aww...someone's butthurt. nowhere did i imply that he was conceited, nor would it would it make a difference if he donated his money to starving aids infested ethiopian kids. his music still sucks. seriously, it sounds like he randomly put notes in a midi generator as fast as he could. i don't shit on him because he's a good guitar player, i shit on him because he's not a good musician.
and there is a reason people like SRV are mainstream: because they're fucking good.
Fuck you. You make it sound like John Petrucci is conceited and implies his abilities make him better than the others you've described. He's a humble dude doing what he loves and is actually good at it. And what the fuck are you talking about him "not 'knowing' a melody." A melody is a series of musical notes which is perceived as a single entity. There's no reason to shit on a respected guitar player just because you have different (and might I add severely mainstream) taste.
I think the issue people are taking with Petrucci, is the statement in the OP that he's a very complete guitarist. I doubt there's anyone here that would argue with his skill; he's obviously talented as shit. The issue is with his musicality, and taste. He over plays, and that bores me after short while. It's like those Korean kids that type an insane amount of shit on a computer keyboard. It's impressive as hell, but your left thinking "now what?". It just doesn't have lasting appeal.
lolz. srv, clapton, knopfler, hendrix, atkins, bb, may, and gilmour are complete guitarists, not this fingertapping arpeggio i-wouldn't-know-a-melody-if-it-butfucked-me bullshit.
And none of them would be much more than a lead guitarist if it weren't for their voices and song writing ability. I still maintain that good rock music needs lyrics...and good lyrics at that, not this pop shit that people turn out these days with auto tune to make them sound on key.
As a guitar player, this sort of thing does nothing for me. I can't imagine anyone who does not play an instrument or understand music would sit back and appreciate that sort of "music" either. It's honestly just playing really fast. Granted, he's doing amazing things from a technical and music theory perspective, but the end result to most is just noise.
The better I get at guitar, the more I appreciate musicians who exercise restraint. Just because you can jump all around the fretboard doing 32nd notes at 300 BMP does not mean you have to. Simple stuff like Neil Young's "one note solos" and Pete Townshend's power chords on Baba O'Riley pack a ton more emotion than these virtuosos blistering out multi-key, complex solos at 500 MPH.
John Petrucci is an amazing musician, on a musical level. Does he pander to the "please shred like God" crowd? Of course. But to discredit him as a musician considering everything he has done is just naive. Do you play guitar? Do you know any theory? Any experience playing shows or recording?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QZbMC3Z1rw
go to about 2:20 or so... he doesn't play fast.. that's all melody. listen to the details. he's very articulate in his playing.
Well I look at it like this:
I see it as a venn diagram with two parts: The Technical side and the Emotional side
Good music needs both parts. You can't just be a virtuoso. Music is about expression and the exchange of energy, and for that you need some heart.
Petrucci is waaaaay on the left side.
For me, there's no better band than radiohead that exemplifies this balance.
I love radio head. Have you heard of Chroma Key? It is Kevin Moore's primary project. Kevin was the original piano player from Dream Theater who left the band for the same reasons many people dont like it.. too technical, not musical enough. Kevin wanted to keep it simple so he quit. ChromaKey is like the exact opposite of dream theater. Kevin doesn't show off his piano skills at all.