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1 Jimi Hendrix
2 Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band
3 B.B. King
4 Eric Clapton
5 Robert Johnson
6 Chuck Berry
7 Stevie Ray Vaughan
8 Ry Cooder
9 Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin
10 Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones
11Kirk Hammett of Metallica
12 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana
13 Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead
14 Jeff Beck
15 Carlos Santana
16 Johnny Ramone of the Ramones
17 Jack White of the White Stripes
18 John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
19 Richard Thompson
20 James Burton
21 George Harrison
22 Mike Bloomfield
23 Warren Haynes
24 The Edge of U2
25 Freddy King
26 Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave
27 Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits
28 Stephen Stills
29 Ron Asheton of the Stooges
30 Buddy Guy
31 Dick Dale
32 John Cipollina of Quicksilver Messenger Service
33 & 34 Lee Ranaldo, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth
35 John Fahey
36 Steve Cropper of Booker T. and the MG's
37 Bod Diddley
38 Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac
39 Brian May of Qeen
40 John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival
41 Clarence White of the Byrds
42 Robert Fripp of King Crimson
43 Eddie Hazel of Funkadelic
44 Scotty Moore
45 Frank Zappa
46 Les Paul
47 T-Bone Walker
48 Joe Perry of Aerosmith
49 John McLaughlin
50 Pete Townshend
51 Paul Kossoff of Free
52 Lou Reed
53 Mickey Baker
54 Jorma Kaukonen of Jefferson Airplane
55 Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple
56 Tom Verlaine of Television
57 Roy Buchanan
58 Dickey Betts
59 & 60 Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien of Radiohead
61 Ike Turner
62 Zoot Horn Rollo of the Magic Band
63 Danny Gatton
64 Mick Ronson
65 Hubert Sumlin
66 Vernon Reid of Living Colour
67 Link Wray
68 Jerry Miller of Moby Grape
69 Steve Howe of Yes
70 Eddie Van Halen
71 Lightnin' Hopkins
72 Joni Mitchell
73 Trey Anastasio of Phish
74 Johnny Winter
75 Adam Jones of Tool
76 Ali Farka Toure
77 Henry Vestine of Canned Heat
78 Robbie Robertson of the Band
79 Cliff Gallup of the Blue Caps (1997)
80 Robert Quine of the Voidoids
81 Derek Trucks
82 David Gilmour of Pink Floyd
83 Neil Young
84 Eddie Cochran
85 Randy Rhoads
86 Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath
87 Joan Jett
88 Dave Davies of the Kinks
89 D. Boon of the Minutemen
90 Glen Buxton of Alice Cooper
91 Robby Krieger of the Doors
92 & 93 Fred "Sonic" Smith, Wayne Kramer of the MC5
94 Bert Jansch
95 Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine
96 Angus Young of AC/DC
97 Robert Randolph
98 Leigh Stephens of Blue Cheer
99 Greg Ginn of Black Flag
100 Kim Thayil of Soundgarden

Seem some very weird selections in there and Bryan May so far down the list, the guy knows the guitar so well he built his!!

Randy Rhoads only at 85?!?!

Pah! Nonsense.

yeez that is tragic.

no lindsey buckingham or slash....aboslute bullcrap

how Kurt Cobain beat out Tom Morello and Santana is beyond me ...Cobain wasn't even a good guitarist

so true, so true.

Rolling Stone is quite fond of blues guitarists I guess. Check out the top 10, all are great but some/most should not be that high.

Where is Dave Mustaine? Perhaps these folks have never tried to play Holy Wars...Punishment Due. There is something wrong here.

No Billy Corgan?!? That list is complete garbage!

