnnysmithy24]

Fr, literally unsubscribed over that arrogant shit take

[@davefinke1614]

I know I was enjoying listening to the list and loving his commentary, secretly hoping to hear Buckethead's name come up and he shit all over it. Buckethead has released so much amazing music and just in the last few years some of my new favorite of his stuff on the later pikes. It is fascinating though, i have met no one in the middle about Buckethead. There are those of us who worship they guy and people who think he's hack, I really don't get it. I think the later don't understand what good music is, but to each their own i guess.

[@joshwmusic6838]

Pre-video thoughts: if George Lynch, Warren Demartini or Nuno Bettencourt aren't on this list I'm gonna be pissed...given the fact that it's WatchMojo I highly doubt they'll be on here Post-video thoughts: wow! Didn't expect to see Akira Takasaki on here (Mike, check out The Loudness catalog. Songs like Crazy Nights, Heavy Chains, You Shook Me, Like Hell). Very glad they included George Lynch!

[@moonboogien8908]

This video pinched my harmonies. Thank you.

[@Chadner]

Akira Takasaki Never heard of him But this is how you correctly should pronounce his name 😅😅😅

[@curlybearington1734]

Usually an enormous fan of your takes, and I was for most of this list, but not liking Buckethead being on the list at all is a bridge too far for me. Not top 5? Sure. Not top 20? C'mon now. The entire album "Population Override" is a masterpiece, and it doesn't include any of his "popular" songs. If you haven't heard it, try it out. You'll enjoy it.

[@Johnnysmithy24]

Fr Same. Mike just sounds like a guy with very little patience honestly, so I doubt he would even like that album. He is correct that Bucket has been shitting irrelevant filler albums for a while now, but why does that matter? His good albums are still there, and most people don’t release anything at all anyway, let the guy relax

[@pijawa2000]

Hell yeah. Buckethead is definitely up there and top 20 is definitely there.

[@MrClewis97]

Nuno has to be in one of these lists

[@andymccallum8090]

I have a few problems with some of the analysis in this video, Saying Paul gilbert doesn't belong in the top 10 shredders list??! he has one of the best right hand picking techniques of all time better then Yngwie, Petrucci, batio etc. And I love all those guys. Batio also doesn't hold a candle to Yngwies technique. If you actually listen to both of them Yngwie's synchronization is way better then Batios. Also Doesn't even play as fast as Yngwie, but it may seem like that will all the effects and delay. I would recommend Anton Oparins video on Universal guitar technique its quite illuminating. Speaking of Petrucci his picking technique has changed for the worse where he picks more from the arm then wrist so he plays double notes on fast runs, not sure why because in the 90s and early 2000s it was mostly wrist picking from him. I don't disagree with Yngwie not being as good of a writer as the rest of the guys but I think you severely underestimate how much of an impact he had on guitar after he came on the scene. Yngwie pre car crash was insane technique wise, as far as Yngwie hitting the stereotypes im not sure who was doing anything like him before he came out.

[@lassemaja8382]

Your reply is more impressive than many of the guitarists on the list. I love Michael Romeo's work but it seems to fly past many heads, what's your opinion of him whether it's Symphony X or his solo endeavours?

[@andymccallum8090]

@@lassemaja8382 I'm a huge symphony x fan so he's one of my all time favourites. He's someone who really understand composing and classical music as opposed to some other so called neoclassical guitar players. His guitar playing is amazing too. He has a unique tapping technique and his solo albums are fantastic too. As far as my original comment goes i was worried about it because i wrote it so quickly off the top of my head but I'm glad someone else agrees, and I say this as someone who is a fan of this channel.

[@WillRD]

This narrator’s voice is what I’d imagine an enlarged prostate would sound like if it became sentient

[@scottsmith8162]

Lol

[@asloii_1749]

Lol

[@WhoaaaMama]

This WatchMojo narrator reminds me of me in high school English class trying to make my essay sound as elegant as possible with a bunch of word salad.

[@Ronnie.Raymond]

Based Mike, as usual 💪🏼

[@ShounenN]

I honestly would put Syn in my top 5 lead players of all time.. His melodies are hardly ever beaten for me. But as this is a list specifically for pure "SHREDDING", I can see why he is 19. and why he probably shouldn't be on the list.

[@dio2076]

They put Zack Wylde but don't even include Dimebag? TF? I get neither probably belong on the list but that's fuckin atrocious.

[@delta_moo6125]

In terms of influence, stage presence, popularity, and the intangible things, Dime ABSOLUTELY deserves to be on the list.

[@murderface15g13]

You're absolutely right. Alexi Laiho's phrasing bears no resemblance to Synister Gates whatsoever. Danny Elfman would be a more appropriate comparison to Gates.

[@ShinDSER]

"Akira Lack-a-Sacky" got me LMAO

[@blunderless]

hate to sound basic asf, but how are you gonna include zakk wylde instead of dime?

