Is Mike McCready an underrated guitarist

jason_94

I'm not sure. Lets ask dimitrispearljam & see what he thinks.

cydonia

It's just my experience of seeing pearl jam live and the impact it had. I'm not saying he's underrated, he's just not recognised as much as say jack white or slash. I agree I don't think stone or mike care about being on any list in a magazine etc and I'm not saying he's more important than any other member. Stones a great guitar player and eddie plays with passion, it dosn't matter if it's simple it;s about moving people and creating that emotion. The ghost sums it up well, it's way past scales and notes, it's about emotional waves and sounds, like the doors sing, breaking on through to the otherside. He transports the song and the audience with him.

Indifference152

Slash is insane overrated.

pjradio

The whole band is underrated in my opinion

Kimmiebyrom

JB128716 wrote:

mca47 wrote:

JB128716 wrote:

Mike gets ton of props. I believe he is the second best guitarist alive when it comes to playing with feeling.

You see, I disagree with this. I think Mike is a very good guitarist, but he isn't one of the greats IMO. The reason I say this is because I don't think he plays off "feel" nearly enough. I also think part of that is how the songs are played these days....way too fn fast! The guy can rip the fretboard no question, but rarely does he take over the song and rarely do his solos "speak" or have much direction.
Clearly he's a better guitarist than say...in the mid-90s, but I preferred his style then compared to now where it seems like playing fast equals playing with heart and soul.

I'm in awe every time I hear a version of Black. In the words of Ed during YL, "Make me cry"

THIS. Yes!

Vedderlicious

All I can say is that Maggot Brain performance was the best thing I've seen him do to date and was worthy enough to give him mention enough of being one of the best of all time. He really doesn't get the recognition he deserves I think, and I just wish everyone would watch that performance at least once in their lives

rearviewross

Stone was my favorite from day one. Loved his rhythms and riffs he wrote early on but the last 5-6 years I have shifted more towards Mike. I thought he was a little off during the mid 2000s especially during Evenflow. Felt like he was trying too hard. I think he has loosened up since then and I love the way he is playing now.

Rating musicians is always interesting because it is up to personal taste. I feel he is underrated in that most rock fans who are not guitarists don't know who he is. Even most guitarists don't know his name unless they are PJ fans. Being in a band with another great guitarist hurts him in this sense as well. I would agree with the earlier comments that he is a little over rated around here. Like most things I think the reality lies somewhere in between.

Foriginal Sin

Vedderlicious wrote:

All I can say is that Maggot Brain performance was the best thing I've seen him do to date and was worthy enough to give him mention enough of being one of the best of all time. He really doesn't get the recognition he deserves I think, and I just wish everyone would watch that performance at least once in their lives

Been blasting Maggot Brain all week. And if Mike isn't a top flight guitar player than why is the Alive solo on RockBand 2 expert level the hardest song in the game?

rearviewross

Indifference152 wrote:

Slash is insane overrated.

Lol, I was watching PJ and my 5 year old son asked me if the guitar player, Mike, was good. I said yes, he is phenomenal. He asked if he was better than Slash. I said yes.

DewieCox

rearviewross wrote:

Indifference152 wrote:

Slash is insane overrated.

Lol, I was watching PJ and my 5 year old son asked me if the guitar player, Mike, was good. I said yes, he is phenomenal. He asked if he was better than Slash. I said yes.

Oh my...I'd say Mike is a long way off from Slash. I agree Slash is overrated, but he has a much more unique sound and has done things speed wise that I've never heard Mike approach. Just listen to the outro of Paradise City for that. Slash ain't no slouch when it comes to slower more melodic playing either and he's consistently had better tone.

rearviewross

DewieCox wrote:

rearviewross wrote:

Indifference152 wrote:

Slash is insane overrated.

Lol, I was watching PJ and my 5 year old son asked me if the guitar player, Mike, was good. I said yes, he is phenomenal. He asked if he was better than Slash. I said yes.

Oh my...I'd say Mike is a long way off from Slash. I agree Slash is overrated, but he has a much more unique sound and has done things speed wise that I've never heard Mike approach. Just listen to the outro of Paradise City for that. Slash ain't no slouch when it comes to slower more melodic playing either and he's consistently had better tone.

Slash is awesome. Honestly I don't know who I like better. I have been second guessing my answer to him ever since I said yes. You are probably right though.

BinFrog

DewieCox wrote:

rearviewross wrote:

Indifference152 wrote:

Slash is insane overrated.

Lol, I was watching PJ and my 5 year old son asked me if the guitar player, Mike, was good. I said yes, he is phenomenal. He asked if he was better than Slash. I said yes.

Oh my...I'd say Mike is a long way off from Slash. I agree Slash is overrated, but he has a much more unique sound and has done things speed wise that I've never heard Mike approach. Just listen to the outro of Paradise City for that. Slash ain't no slouch when it comes to slower more melodic playing either and he's consistently had better tone.

Slash is a technically more proficient player (and the ending jam on Paradise City is the perfect example of this). Say what you will about styles and emotion, but Slash > Mike.

