steve vai vs. paul gilbert

[g.milko]

vai = smooth
gilbert = simple

1-0

[devilbatz]

paul gilbert

[Threex4]

steve gilbert.

[jim777]

Rod Gilbert?

[einarabelc5]

Originally Posted by jim777

OK, take a look, and tell me who wins

http://www.rollingstone.com/photos/g...ion=mainRegion

http://www.yeehaw.org/pg/index-j.html

http://www.shania.net/pic/old/23.html

Meh, She's probably a Mummy by now. I vote for Pamela Moore.

[einarabelc5]

Originally Posted by shredmaster

both but if i really had to choose it would be Paul. i love his sinister phrasing and attitude really comes through in note choice. they are both so damn technical without sounding like machines but i just dig Paul, maybe because he is more band-oriented as well....I can only take so much instrumental stuff.

Ohh baby baby Its a Wild World....Descending Scale....

[IbanezFreak777]

Originally Posted by g.milko

vai = smooth
gilbert = simple

1-0

Gilbert equals Simple ?

you sure your listening to the right Gilbert ?

have you even tried to play any gilbert

[drpez12]

Gilbert can play just about any kind of music

[DEADTUNES666]

Originally Posted by IbanezFreak777

Gilbert equals Simple ?

you sure your listening to the right Gilbert ?

have you even tried to play any gilbert

Gilbert Gottfried maybe...

I'll take Vai, but bear in mind Paul Gilbert is so good it's silly!!!

[LonePhantom]

Gilbert any day of the week. I think he's capable of doing at least most (if not all) of what Vai can do, but he is much more appealing to listen to since he writes from a more pop and rock perspective.

Put it this way, my wife likes some Paul Gilbert music, whereas she probably couldn't stand any of Vai's.

I think Gilbert's music has a much greater appeal to the ordinary, non guitar toting music listening public due to his pop sensibilities.

[rob777vdy]

steve vai is the best guitarist on the planet.paul gilbert is awsome one of my all time favs,but its vai for the win.

[Magical Muffin]

For me it's Gilbert (lol, almost spelled Giblet there for a second) any day of the week, both playing and music wise. When some of Vai's songs are really good, the vast majority just seem like either filler in the album or a drum track and some chords with a pile of guitar solos played over it. He has a few pretty good songs, but they are sprinkled far and few between on his albums, and I am not someone who cherry picks my fav songs over someones whole discography, I listen album by album, old school style.

Paul's stuff feels more like actual 'songs' to me. I'd have to say he's a lot more open to experimentation and trying new things. I know I'm going to get shot for saying all this, but w/ever.

[DEADTUNES666]

Not that it's a bad thing,but it seems some people might not be able to wrap their heads around what Vai does, and simply go for the more pop oriented guy...I liken him to FZ because while Frank never made the kind of money guys like Elton John and The Eagles made he sure was head and shoulders above them artistically and creatively. That said, Valley Girl will not live on in the same way Hotel California will, as Frank will be looked at differently than The Eagles...

The things Vai does are at a different conscious level than most guys...But For The Love Of God will not live on in the same way To Be With You will...

[RedTiger]

Interesting...get ready for a long response.

I can't comment or vote intelligently because I don't really know nearly as much about Paul Gilbert as I do Steve Vai. To be perfectly honest, I had never even really heard any of his playing probably a year or two ago, no joke. My formative years of playing were first influenced by classic rock. The two "chops intensive" guys that were an influence on me were Joe Satriani (still is), and to a much lesser extent, EVH. I remember trying to listen to Vai when I was 18, but I just didn't "get it" at the time. Now I'm older and wiser, and at least I think I "get it". I'm pretty sure I would have understood what Gilbert was doing had I heard his playing at the time. I understood what Yngwie and Petrucci were after, even if I couldn't play like them nor really wanted to sound anything like them.

I know Paul Gilbert is very, very, VERY good, but to compare him against Steve Vai...well, that's one hell of a tall order. You could set up a checklist of Vai vs. just about anyone else, and I'd be very surprised if anyone could match his ability on all the sheer amount of things he can do. The guy just oozes musical ability, and in a very legitimate "I know exactly what I'm playing, why it works, and can write in down on manuscript" sort of way. Vai has said that his ability comes more from his insane intensity in practicing rather than raw talent. I think he's being a bit modest with his own talent, but if what I have read about him is true, his level of intensity and dedication are, at least, second to none, and quite possibly on an order of magnitude higher than anyone I know of. The person I think that might actually be the closest may indeed be Mr. Satriani, although I have a feeling that either his musical sensibilities, personality, or perhaps some sort of uncorrectable limitation have kept him from being so intense.

If I could sum it all up, I see Gilbert as a masterful shredder, a versatile player, and excellent teacher. I see Steve Vai as nothing short of musically transcendent. I actually prefer Satriani over Vai, but that preference doesn't have anything to do with ability, its more a preference of musical sensibility.

[Ibateur]

Originally Posted by RedTiger

Interesting...get ready for a long response.

I can't comment or vote intelligently because I don't really know nearly as much about Paul Gilbert as I do Steve Vai.

Should have stopped there.