Yea, eddie van halen at #70, Pete Townshend at #50, Angus Young at #96? That list is complete and utter bull shit. Eddie and Pete should be in the top 10.

and how did jack white get at # 17?

word up he should be in like the top 20 at least

this list is so mainstream man

eddie van halen at #70: WTF? the guitar in beat it was so awesome, 1 of the best ever

SLASH from guns n roses? where the hell is he, i cant find him in the list

there is 1 song i would like u 2 listen 2: give in to me by michael jackson. the guitar by slash in that song is awesome. the best i have ever heard

If it was the 100 greatest musicians my first would be Pete Townshend of The Who

nice list but I don't agree with the order
except for Jimi Hendrix HE'S THE KING OF GUITAR

Yea, but he stole the guitar burning from Pete Townshend. You see, Townshend's signature show closer was that he'd smash his guitar on stage. Hendrix wanted to top that, so he decided to burn his guitars. Either way Jimi Hendrix is the king

Fans just vote for the guitarists in their favourite bands! I mean, THE EDGE????????????????????????

These people should pick up a guitar before voting!

man no dave mustain no kerry king no dimebag darral no zakk wild whts up with thta man

no Mile Oldfield either, thing is guitarist like Eddie Van Halen And Richie Blackmore is to far down that list

no Marty Friedman, Jason Becker, Yngwie J Malmsteen, Paul Gilbert etc weird.. it's a swindle!!

cheers!!

where is slash from guns n roses

he aint there

To be honest I think they just put Hendrix at No 1 and pulled all the rest of the names out of hat!

Hmmmm where would I come on the list?

I just want to know how jack white got so high.

Yeah, I agree with some of the guitarists on the list. Some of my definite favorites! But where's Satriani?

More like out of their ass

WHAT??!?! Pete Townshend at 50! Eddie at 70! Johny Ramone at 16! (even though I love The Ramones he shouldnt be that high up) What the hell is wrong with this list!

why is Jack white on there?

Good question. There shouldn't be any blues guitarists on that list, cos blues are just repeated riffs, and The White Stripes are essentially a contemporary blues band. They may as well put Wayne Static in there.

yeah really

I disagree. No, Jack White shouldn't be on that list, but believe me when I say that there were some truly great blues guitarists. Mostly older guys though, none of whom are on that list... The only one I can think of off the top of my head is Robert Johnson--the guy in "O Brother, Where Art Thou" who believed he sold his soul to the devil so he could play guitar well. On top of which, blues is the basis for so many other genres... Rock, punk, gospel, soul, R&B...

I totally agree with Darth Raven

Good to see Knophler on there, he's overlooked so often.

Kate xx

Stevie Ray Vaughan was a blues guitarist and he was one of the best

yeah some blues gutiarists are amazing

Blues is difficult to write too, because it's hard to pull it off without sounding cheesy!

Look at #5...



THe top 5 are all brilliant guitarists, there's no denying that, but after that it starts getting a little sketchy.

No Slash...........

This list is WRONG!

Not they aren't. Well, yes they are, but Duane Allman does not beat Pete Townshend or Eddie Van Halen, nor do the other top 5 (except for hendrix and clapton), and look how far down the list they were

sorry 'bout that...

Duane Allman is a woefully underrated guitarist...while EVH is (usually) a woefully overrated guitarist.

Robert Johnson was doing the stuff that Clapton was doing in the 70s in the 20s. He is amazing, even though the sound qualityi on all the recordings is crap

even if I am a The Who fan Pete aint all that of an guitarist, on the live shows session musicianc plays the hard part. No doubt he writes great music but as an guitarist he aint all that steaming

where the hell is Steve Vai?

OK, here's a list of the listed guitarists that do actually deserve to be on the list! In no particular order...

1 Jimi Hendrix
6 Chuck Berry
7 Stevie Ray Vaughan
9 Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin
11Kirk Hammett of Metallica
14 Jeff Beck
15 Carlos Santana
45 Frank Zappa
46 Les Paul
55 Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple
70 Eddie Van Halen
84 Eddie Cochran
85 Randy Rhoads
90 Glen Buxton of Alice Cooper
96 Angus Young of AC/DC

Now the ones who dont! I mean, come on, were talking top 100! ONE HUNDRED GUITARISTS!!! Again, in no particular order!

