Neil Young

Greatest? Eh...no, but damn good!! Young is king of the acoustic quitar (and harmonica). Still from the album Rust Never Sleeps, the song-Hey, Hey, My, My (fade to black) he proved he can rock with the best of em, and is not that bad at electric guitar either. Props to Crazy Horse as well, they can jam too! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs2-BH9_DMA

Now neil is good---but he aint all that

Neil is the Greates!

Not one of my favorites but he has his place in music history.

This guy is my favorite musician of all time and definately up there with bob dylan imo... in songs like hey hey my my (or its brother my my hey hey) he says "its better to burn out than to fade away" how can you say it doesnt take some skill to come up with that... let alone the fact that all his songs are the best thing you will ever hear in ur life!!!

Like his singing voice his guitar playing is no thing of beauty yet he has very good expressive abilities with his basic skills.UPDATE:  There was a very interesting story on the radio this morning. First off, let me tell you that Neil was through town a couple of weeks ago, town being Winnipeg, where Neil spent his teens and where he got his start as a musician. Anyway, the story goes like this; this morning the local CBC morning show interviewed a guy who currently owns the house that Neil lived in when he and his mom moved to Winnipeg.A week ago Sunday he and his wife were in their front yard raking up leaves and getting ready for winter when they noticed two scruffy guys standing outside of a cab, looking at the front of the house. They said its not uncommon for people to walk by and look at the house, its a local landmark. One of the guys had a hand full of papers that appeared to have been printed out from the internet. The couple walked over to say 'hi' and confirm for them that... Read more

One of the greatest lyricist of all-time. I always like the uniqueness of his voice.

You've got to be kidding! The man has a voice like a rusty can opener! Not a taste I ever hope I acquire!

he's good but not good enough to be on this list.  great song writer but the voice wears thin after awhile.

good guitar plyer...like him better all around,..

'On the Beach' is probably my favorite Young album.  I would check it out if you haven't already.  Not my favorite artist (since he changed his name from Neil 'Old' to Neil  'Young.'  Neil does rock at times...in the 'free world' or the communist world if you so dare....muaaahahh

This rusty canadian rocker might not have the most delicate voice out there and his "claw-hammer" probably isn't a really spotless style of guitar playing...Not everybody is into experimental rock...Still ends up showing more gut per note than most top ten artists anytime. One of the few heroes left out there.

Not spectacular, but he wrote a few decent songs, and penned a couple of good solos.

Not as good a player as he is a songwriter.

I like him alot

great songwriter,.

BRILLIANT in every thing he does, always in the mood for Neil

the hands of Modern apache

He brings us as closa as we can come to the core of the universe.

known for one note leads picked 25 times in a row --not good on gutar but a great overall musician --also as note cant sing worth shit but its different so i still like him --he was first concert i ever went to at age 15

I guess Young is an acquired taste but I think he is one of the alltime great lyricists.

Just oulandishly creative with his sound and riffs

Neil doesn't need to be polished or flashy. He transmits emotion directly through his guitar which is the ultimate goal for true musicians.

One of the most underated ever!!

technically speaking, he was nothing special...he was an artist and he brings people into his work with his own style of playing...as John Lennon once said about his playing: "Technically, I'm not very good...I'm an artist. Give me a tuba, and I'll get you something out of it."

One of the best and the only one that could pull off what he does.

Still one of my favorite rock artist. His music style has always set him apart from other rock artist of his time. his music holds up well considering I was listening to his music in high school.

Musical commendations - however; he isn't one of the 'great' guitarists!

His voice is terrible, one of the worst in rock history, and one that makes his music unlistenable in my books. His guitar playing is mediocre and his harmonica work is almost as lazy and tuneless as Bob Dylan's. Like Dylan he's penned the odd decent tune - e.g. Rockin in the Free World - but they're generally  best done by others.

Here is another Canadian telling us what to do. Tiresome.

He was sloppy and a hack. ARe you kidding me.

One of the best ever.  Neil Young says more in a one note solo than most of the wankers highly rated by the guitar snobs can say in a career of solos.  If you don't get, I feel sorry for you.

I acknowledge the respect that Neil Young gets in the musical community, but he generally doesn't float my personal boat. The man is prolific enough to hit some spots for me, especially "Heart Of Gold", which is one of my favorite singles from any artist, but for the most part he falls flat. Moreover, his voice isn't strong enough even if his songwriting is usually well above par (as opposed to Bob Dylan, whose songs are better written). I had never considered Young's influence on grunge prior to reading some of the prior reviews, and I would have to agree with that conclusion. In the end, I'm going with an admittedly subjective three stars.

Clearly a polarizing figure on this list. Maybe he's not a virtuoso, but I'm surprised that anyone would enjoy listening to examples of sheer technical mastery more than once. Young definitely has some terrible albums, but on the good ones his solos are subtle and timeless - check out the way his guitar chimes with the vocal melodies on a track like "Powderfinger." Very creative and beautiful if you ask me.

What is a good guitarplayer? Is it one who play all the notes correctly very fast? Is it one who can copy all the tricks in the book? Is it one with a unique sound and style? Is it the one who moves and put you in another time and place with his playing??

You are kidding me, right? Neil Young? Remember....we aren't talking about how much of a "legend" he is...or how much of a "songwriter" he is. This is about guitar playing.

he really it terrible.

This guy is a Master, got to be insane if anyone rate him under 4 stars. Should be in top 7.

This guy is a legend. Should easily be in the top 10. Please help me vote for Neil. Thank you.

OK granted technically speaking Neil Young's guitar ability pales greatly in comparison to many. What sets him apart is he happens to be one of the GREATEST SONGWRITERS this planet has seen. Yep right up there with Dylan in my estimation. He is all about ATMOSPHERE and FEEL. His most amazing lead is undoubtetly "Like a Hurricane" where do those sounds come from? You feel like your being blown around yourself! What classic songs "Cortez the Killer", "A man needs a Maid", "Old Man", "Ohio", "Expecting To Fly", "Powderfinger". Again yeah he has some "one note" leads going on but he transports us to very special place indeed in his extraordinary landscapes. Love you Neil.

This list is a joke if this guy is in the top 1,000,000,000!

Listen to his work on "Sad Memory"-his guitar sounds like a horn.

This guy sucks.... as a player and a singer. However, he is a fairlygood songwriter. Some are can be considered classic, others just phsycobabble.

Great guitarist. A top 10 candidate who has been at times controversial (Vietman era anti-war songs and his latest venture "Living With War" which blasts the Bush warmongers). He is also very innovative. Played with Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Crazy Horse and more recently Pearl Jam. Great songwriter and unique guitarist, Young is a master of his own making.

Yeesh! His voice is like a precursor to James Blunt.

This guy is the most overrated singer and guitar player of all time. If you play guitar, you would realize that he is a distorted combination of three chords and gargled lyrics.

Far better guitarist than vocalist.

I think of Neil Young as more of a singer/songwriter rather than a guitar player. He definitely has chops and has made some haunting recordings with both acoustic and electric accompaniment. His leads are more feel than technique, Jimi Hendrix once said that Neil Young shouldn't play lead guitar and stick to Rhythym.

Love Neil's music but best guitarist? Not even close!

come on,youve got to be kidding.neil has a genuine groove thats his own thing but is there anything he plays that a novice couldnt master