Rolling Stone: the Decline
| Published 09/24/04

Graphic by: Ande Hearn

In recent years it has become clear that the magazine Rolling Stone just isn't what it used to be. "When did this happen," you ask? August 27, 2003: Rolling Stone published an article entitled "The 100 Greatest Guitarist of All Time." That would be a good place to start looking. 

After this article was released I've heard nothing but numerous complaints about the list. I can't say that I disagree with any of them. After the top ten (which include in order from one to ten: Jimi Hendrix, Duane Allman, B.B King, Eric Clapton, Robert Johnson, Chuck Berry, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ry Cooper, Jimmy Page and Keith Richards) is when it starts to get fuzzy. If you were being generous you could say, "Well, at least they have a solid top ten." But who are we trying to kid here? The top ten are a given; even the most ignorant of music buffs could have spouted out at least three of those ten names. 

Kurt Cobain of Nirvana was a good enough guitarist, but so were many of his contemporaries, such as The Smashing Pumpkins frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, who wasn't on the list at all. This point might not be as valid if Cobain was listed as number 85 or 90 on the list, but he was listed as 12. It sounds to me like someone was trying to play the Nirvana card.   

Probably the area that irks me the most about the list would be placing Jack White of The White Stripes at number 17. Sure, they're a good band. Sure, he's a good guitarist. But what did he do to deserve a spot higher than that of George Harrison, Angus Young, Pete Townshend and other greats? He's been around for five minutes in comparison to most of the others below him on the list. That wouldn't make a huge difference if he was an astounding guitarist, but his work seems to be more of the "good" variety than the "great." A spot in the 80s or 90s would have suited him better. 

Another big question is: where is Slash? After checking and re-checking the list it is apparent that nowhere on it is the name of the infamous guitarist from Guns N' Roses. The only reasonable answer is that maybe they just forgot about him when putting the list together. On the other hand, who could forget Slash?

If Rolling Stone could list The Beatles' "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" as the best album of all time (according to the 2003 article "The Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums"), it seems like they could have given the Beatles' guitarist George Harrison a higher spot than 21.

Unfortunately this article seems to show that Rolling Stone is going the way of MTV: playing up to what is popular and slowly, but surely, forgetting about the classics. 

To see it for yourself, go here: > The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time