[@Johnnysmithy24]

Fr

[@vale_recca]

27:46 idk why but that face just cracks me up

[@bradyserie7296]

Huge Buckethead fan here, as are a couple buddies of mine. They dont get to just put the guy that TAUGHT HIM HOW TO PLAY way below him. Totally agree he shouldn't be top 5. Still love his stuff as weird as that may make me 😂

[@elpolitemexa2272]

Shawn Lane might as well be the most underrated piano virtuoso as well its incredible how talented he was

[@SnakePit6517]

Judging by the numb-nail, I clicked on this video thinking it was about some KZbin copyright drama Yngwie got himself into. But hey, I’m not complaining! And the narrator definitely slumbers a cucumber. 😂

[@Person-cv9dj]

20:51 speaking of obscure shit you should check out bumblefoot if you dont know him. He plays with guthrie govan here and there and he is actually incredible and has a very unique style combining punk, some like blugrassy stuff, operatic vocals and he also plays fretless guitar

[@georgedomse]

Look, I don't like WM either, but you got the list wrong. The title of their video was "most insane shredders", not "best guitar players" in the sense you udnerstood it.

[@JDUBB2399]

That was what I said as well.

[@bigbunko]

Nah the Buckethead slander is crazy. He is the 🐐

[@unleashthebloodthirst69420]

It’s not my fav video you did but I still enjoyed it. And Idea for the next video is, “Is St Anger actually good?”

[@ChangGang]

Silly guy. Malmsteen changed the way guitar was played. Even your boy Vai admitted when Yngwie appeared, everyone had to up their game cause there was no one like him. Plus evh couldn't sweep. Nowhere on Yngwie level. Your using too much popularity for your excuses.

[@TimmyJay02]

Great disrespect to Akira Takasaki (dude probably doesn't like guitarist who are of a dirfferent color from him). Akira is an OG shredder hair metal shredder. Loudness was popular in the glam rock scene even in America back in the day, toured with big bands like Poison and Motley Crue I believed.

[@안영식-j2x]

So... Then Did your boy Steve Vai write anything more interesting than "Manhattan" by Eric Johnson which you couldn't have missed cos it's right there in "G3: Live In Concert" album? Okay, Apparently Prince covered "Tender Surrender" so I'll give you that. (And Steve Vai seemed to be quite a cool guy on the KZbin clip talking about it.)

[@hhgreg2969]

Yeah the disrespect of EJ was embarrassing. EJ is a better songwriter than most everyone else on the list.

[@Johnnysmithy24]

@@hhgreg2969 Right, lot of shit takes here tbh

[@matejaloncar2770]

You can't be objective on this list. Yngwie is my personal favourite but damn everyone on this fucking list has their own sound that can be just a personal preference to choose what is the best. I apsolutely respect your words on this...

[@trtorbelfort]

Your recap of the previous time you covered watchmojo is right on the money. I remember being younger and watching their videos a lot but once I hit a certain age it really just lost any and all appeal because their picks are very predictable and based in a very casual amount of knowledge regarding whatever it is the video covers.

[@archkarr18]

i think Andy James should be very high on this list. I know.. he's a youtuber..not very well known to the general public. But just read the comments on ALL and EVERY one of his videos. You'll find very few if any negative comments. I think he's one of the best ever.I am a long time guitarist and shred fan,and feel like i know what im talking about. I dare you if you have never seen him to not think he is exceptional.

[@ChangGang]

He's awesome. I also like Sithu Aye.

[@blakestonetablets3467]

Ahahahaha. Dude you and I had the exact same guttural reaction in sync with each other when homie pronounced Joe Satriani’s name

[@Arthemesia]

A very unique one would have been Devin Townsend.

[@an_38kitkashyap]

Well, Jason Becker definitely belings in this list. And why? Well, one of the cleanest shredders from the 80s and making some really complicated yet still beautiful guitar pieces. On top of that, many guitarists like Jeff Loomis have been influenced by his style of playing.

[@mayday8143]

I won’t tolerate the bucket head disrespect, dude’s got a unique sound, and crazy technical talent, I couldn’t play any of his crap, unlike everyone else on this list, I think he deserved top 20

[@necroplastful]

When mike does voice overs of accents people have its the funniest shit I swear. Like ITS MYYYYY WORLD NOOOOOW

[@guitar_jero]

Who let the editor cook 🔥😂

[@centralia83]

I’m glad they put George Lynch on this list, he definitely belongs on this list. He’s one of my biggest influences and the reason I decided to pick up a guitar. I grew up on Dokken and that whole era of rock and metal. Mark tremonti is another reason I wanted to play guitar. Even though what he did in creed is nothing compared to alter bridge and his solos stuff. You could still tell he was an amazing guitarist and he writer.

[@riverdunlap5826]

Im just happy buckethead and synyster gates made the list. Buckethead should not have been that high. But im glad he got a mention. Love that guy.

[@justsomebloke460]

the Xavier Renegade Angel voice comparison is spot on

[@donmcglothlin841]

Loomis auditioned for Megadeth in 1990. Dave hired him until he found out he was 16, so Dave signed him to Sanctuary Records (in the band Sanctuary) and Dave then hired Marty Friedman (obviously)

[@deadlegjack2574]

Jason should still be on the list. I get we only got a few years of him but his lasting impact on the genre is greater then other there. Also he is still actively writing music just not being able to play it.

[@rampage6520]

Funnily enough, I found myself agreeing more with your takes than the opposite such as the ones about Satch being a great guitarist who introduced instrumental music to the masses, Eric Johnson having one song that I know of, Buckethead's quantity over quality body of work, Shawn Lane being an unknown musical genius who was more experimental than popular, and Yngwie Malmsteem being the stereotypical guitar shredder that people have made into a meme.

[@RubyD80]

Buckethead should've had the Takasaki spot.

[@RageTheDragoon]

Joe Satri-Annie~ ...yup we hit Trey-Mow-Low Picking level.