RateItAll: The Opinion Network

Clapton is an overated racist rip off artist

Wow someone has a rage issue!

Haha. I love armchair internet "music expert" nerds.

There they are, siting in mom's basement, scraping resin out of the bong... talking about how shitty so and so is, while so and so sits in his ivory tower counting his gold coins, wishing HE could sit in his mom's basement again.

Sure, whatever.

for those who argue that clapton is a great guitarist simply because he is "legendary" Get a brain!! Listen! Perhaps if he was the only guitar player ever, he might be considered interesting, but how in the world can you say he is great when there are soooo many better. Him, SRV and John Mayer make me ashamed to be a white man.

I guess I should have never started playing guitar. Then I could be part of the blissful masses that consider Clapton to be the greatest ever. He is the most overrated, sterile and boring player I've ever heard. Rarely writes his own material as well.

A racist alcoholic with bad solos. He built his career stealing original music from the likes of Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix and Ryuichi Sakamoto not to mention countless blues guitarists. Unoriginal, un-inspired, sloppy, strung out coke head, mediocre cover artist at best.

Ummm Clapton. Do I need to describe why he should be in the group?

Peerless guitarist

Very good guitarist in a variety of styles.

Excellent guitarist though I'm keener on his solo stuff than his stuff with Cream.

Unrivalled rock guitarist.

Unparallelled as a guitarist in the rock world. I wouldn't have him as a vocalist though.

From 1966-1968 Clapton was the greatest Rock guitarist on the planet. As a member of CREAM, his innovation and playing was beyond belief. Listen to CD "Goodbye Cream" (tracks: "I'm So Glad," "Politician," and "Sitting on Top of the World") and CD "Wheels Of Fire" (tracks: "Spoonful," and "Crossroads") for a sample. Then get a hold of CD "Disraeli Gears" (tracks: ALL of them) and listen to the most amazing studio guitar-playing of the era. His post-CREAM work does not come close to the standards he set as a member of CREAM from 1966-1968. But, at his best, using those sweet-sounding Gibsons, he was the best.

Captain Kirk, I'm sorry, but I have to agree with stanuzbeck. I realize Clapton was part of a group of guitarists that probably inspired many great players and pioneered a great slow-hand style, but in terms of a player/performer and being rated with the greats, I have to reiterate that he is indeed (to quote Stan) the "Most ridiculously overrated guitar player of all time". I viewed a concert with Eric playing with the original members of Cream on public television (2005 performance) last night, and I have to say that I found his playing, lifeless, loose, and uninteresting (with the exception of a few little things here and there that were neat, but in now way outstanding). I guess, what I'm confused about is the particular or specific aspect of Clapton's guitar playing that warrants his exhaultation. What is it about his playing that generates such a popular appeal? Here's some attributes that he's been praised for and some guitar players that I think would be much better recognized canidates for those attributes. Slow-hand style - David Gilmore from Pink Floyd has Clapton beat by far in this area. Blues - I can think of a thousand blues guitar players I'd rather listen to just because of the skill level alone. Just listen to BB King. Song-writing - Please, I find his style mediocre at best. I find his chord progressions to be repetitive, basic, and very non-inventive. Take Cocaine for example, this is two etremelly basic riffs with a solo over the main riff. Jimmy Page was the guitarist to look for in those days in terms of composition. Guitar innovation - I really don't think Clapton was doing anything that everyone else wasn't already doing in those days. Again, Jimmy Page was probably at the forefront of innovation in this time. Sorry to be so negative about a fellow guitar player, but I just think people looked past what was important in a guitar player when recognizing Clapton probably because in those days not as many people knew how to play a guitar and that he was more of a name than a player. Kind of like brand-name jeans.

Clapton sucks I agree. Hearing him solo is so incredibly dull I want to stab myself in the head each time it.

What? I can't believe the low ratings of some of these raters! Eric Clapton is legendary. He is certainly one of the five all-time great rock guitarists. He is right there with Hendrix, Page, and Stevie Ray Vaughn. You have to be ignorant (means not knowing) to rate Clapton nothing less than five stars as a guitarist. (He is also a fine writer in his own right as well).

Most ridiculously overrated guitar player of all time. He hasn't done anything interesting at all since about 1966. The best blues guitarist around at the time was not Clapton, it was Peter Green. Anyway, Clapton has already been in one supergroup, Blind Faith, with Ginger Baker and Steve Winwood, and they failed to impress. Eric is incapable of fitting into a band that he's not the absolute leader of, and even when he is the absolute dictator his musicians get sick of him and quit. So he would be one of the worst choices for some kind of supergroup. Clapton sucks.

the obvious choice for the UK Supergroup lead guitar.