3 BB King
4 Eric Clapton
10 Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones
12 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana
13 Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead
16 Johnny Ramone of the Ramones
17 Jack White of the White Stripes
18 John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
21 George Harrison
22 Mike Bloomfield
24 The Edge of U2
26 Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave
27 Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits
33 & 34 Lee Ranaldo, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth
38 Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac
39 Brian May of Qeen
41 Clarence White of the Byrds
42 Robert Fripp of King Crimson
48 Joe Perry of Aerosmith
50 Pete Townshend
51 Paul Kossoff of Free
59 & 60 Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien of Radiohead
69 Steve Howe of Yes
75 Adam Jones of Tool
82 David Gilmour of Pink Floyd
83 Neil Young
86 Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath
88 Dave Davies of the Kinks
91 Robby Krieger of the Doors
95 Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine
100 Kim Thayil of Soundgarden

I don't know much about these guys before you yell back at me!

2 Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band
5 Robert Johnson
8 Ry Cooder
19 Richard Thompson
20 James Burton
23 Warren Haynes
25 Freddy King
28 Stephen Stills
29 Ron Asheton of the Stooges
30 Buddy Guy
31 Dick Dale
32 John Cipollina of Quicksilver Messenger Service
35 John Fahey
36 Steve Cropper of Booker T. and the MG's
37 Bod Diddley
38 Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac
40 John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival
43 Eddie Hazel of Funkadelic
44 Scotty Moore
47 T-Bone Walker
49 John McLaughlin
52 Lou Reed
53 Mickey Baker
54 Jorma Kaukonen of Jefferson Airplane
56 Tom Verlaine of Television
57 Roy Buchanan
58 Dickey Betts
61 Ike Turner
62 Zoot Horn Rollo of the Magic Band
63 Danny Gatton
64 Mick Ronson
65 Hubert Sumlin
66 Vernon Reid of Living Colour
67 Link Wray
68 Jerry Miller of Moby Grape
71 Lightnin' Hopkins
72 Joni Mitchell
73 Trey Anastasio of Phish
74 Johnny Winter
76 Ali Farka Toure
77 Henry Vestine of Canned Heat
78 Robbie Robertson of the Band
79 Cliff Gallup of the Blue Caps (1997)
80 Robert Quine of the Voidoids
81 Derek Trucks
87 Joan Jett
88 Dave Davies of the Kinks
89 D. Boon of the Minutemen
92 & 93 Fred "Sonic" Smith, Wayne Kramer of the MC5
94 Bert Jansch
97 Robert Randolph
98 Leigh Stephens of Blue Cheer
99 Greg Ginn of Black Flag

Richards, Frusciante, Morello, Townshend and Gilmour definitely deserve to be in there, and possibly Neil Young as well.

I'm going to make some revisions to that list

Deserving:

1 Jimi Hendrix
6 Chuck Berry
7 Stevie Ray Vaughan
9 Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin
11 Kirk Hammett of Metallica
14 Jeff Beck
15 Carlos Santana
45 Frank Zappa
46 Les Paul
55 Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple
70 Eddie Van Halen
84 Eddie Cochran
85 Randy Rhoads
90 Glen Buxton of Alice Cooper
96 Angus Young of AC/DC
31 Dick Dale
50 Pete Townshend
10 Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones
3 BB King
26 Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave
5 Robert Johnson
37 Bo Diddley
71 Lightnin' Hopkins

Not so deserving:

