I think in terms of “less is more” it’s a case of not “noodling”. I can remember someone saying that when Hendrix came on the scene that many guitarists felt obliged to play 15 minute solos to compete but completely lacking any direction or even any sense of rhythm or melody.
It’s funny that you should mention Alex Skolnick because he was one of those guitarists that came out of the 80s that got the balance perfect. I did have a couple of their albums on vinyl with I sold when I moved abroad.
Don Henly, surely!
He’s also a jazz player. Very talented guy.
An excellent solo that moves the song forward is Friedman in Skin of my Teeth by Megadeth. Marty is a masterful player with his own distinctive style. Particularly his choice of when to slow a solo down and when to speed it up is just superb! Lovely ebb and flow!
I loved Marty’s earlier solo albums (they were recorded during the Shrapnel Records boom years but they had a real sense of melody and atmosphere, as opposed to just racing with himself). Obviously, his Megadeth works, too. He and Alex Skolnick are cool guys and absolute virtuosos, although I have to admit that I’m not a fan of jazz or Marty’s latest works, so I stick to their albums within metal genre.
Interesting comment on Gilmour - I admire his style very much, I regard him as a precursor to Jerry Cantrell (you mix Gilmour’s and Elton John’s understanding of music and you get Jerry), another guitar player who opted for atmosphere, crushing riffs and cleverly placed fills over shredding solos. That said, it’s impossible to be everyone’s cup of tea, I have no problems with people disliking either. It depends on my mood but I’m noticing that as I grow older, I tend to listen to heavier but slower stuff (more like mid-tempo, actually).
Put it up to 11!
You forgot that he also has a HEAVY dose of Toni Iommi
My musical boundaries have definitely widened. I don’t avoid songs that have a sad emotional effect on me any more (including tears). It’s good to be real with yourself. Like just the other day it hit me hard that Mark Lanegan sand Song for the Dead with QOTSA and he’s recently passed away from Covid complications (after coming off clean from heroin).
Oh, yes, indeed! That Sabbath influence on Alice In Chains and Soundgarden is my reasoning behind considering them heavy metal with grunge influences rather than the other way around. Not that it matters but I never really saw many key similarities between their sound and that of, say, Pearl Jam or Screaming Trees.
Words “underrated” and “underappreciated” don’t begin to cover him… I was about to start reading his biography when I heard he had passed away and I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I think it was a feeling of guilt as I had missed his gig in Belgrade a few years back thinking he’d come back (because it was his second or third gig there). Not my finest hour. Ironically, the other day I saw a question that included Afghan Whigs in a really popular domestic TV quiz and immediately thought of this amazing cover he did:
To think about him surviving stuff that would have killed more people than plague, only to pass away from complications of surviving a plague…
Unpopular opinion. I don’t like most Iron Maiden solo’s with the exception of a few by Adrian Smith.
I think it depends on the song. The early Maiden albums had a big Wishbone Ash influence musically so it was more about the total sound rather than mad axeman flashiness. There are a fair few that seem to act as filler, though.
Only so much of E-minor that i can take.
Music Interlude :0)
So just got this site
https://therangeplanet.proboards.com/thread/2993/devin-townsend
Townsend if you include their definition of questionable notes is 6.18 octaves
https://therangeplanet.proboards.com/thread/115/mike-patton
Patton with the same criteria is 6.33 octaves
https://therangeplanet.proboards.com/thread/480/ville-valo
Ville Valo is 4.9~5 octaves
You’ve got to be kidding me! 
Was pretty surprised but that’s Mike Patton anyway. He does whatever he wants to do.
Anyway , If Guthrie Govan can be a … consultant for the new top gun movie OST , what’s wrong with Patton doing this ? An artist’s got to earn
I wasn’t being critical! When I watched Crank, I actually correctly guessed that the soundtrack had something to do with Patton (in hindsight, it was too obvious). I just expected him to follow down that path because the majority of his musical approach is, to me, more fitting of a crazy, fast paced action film than TMNT cartoon.
