romanianreaper":2h0wdbjo said:
Ace has been one of my heroes since the mid-70s when I was a kid. He has such a sloppy playing style but it just works. It is like Keith Richards or something.
I'm not stirring shit here, but Keef and Ace can't be grouped together. Whatsoever.
It's kinda like this - KISS started out as a couple of dudes from NY/Bronx when music was catching on in the 70s. You didn't have to be good, you just had to be part of the scene. KISS made a splash with practically everything BUT their music. "Wicked Lester" wasn't going anywhere - but when they added costumes, fake blood, fire breathing, morphing stage sets, pyrotechnics - ya - their shit caught on (not to mention the addition of Criss and Frehley). Are the musically talented?? Depends what your take on talent is - they did redefine an era merely by look and stage presence alone. I was a HUGE fan as a young kid. HUGE!! But it didn't take me long to realize their music was pretty low talent, and their schtick was all throttle. All show, music was secondary - worked for them. Worked for me when I was a kid.
Onto Ace as a player. No, he's not like Keef. Keef knew the blues and lived the blues and obsessed over the blues. And he's got a style unique only to him - really - only to him. I don't think he'd be able to jam too easily with anybody but the likes of Ronnie Wood, possibly Beck, Clapton, or any of the other blues specialists. And I'm not saying he's as good or comparable to those dudes - it's just he's come from a that pedigree of blues lineage. And he didn't get lucky. The Stones worked fucking hard in the early days. No show, all music.
Comparing Ace to Hammett?? Impossible. It's like comparing a Mustang to a Ferrari. We all make jokes about Hamster and his wah and all this, but that cat is a superb player, wah or not. Better than any of us here this I can guarantee. Ace? I bet there are a few dozen players if not more on this forum that could play Ace into the corner of a room with very little effort.
And for those who hate Page... Remember his heritage as one of London's finest session musicians - ever. He's one of the godfathers of electric guitar, folks. He may have copped a lot of originals in his career, but pretty well all of UK artists stole US blues and regurgitated it back to the masses in the UK and inevitably USA. It is what it is. But Page was and is a master. He may have been sloppy - but he has reached and surpassed godfather status. Respects.
Anyway - the OPs vid didn't do much for me - I think the interviewer played better guitar than Ace, but Ace has probably scored more pussy over the years so that's gotta count for something, right?