4 Eric Clapton
12 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana
13 Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead
16 Johnny Ramone of the Ramones
17 Jack White of the White Stripes
18 John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
21 George Harrison
22 Mike Bloomfield
24 The Edge of U2
27 Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits
33 & 34 Lee Ranaldo, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth
38 Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac
39 Brian May of Queen
41 Clarence White of the Byrds
42 Robert Fripp of King Crimson
48 Joe Perry of Aerosmith
51 Paul Kossoff of Free
59 & 60 Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien of Radiohead
69 Steve Howe of Yes
75 Adam Jones of Tool
82 David Gilmour of Pink Floyd
83 Neil Young
86 Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath
88 Dave Davies of the Kinks
91 Robby Krieger of the Doors
95 Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine
100 Kim Thayil of Soundgarden
72 Joni Mitchell

Don't know:

2 Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band
8 Ry Cooder
19 Richard Thompson
20 James Burton
23 Warren Haynes
25 Freddy King
28 Stephen Stills
29 Ron Asheton of the Stooges
30 Buddy Guy
32 John Cipollina of Quicksilver Messenger Service
35 John Fahey
36 Steve Cropper of Booker T. and the MG's
38 Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac
40 John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival
43 Eddie Hazel of Funkadelic
44 Scotty Moore
47 T-Bone Walker
49 John McLaughlin
52 Lou Reed
53 Mickey Baker
54 Jorma Kaukonen of Jefferson Airplane
56 Tom Verlaine of Television
57 Roy Buchanan
58 Dickey Betts
61 Ike Turner
62 Zoot Horn Rollo of the Magic Band
63 Danny Gatton
64 Mick Ronson
65 Hubert Sumlin
66 Vernon Reid of Living Colour
67 Link Wray
68 Jerry Miller of Moby Grape
73 Trey Anastasio of Phish
74 Johnny Winter
76 Ali Farka Toure
77 Henry Vestine of Canned Heat
78 Robbie Robertson of the Band
79 Cliff Gallup of the Blue Caps (1997)
80 Robert Quine of the Voidoids
81 Derek Trucks
87 Joan Jett
88 Dave Davies of the Kinks
89 D. Boon of the Minutemen
92 & 93 Fred "Sonic" Smith, Wayne Kramer of the MC5
94 Bert Jansch
97 Robert Randolph
98 Leigh Stephens of Blue Cheer
99 Greg Ginn of Black Flag

Hmm no Tommy Bolin and no Steve How

Frusciante most definately deserves to be on that list.

Saying BB King doesn't belong on the top 100 guitarists of all time only shows your ignorance

Ignorance????

He did a lot for the guitar and I'm not saying he was a bad guitarist, but top 100??????? Can you honestly say he is one of the top guitarists in the world????

This is a kind of thing musicians do.... we don't say were better than someone else unless we really actually know for a fact. So in that case, without any kind of arrogance and shit, by fact, I believe myself to be better than Frusciante and BB King, AND I DON'T EVEN DESERVE TO BE IN THE TOP 100!!!

^Err... of course BB King deserves to be on the top 100. If he did alot for the guitar how can you say he doesnt deserve to be there??
He was one of the first names i knew from music because he is such a master. I'm completely bewildered by your comment.

Kate xx

I think most of the ignorance being shown is once again by ROlling Stone. Jack White???? WTF???? Talk about sucking up to the current trends to sell more mags. Where the hell is Mick Taylor too...he was in the Blues Breakers and also played all the classic riffs on the classic Stones albums, Keef is very much likfe Pete Townsend. It's insulting to Taylor that he is ignored again.

Also I think the list isn't for sh!t hot guitarists but also influential guitarists, hence the highness (pardon the pun) of Keef.

Alvin Lee of Ten Years After is a great guitarist too

He did a lot for the guitar technically, but as an actual guitarist he wasnt that good!

isnt cause he is still around, I have to agree though BB King is a decent guitarist but not that amazing

Again, no Dave Mustaine? That dude is/was amazing.

I am a huuuuuuge fan of them, and i listen to/have heard nearly all of their stuff, studio and live (whats available, of course), and he is a very gifted guitarist, especially in the way of those power chords. I'm not saying he should be in the top 10 or anything, but he should just be before WAY too many people on that piece of shit list

Every time I've seen this list debated, people knee jerk react against Jack White. The man's a ****ing genius. Go see them live, and then decide. I wouldn't necessarily put him so high, but why does he always catch the flak? It's hardly like saying Nick Valensi or someone, Jack can play like hell.

