Essential listening for guitarists - arranged by grade
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Grade One Top
THE BEATLES - #1 (EMI)
A monument - in the throwaway world of pop, these songs will last. Great guitar with taste and style. Impeccable riffs, licks and solos from ace guitar craftsman George Harrison
Beatles Tab - www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Lounge/7109
OASIS - What's The Story, Morning Glory/ALANIS MORRISETTE - Jagged Little Pill Great songs with easy guitar - the ideal place to start
Oasis stuff - www.spy.net/~patrick/music/oasis/links/html
Alanis' homepage - www.alanismorrisette.com
Grade Two Top
NIRVANA - Nevermind (Geffen)
In your face, simple but devastatingly effective, Cobain and crew put a hole in your head (Ouch!)
Nirv-type tab - drwho.tbcc.cc.or.us/~mojo/nirvana/frames/tabs/html
GREATEST AIR GUITAR ALBUM - Various Artists
- A truly wonderful collection cross section of rock standards, with loads of great guitar for you to play - this album alone should keep you busy for a couple of years. I'm compiling links to tabs for all the songs on it HERE
Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Californication
Aren't they everyone's favourite band by now? Simply great songs, and the guitar parts aren't hard, either
Grade Three Top
BLUES AND SOUL GREATS - Various Artists (Tring International - cassette only) A great collection of the biggest names in blues - and all the licks you need to nick from the masters themselves. Minor pentatonic Heaven!
Blues Guitar Lessons - ftp.formatik.uni-rostok.de/~madmat/musik/lessons/guitar_lessons/
CHUCK BERRY - Any Greatest Hits Package
The Daddy of Rock guitar - born from the blues, Berry's licks were and are used by absolutely everybody, and his songs are standard repertoire that all guitarists must know
Berry tab - www.harmonycentral.com/Guitar/OLGA/all/chuck_berry.html
FREE - Any Greatest Hits Package
Quite simply, the best British rock group ever. Lean, mean, moody blues grooves topped by Paul Rodgers silk'n'sandpaper voice - the greatest in rock - and Paul Kossoff's soulfully wailing Les Paul. Stripping down the rock Harley to deliver power, groove and feeling through a classic collection of guitar riffs - listen to the live version of 'Mr Big' and sweat
Grade Four Top
PINK FLOYD - Wish You Were Here
Dave Gilmour is a master of lyrical guitar - using expression, control and dynamics to create drama - shredders take note!
TUBULAR BELLS - Mike Oldfield
A new direction in rock that too few have followed up - treating rock guitar as a musical instrument! Still my favourite album ever
SANTANA - Abraxas
Singing, crying sustain and a brilliant percussion section - Santana were HOT
LED ZEPPELIN - Led Zep 4
Jimmy Page is the Riff Monster - but the album also combines their acoustic side in a way few have sucessfully since. Also hear the great John Bonham on drums - feel and power
DIRE STRAITS - Dire Straits
In complete contrast, but just as good, Mark Knopfler makes it cry and sing with THE best between-toggle strat sounds
Grade Five Top
JIMI HENDRIX - Are You Experienced?
The Big Bang - with this album Hendrix created a whole new universe for rock guitar, and amazingly, the songs, playing and production have never dated - it still sounds absolutely current today, and you will hear its influence all through modern rock
JOHN MAYALL with ERIC CLAPTON - Bluesbreakers
The reason Eric Clapton is famous - his superb sense of timing and tension, together with the definitive sound of Les Paul and cranked up Marshall
VAN HALEN - Van Halen
Whaaaaaaaaam! Eddie Van Halen put 5000 volts across Rocks tired old ticker - and scared the pants off every guitar player who thought they could play. Recorded in about 20 minutes (basically live) EVH unleashes a battery of flash chops, real musicianship and the famous 'Brown sound' - whopping guitar tone - God, he's good
STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN - Texas Flood
The tone, the licks, the blues - "There'll never be another Stevie" (John Lee Hooker)
GUNS'N'ROSES - Appetite for Destruction
Back to basics - sweaty rock'n'roll with attitude, dude - great riffs and solos, plus kilts and a top hat
QUEEN - Sheer Heart Attack (EMI)
Hear one note and you know who it is - Mr May's homemade plank wails, screams and cries, then plays beautiful orchestrations and clever harmonies - all with a tone to die for
Queen tab - queen.musichall.cz/tabs/qtabsm2.htm
Grade Six Top
JEFF BECK - Blow by Blow
A guitar monster - his playing just gets better and better, but I think this is the best place to start. Saw him at Shepherds Bush - an inspiration - always thinking music and full of ideas
METALLICA - Metallica(The Black Album)
Very metal, very tight - great songs
DEEP PURPLE - Made in Japan
Possibly the best live album ever - the Purple juggernaut at awe-inspiring full throttle steam through Smoke on the Water (knocks the studio version into a cocked hat), Highway Star, Black Night etc
BLUES SARACENO - Never Look Back
Recorded when he was only 17, this shows real taste and style plus great phrasing and tone
JOE SATRIANI - Surfing With the Alien
A brilliant summary of post-Van Halen guitar technique, welded into great melodies and intelligent soloing. visit Joe's cool site with streamed music!
Grade Seven Top
DAVID LEE ROTH with STEVE VAI - Eat 'em and Smile
After this, Steve Vai was The Man - Mr Outrageous Guitar, merging Hendrix and Van Halen with his Berklee Music College technique and a touch of Zappa humour - the perfect foil for Roth's larger than life vocals
STEVE MORSE BAND - StressFest
Winner of Guitar Player's Best Guitarist poll 5 years running, Steve Morse is simply a marvellous musician - superb technique, great sound and brilliant compositions in styles from heavy rock to country and classical guitar. Now playing with Deep Purple, all of his solo CDs are must haves for guitar players
Grade Eight Top
ALLAN HOLDSWORTH - 16 Men of Tain
The player that guitar players listen to - beautiful legato lines and Coltrane type sheets of sound
DAVID TORN - What Means Solid, Traveller?
The Future - starting from Hendrix, but taking it to another universe, Torn uses distortion, delay and a fearsome technique to produce complex sonic sculptures of great wildness and beauty. Most of the time it doesn't even sound like a guitar, but don't be put off by the weirdness quotient - once you get the taste, you are hooked
YNGWIE MALMSTEEN - Rising Force
Borrowing from Paganini and Bach, Malmsteen has developed a fantastic technique - and Boy! is he fast! You have to listen several times as it's a bit of a blur at first, but it's well worth it - also a good reason for working on your scales and arpeggios - spawned a host of imitators, mostly on Mike Varney's Shrapnel label. Malmsteen also has a beautiful vibrato which is worth imitating