What's consistent about Jimmy Page's live playing? The man slopped and drooled his way through several decades, and even during Zep's glory years he was almost as unpredictable as Plant. Great player, but consistently great? Not in my book.

Then again, I think it's silly to compare Townshend and Page like this, because the two are VERY different. Not only in their styles, but also in the role they perform(ed) in the band. Townshend's a rhythm machine, and he often functioned as the anchor in the instrumental section, with Moon and Entwistle doing more elaborate things on their respective instruments. In Led Zeppelin, Bonzo and Jones laid down the groove, and Page could lay back with a looser style, one that was more solo-oriented than Townshend's.

Seconded. I guess that's why the "consistency" criterion can be a little confusing...

Oh please don't tell me that Page's "sloppy" don't annihilate Townshend's 10-second solos.

Rhythm guitar doesn't require much consistency.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFDOmqW2n8Q[/youtube]

They were BOTH sloppy, and if you think Townshend only played "10 second solos", you might wanna check out this obscure little album called Live At Leeds.

I dont see what short solos would have to do with this anyway.

Now should we eliminate consistency from the criteria? It seems to be causing some confusion, and has somewhat of an ambiguous interpretation.

wat

NC

Well, I probably talk about Claptons 'down time' as being the last 30 or so years. And just so I'm clear, I dont think his actual playing degenerated in that time (until the Winwood show at which he made a few very noticebable errors). I just think that he and the band were so damn good, they maybe got a little lazy or maybe even bored.

An old mate of mine (no longer with us) had over a 1000 hours of live clapton material that has never seen the light of day. Virtually all taken directly off the desk at gigs or in studios in the 70's and 80's. He was a Deadhead and knew a lot of guys on the scene through following the Grateful Dead around. I used to have dozens of cassettes of this stuff (long ago disappeared). I remember 1 particular tape(s) that had had 4 or 5 hours of Eric jamming, talking and playing with Albert King and Albert Collins in a studio - fantastic stuff.

I have no beef with Clapton in fact I even have his biography and its a good read as well.

And the winner of 'Stupidest statement' of the century goes to .....

Seeker, have you heard this?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugB2PGnlvTw[/youtube]

Vicious.

HIGHLY disagree. Playing rhythm guitar clean can be very challenging if the chords are even remotely strange.

First 25 seconds. Pure magic.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73dvrir5kig[/youtube]

indulge me my friend and try some Tommy Bolin ... Take care

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiCBraYoYfE[/youtube]

Really enjoyed that clip gminer. Very talented player. I wouldn't be surprised if John Frusciante got mad influence from this guy.

Indulge me for some Schenker...

"Rock Bottom"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOkv0HLt9Ss

His best solo.

Arguably haha I think "Into the Arena" and "Lost Horizons" are strong contenders.