Nuno vs Lynch vs Prince vs Steve Vai

M

MistaGuitah

Well-known member
Nuno's new album has caused a lot of hype lately. While I can respect his skill as a guitarist and accomplishments as a musician, his playing just doesn't sound that interesting to me. I hesitate to mention George Lynch and Steve Vai because some of their music and guitar solos are extremely tasty, but overall, I rarely listen to them.

Prince is another guitarist whose popularity I don't get. I used to hear people rave about his playing and revere him but I was under the impression they were joking at first. I listened to Prince play several times trying to figure out if he could play well or if there was some kind of obscure musical genius in his music but I have to say he's one of THE most overrated guitarists ever. I'm not trying to be mean, just that I tried but couldn't find anything of his that was good or interesting. He was very successful at it though, I'll give him that.

So what's the deal with Nuno Bettencourt? I know he's a good player but why do some people even hail him as the greatest guitarist ever? Do his chord progressions have some kind of secret genius? Is his phrasing somehow so elite that it can only be discerned by the finest jazz fusion guitarists? I really don't get it but would sincerely like to know so I can try to like some of his music.
 
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Nuno has a sound that, among all the guitar gods of the 80s, instantly set him apart. There's a handful of guitarists I can listen to that after a few notes, I can instantly tell you who it is: Randy (because of his godawful tone), Dimebag (once again, his godawful tone, but also his technique), Yngwie, Eddie, and Nuno. He is extremely technically proficient and clean as hell, but his percussive style and interesting way of picking notes make him instantly recognizable. However, that last album they put out is pretty much trash.

As far as Prince, I think he got so much acclaim because he played so many instruments, wrote so many great songs for others as well as himself, and had just enough chops to back it up. However, I don't think he's a guitar god like some people say. Musician god, yes, guitar god, no.
 
Yeah as mentioned above, Prince isn't famous for being an awesome guitarist, he is famous for being an amazing musician, songwriter, etc. His Super Bowl performance was my favorite probably of any halftime show.

Nuno is amazing to me because he is really versatile and you can sing a lot of his solos. Vai is incredible....but he is so incredible that I don't listen to him. For me, it isn't about the playing and acrobatics if you can't capture a feel or hit something in your brain.

To this day, some of my favorite solos are not the best or the most over the top. Mick Mars' solo on "Too Young to Fall in Love" is one of my favorites. With everything EVH did, the dolo in "Judgement Day" is one that I really dig.
 
Prince is one of the few artists I’ve never really dove into at all, might be time for me to do that.
 
Prince was known as a great guitar player because everybody on the planet knows who he is, so more non-guitar players know he plays guitar, so he's more "widely regarded" as being a great guitar player than other better players who aren't as well known because most people have never heard better playing. He was a top tier musician and songwriter, and his music is excellent, but he wasn't a truly top tier guitar player.

If you want to know why Nuno is held in such high regard, listen to Pornograffiti. The way he writes riffs and composes leads are incredible. To me he's always kind of represented the platonic ideal of the 80's "gunslinger" type guitar player. There's just so much attitude in his playing. For what it's worth though, the guy's got crazy big ego to the point that it came comes through in the music, which can be offputting, but overall he's awesome.

Vai is sometimes listenable and sometimes not, but he's kind of on another planet than everybody else when it comes to guitar playing. Nobody in the world plays like him or writes music like he does. The guitar is so infused with who he is that there's no sense of physical translation between his thoughts and what comes out of the speaker. Listening to him play is like listening directly into his brain, and he's a very weird guy (which is a compliment in this case) so it can be particularly interesting. There's only a few guys in the world who play at that level. Guthrie Govan is another guy who is has that kind of talent and creativity. Danny Gatton and Shawn Lane were like that too.
 
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Like flavors of soft drinks. Prince wasn’t a guitar wizard, per se, as much as he was a musical prodigy and genius
 
TheGreatGreen said:
Which of the three points I made in that quote do you disagree with? And who is PG?
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Pornograffiti, the CD I owned in 1990--you mentioned that I give it a listen 😉

I like Nuno's playing--but he isn't Prince man. There isn't one measurable aside from possibly notes per second that Nuno comes out on top over Prince. And Nuno would tell you that. Nuno's riffs are great. But...it's Prince man. His riffs are exponentially more notable. And there are hundreds more of them.
 
Prince wasn't a technical wizard by any means. But his talent as a writer, composer, live performer, band leader, combined with his ability to play exactly what fits in pretty much any given musical situation has always been mind blowing to me. He rarely made his guitar playing a focal point of what he did musically, it was just another part of the whole, which had a lot going on, but he really was a standout player.
 
tallcoolone said:
Pornograffiti, the CD I owned in 1990--you mentioned that I give it a listen 😉

I like Nuno's playing--but he isn't Prince man. There isn't one measurable aside from possibly notes per second that Nuno comes out on top over Prince. And Nuno would tell you that. Nuno's riffs are great. But...it's Prince man. His riffs are exponentially more notable. And there are hundreds more of them.
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Well like I said, as a songwriter and overall musician, Prince was one of the best, no question there. But as far as pure guitar playing, I don't think he's anywhere close to the best there is. He was definitely not a guitar player's guitar player.

I'm also not saying Nuno is the best guitar player there is, just that his playing has a certain kind of attitude that a lot of people like.
 
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I feel I have officially entered another dimension. Prince talk on Rig Talk! 🤨

Can we at least talk about his amps? Where are the Boogie guys?
 
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