Best Comments About Ritchie Blackmore on TheTopTens

The Top Ten
1 Ritchie was a FAST player 20 years before the word shredding had any meaning. But he had an ability to be smooth & yet staccato at the same time.

Paganini of guitar. Never missed a note. A pioneering Musician of our times... Now plays entire concerts on acoustic guitar because he wants to & that is the strength of the true Master. He can inspire without the electronics. There is no competition...

None of the comments (items) on this list is mine, although I made many comments about him, too.

2 Look for comments on Blackmore from guitar heroes like Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. They all admire him and respect him as the umatched Rock guitar player.
3 Technically and musically superior to any of his contemporaries, he was shredding neo-classical style 45 years ago - while all the others were playing pentatonic blues scales

I couldn't agree more.

4 The only rock player to pick almost every note staccato style instead of the usual pull-offs and hammer-ons that the others were doing at the time.
5 The second solo [Highway Star] seems a bit like the musical version of being shot out of a cannon at ultra-relativistic speeds.
6 The man who created the heavy metal guitar solo. With speed, precision and charisma he shaped the modern art of what we today know as guitar solos.

Absolutely true.

7 Jimi Hendrix started it all, but Ritchie expanded it by far. Also, one of the first guitarists I've ever seen playing fast and clean sweep-picking arpeggios (around 1968).

Yes, The Man In Black was a pioneer in all possible ways.

8 I've never seen other musician who could play so naturally and easy, as you mentioned, "talking" with his guitar. Look at his hands when playing!

I noticed that, too - Ritchie Blackmore makes love to his guitar.

9 A genius that merged classical music and rock with a guitar ... Pure Genius.
10 He has the immaculate technique of a classical instrumentalist, the composing skills of Molars, and improvisational skill of the finest jazz players. A true virtuoso.
The Contenders
11 While all other greats were riding the blues influence this guy paved the way with something else that most of the rockers do today
12 Underrated guitarist, most of credits that belong to him are attached to Page.

Well at least on the top tens there are many people ( or one person many times) praising him.

Yes, the bitter truth.

13 [Highway Star] has a classical touch to it, resulting in what probably would happen if Mozart got extremely drunk and then decided to pick up an electric guitar and wail away.

So true. And this comment puts a smile on my face every time I read it.

14 Blackmore moved the mindset away from the hackneyed blues idiom and fused great ideas with melody and sizzling runs. Jimmy Page could never hope to be that good.

Yes, moving away from the blues idiom was the most important element in the creation of what is now known as heavy metal.

15 He pioneered the neo-classical stuff which has still never been bettered, everyone is just copying him and just trying desperately to add something new.
16 A mixture of virtuosity, tasteful feel and the fact he laid down the blueprint for much of the heavy metal that was to follow makes him a towering figure in rock.
17 Jimmy Page said "Blackmore is always a step ahead of me".
18 Ritchie's compositions are a perfect harmony of pristine intervals, that give a soul-shaking timbre the moment you tune into the depth of his genius. Perfect.
19 Ritchie Blackmore combines great intensity with wonderful subtlety and makes it look effortless.
20 The only competition he has is Beck.

Yes, Beck was a bit more technical than Blackmore. Yet, Blackmore was heavier and more innovative as a songwriter/composer.

21 His writing and improvisational skills are second to none. Put simply, he just knows what note to play next.
22 Never the same solo twice and an ability to almost make solos have words, very moving. Technically brilliant with a fluidity that is unmatched.
23 Clinical and madly skilled. But he would always play for the song - his songwriting second to none. His stage presence was huge.
24 No one can make his guitar feel almost human with feelings, harmony and speed and techniques like Blackmore.
25 Blackmore revolutionised the way solos are played today
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