It's funny how always in those "Best list" they always put Nirvana or Kurt Cobain in the top
Why was he so famous? Just because the band was the first commercial grunge band?


I like Nirvana but I just don't understand that fact, it just gets me a little mad when I see Kurt put before than Santana, George Harrison, the Edge even Tom Morello

Well it depends on your judging criteria. He is one of the most influential, and one of the best songwriting guitarists. These factors are definitely relevant, otherwise the top 5 would be Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Yngwie, EVH and Paul Gilbert or something like that.

Yes, as you said, songwritters not guitarrist and the list is for the best 100 guitarrist

Now it would be the same as putting him in the top 10 in a list for the best singers

But if you are talking about songwritting, he has to be in the top ten, I would not fight about that

Well then, about 80 of these guitarists should not be there. None of them can play like Vai.

He's not a great guitarist... Great songwriter, yes, great guitarist, no. Slash from GNR should definitely be there. And about Jack White... He's not doing anything that hasn't been done before, he's just taking some older blues elements and applying them to a different genre. There are other bands that have done the same, and better at that.

Again. This is reducing the category to pure technique or innovation, in which case Slash would be nowhere.

They really should do separate categories... best songwriting guitarists, best innovators, best technical guitarists, etc.

Yeah I guess.

I suppose the true genius is they encourage debate.

I do think they should exclude Hendrix. Because it's blatant no one will ever equal him. Ever.

My favourite guitarist is Tom Morello or Adam Jones.

As with all instruments, I don't judge guitar ability by ability to play someone elses songs. Morello could play a Hendrix riff but he could never dream one such riff up in his mind. Hence why Hendrix will forever be the best.

-AC

Eddie Van Halen
Jonny Petrucci
Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin
Steve Vai
Carlos Santana
David Gilmour of Pink Floyd
Brian May of Qeen
Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave
Kirk Hammett of Metallica
Kurt Cobain of Nirvana

giljotiini

THESE SHOULD BE THE 10 FIRST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

FIRST SHOULD BE SLASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kurt shouldn't be at the top ten

When it comes to actual guitar playing, Kurt Cobain was diabolical! FACT!!!!

Without trying to sound mean, just because the man is dead, it doesn't mean he was a good guitarist!

Orlibabe... all the guys you listed are good, but none of them will ever be better than Hendrix or Robert Johnson. Slash is great, but no way is he the best guitarist in the world.

John Petrucci is awesome.

-AC

YEAH SLASH ISN'T FIRST

I THINK john petrucci or eddie van hallen
and ok kurt cobain wasn't very good i just like his songs. SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT!!!

Yeah, me too, but that makes him a good songwriter, not a good guitarist.

And still... John Petrucci and Eddie Van Halen, as much as I like them both, will never be on the same level as Hendrix. Or Robert Johnson, just because he was such an important part of blues as a genre... And as most of us should know, we wouldn't have rock without blues.

Prince- i've said it before and i'll say it again. He is outrageously good but, on this board, barely anyone has seen him at his best. He should be in the top 20 no question.

Kate xx

wHAT the hell is this nonsense? No Wes Montgomery? Django Reinhart (the fastest guitarist in the world and he only had three fingers on his left hand!) Grant Green!?

F*CK that list

Yea Steve Howe is a great guitarist, but if you watch some of their concerts, he can't (or at least doesn't) really improvise. Either way, the man can pull of some of the most complicated riffs of all time!

no suprise jimi hendrix won..... hes so over-rated its untrue.

and why is the dude from the white stripes in so high? he is crap compared to many of those players, and dimebag darrel and john petrucci are not even on the poll.

i disagree with this list

Dimebag Darrel sucks.... sounds fast... but trust me it's simple to play.

