Readers of Total Guitar
answered the magazines call
to vote when they recently
conducted a poll to discover
metal 's greatest shredders.
However the results surprised
magazine staff with a host of
players expected to do well
not making the final cut.
Metallica's Kirk Hammet and
Megadeth's Dave Mustaine
are possibly the biggest names
to miss out, and Maiden 's
Dave Murray makes the grade
whist band mates Adrian
Smith and Jannick Gers don 't
Other notable absentees are,
Eddie Van Halen, Slash, Joe
Satriani, Steve Vai and Jimmy
Page, but perhaps the "metal"
classification becomes cloudy
round the edges (although it
would be stretching the
imagination to classify Rage
Against the Machine or Alter
Bridge as metal), or perhaps
they simply didn't receive
enough votes… remember, a
poll is about opinion…….
And the winners are…..
1. Alexi Laiho, Children of
Bodom
2. John Petrucci, Dream
Theater
3. Mick Thomson, Slipknot
4. Mark Tremonti, Alter
Bridge
5. Dimebag Darrell Pantera
6. Mikael Akerfeldt, Opeth
7. James Hetfield, Metallica
8. Tony Iommi, Black Sabbath
9. Glenn Tipton, Judas Priest
10. Randy Rhoads Ozzy
Osbourne
11. Daron Malakian, System of
a Down
12. Dave Murray, Iron Maiden
13. Zakk Wylde, Black Label
Society
14. Yngwie Malmsteen
15. Michael Amott, Arch
Enemy, Carcass
16. Tom Morello, Rage Against
the Machine
17. Marty Friedman Megadeth
18. Kerry King, Slayer
19. Gus G, Ozzy Osbourne,
Firewind
20. Fredrik Thordendal,
Meshuggah