BinFrog

I think Mike is underrated by the general public because all they think of is his work in PJ. There's no mention of Mad Season, or even more obscure stuff like his Hendrix tribute shows or the Star Spangled Banner. He's deeply rooted in the blues and has great feel. I agree he tends to play too fast sometimes these days, but the man can really bare his soul like few others. Listen to certain versions of Black (L02L for example) or Immortality (3/5/98 or Hartford '08 come to mind)...and you "get" it.

RiotZact

BinFrog wrote:

I think Mike is underrated by the general public because all they think of is his work in PJ. There's no mention of Mad Season, or even more obscure stuff like his Hendrix tribute shows or the Star Spangled Banner. He's deeply rooted in the blues and has great feel. I agree he tends to play too fast sometimes these days, but the man can really bare his soul like few others. Listen to certain versions of Black (L02L for example) or Immortality (3/5/98 or Hartford '08 come to mind)...and you "get" it.

I think he's underrated by the general public because they don't even know who he is, my dad and stepdad have been fans since 10 and have each seen PJ multiple time but they still don't even know who he is, so what does that say about the people who just hear PJ on the radio every couple days?

DewieCox

BinFrog wrote:

He's deeply rooted in the blues and has great feel. I agree he tends to play too fast sometimes these days, but the man can really bare his soul like few others. Listen to certain versions of Black (L02L for example) or Immortality (3/5/98 or Hartford '08 come to mind)...and you "get" it.

I think it's closer when it comes string bending, sustained crying note emotional playing. I think the backdrop of Pearl Jam vs GnR really sets off Mike's playing where that emotion gets kinda lost in the mix with a band like GnR. With Slash emotional playing can come off kinda cheesy, b/c the music is a little more over the top, whereas PJ it's really and emotional bed to launch from.

Listen to a solo like Loving the Alien from VR's first album and there aren't many notes that evoke more emotion than that last one coming out of the solo, that's held into the chorus. Just love that release.

Mike has definitely done more creative things with adding delay and modulation to stuff like Black and Nothing As It Seems, though. Yeah, people do tend to overlook some of his other work, Mad Season particularly, but I don't think that stuffs enough to launch him to the top of guitar polls or anything.

BinFrog

DewieCox wrote:

BinFrog wrote:

He's deeply rooted in the blues and has great feel. I agree he tends to play too fast sometimes these days, but the man can really bare his soul like few others. Listen to certain versions of Black (L02L for example) or Immortality (3/5/98 or Hartford '08 come to mind)...and you "get" it.

I think it's closer when it comes string bending, sustained crying note emotional playing. I think the backdrop of Pearl Jam vs GnR really sets off Mike's playing where that emotion gets kinda lost in the mix with a band like GnR. With Slash emotional playing can come off kinda cheesy, b/c the music is a little more over the top, whereas PJ it's really and emotional bed to launch from.

Listen to a solo like Loving the Alien from VR's first album and there aren't many notes that evoke more emotion than that last one coming out of the solo, that's held into the chorus. Just love that release.

Mike has definitely done more creative things with adding delay and modulation to stuff like Black and Nothing As It Seems, though. Yeah, people do tend to overlook some of his other work, Mad Season particularly, but I don't think that stuffs enough to launch him to the top of guitar polls or anything.

GnR had some songs where Slash's emotive side certainly shined through. Notably Estranged and November Rain.

2-feign-reluctance

Loudest guitar I've ever heard. Slash with Velvet Revolver back in 03' at the Pageant in St.Louis. They covered 'Negative Creep' and I thought my ears were going to explode.

DewieCox

2-feign-reluctance wrote:

Loudest guitar I've ever heard. Slash with Velvet Revolver back in 03' at the Pageant in St.Louis. They covered 'Negative Creep' and I thought my ears were going to explode.

Yeah, he must like it loud. When I saw Slash's Snakepit open for ACDC, they were quite a bit louder, or they reamed my eardrums enough that ACDC seemed quiet by comparison.

The Pageant is a loud venue too. About every show I've seen there has been pretty loud. Being smack dab in between the signal from Rich Robinson and Luther Dickinson's cranked tube amps is something my ears will never forgive me for. The Mars Volta were running pretty hot too

danny

not in my house!

Foriginal Sin

RiotZact wrote:

BinFrog wrote:

I think Mike is underrated by the general public because all they think of is his work in PJ. There's no mention of Mad Season, or even more obscure stuff like his Hendrix tribute shows or the Star Spangled Banner. He's deeply rooted in the blues and has great feel. I agree he tends to play too fast sometimes these days, but the man can really bare his soul like few others. Listen to certain versions of Black (L02L for example) or Immortality (3/5/98 or Hartford '08 come to mind)...and you "get" it.

I think he's underrated by the general public because they don't even know who he is, my dad and stepdad have been fans since 10 and have each seen PJ multiple time but they still don't even know who he is, so what does that say about the people who just hear PJ on the radio every couple days?

Yeah I agree. I love how the band talks about being like Pink Floyd in PJ20, how you don't know anyone. The problem is he might have made a name for himself if Eddie wasn't SOO BIG, soo fast. Mike, Stone, Jeff and Matt are unknowns to people outside this forum TO THIS DAY. Not saying nobody has heard of them, but nobody relates them to Pearl Jam. We all know who plays guitar for ACDC, GnR, Van Halen (obviously), etc. It makes sense, the general public, imo, didn't know who David Grohl was until he created the Foo.