And leave Hendrix alone!!!!

i disagree with the list

whats up! you guys taken a listen to the Rave ups doing "Smokestack Lightning."? these guys are amazing, just like townshend only better, imo! anyway its pretty much the coolest tone ever. they're in you tube! - there's some theraveups video on there.

George Harrison above Mike Bloomfield??? Give me fuggin break!!!
Mike should be in the top 10 to be sure. Some of the guys on this list couldn't carry his guitar case.

LOU REED is a better guitarist than Todd Rundgren???!!
It fascinates me that a "music" publication like Rolling Stone is so ignorant about music...WTF do they have against Todd, anyway? They won't nominate him for consideration to be in the rock and roll hall of fame, not they he needs to be validated by that ridiculous rag, anyway...

This list was biased toward classic rock and seemed to favor fame over actual talent. Not the worst list I've ever seen, but there are too few names from the last twenty years and almost no names from Heavy Metal (I mean real metal, not Hard Rock or Glam).

Originally posted by Difrycheulyd
11 Kirk Hammett of Metallica
Hells yeah.


Originally posted by Difrycheulyd
75 Adam Jones of Tool
100 Kim Thayil of Soundgarden
Cool seeing those guys on there. Should be higher up, though.

I honestly don't know what people saw in Jimi Hendrix.

No Tom Morello or Bradley Nowell?

edit: just noticed how old this topic is.

Slash(Soul Hudson) is the Best Guitarist ever. He is not in the list, So this means that this list is BULL SHIT.....................!!!!!!!!! Jimi Hendrix is not so good

If it was the 100 greatest musicians my first would be Pete Townshend of The Who

Oakley Sunglasses


http://garden.fulltomlins.com/1.jpghttp://garden.fulltomlins.com/2.jpghttp://garden.fulltomlins.com/3.jpghttp://garden.fulltomlins.com/4.jpghttp://garden.fulltomlins.com/5.jpg

Originally posted by Omega Vision
This list was biased toward classic rock and seemed to favor fame over actual talent. Not the worst list I've ever seen, but there are too few names from the last twenty years and almost no names from Heavy Metal (I mean real metal, not Hard Rock or Glam).

Metal, of all kinds, boasts some of the most impressive guitarists to ever grace the planet.

Also, where the **** is Buckethead.

In terms of technical ability and ability to compose good guitar tracks, more than two-thirds of the people on this list couldn't even share a stage with the likes of Steve Vai, who's not even listed. Or Joe Satriani for that matter--how can you ignore him?

The list is broken.

Its a 'units sold' list rather than an 'artistic/technical/historic' merit list.

Originally posted by Omega Vision
In terms of technical ability and ability to compose good guitar tracks, more than two-thirds of the people on this list couldn't even share a stage with the likes of Steve Vai, who's not even listed. Or Joe Satriani for that matter--how can you ignore him?

Huh, you're right. It's weird, I could have sworn both were on the list, albeit somewhere in the 80s for some reason.

I was aware that Ike Turner played guitar, but did he do anything that justifies him being in this list, or hell, in a Top 500 or Top 1000 list?

He was playing music in the 60's I guess.

Being an crusty ass old man (No offense Robtard, if you read this) seems to be a big pro in one's favor in this list.

I want to know how Kurt Cobain made it into the top ****ing 15. Perhaps being dead is also a big plus.

In terms of influence, Cobain is more deserving than a lot of people on this list. His style of playing may not necessarily have been the first of its kind, but for a lot of people who first started playing music in the 90s, Cobain was preaching a new gospel with his strings. You have to look at who was on the board making the list. Pretty sure I saw a lot of Cobain's contemporaries (Billy Corgan, the guy from Weezer) and a lot of people who got their start just as Nirvana was getting big.

He is only more influential in that he was a bigger name than the people that influenced him.

Also, Billy Corgan was influenced by Cobain? I thought he was influenced primarily by Iommi.