Odd. I have not heard Jeff Beck and liked it. Maybe I am in need of further study.
find a video of him playing. it looks like he puts so little effort into doing such amazing things. he makes it look just so friggin dang easy, watching him sometimes makes me want to put down the guitar forever.
Also keep in mind that, if you listen to old Les Paul recordings, he's the type of guitarist who likes to play a lot of fast scale-like runs all over the place. Kind of similar to a lot of Wylde's material that I'm familiar with. Lots of technical wow-factor, not as much soul - as opposed to guys like Vaughan or Clapton who were (or are) great technicians but can also pull great emotion out of their instruments - and are equally happy sitting back and playing laid back, chord-based leads if and when the songs call for it.
A lot of time, it's what they DON'T play that tells you how good the musician is. Maybe better put, it's what they're willing to not play, if that makes sense. Wylde, as much as I do enjoy lots of his music, strikes me as the type of guitarist who feels like he has to fill up every second with loud and fast runs or crazy assed pinched harmonics. Which all have their place, don't get me wrong. But sometimes you wanna sit back and listen to a "Lenny" or a "Tears in Heaven", and I've never seen either in his repertoire.
listen to
Book of Shadows. it's not BLS, but Zakk solo. it's a perfect showcase of a wider range of styles than you've probably heard from him. not all just exercises in jamming NPMs (notes per measure) into a solo.
as for OP, I really can't listen to much Clapton anymore. Bluesbreakers and Cream, heck yes. plus some Derek & the Dominos and deeper cuts off
Slowhand. but other than
Unplugged, his 80s stuff and beyond is unlistenable to me.
Music, for me, died in 1990 on a hillside in East Troy, WI. At least contemporary music. Since then, I rarely listen to new music, even from bands and musicians I enjoyed before. It wasn't sudden or even a conscious decision. I didn't say to myself, "oh, SRV is gone, I can't stand new music anymore." I didn't even notice it until years later.
long story short: SRV
but my real guitar hero is Rik Emmett. can't really name a straight-up blues tune he's played. Maybe "Young Enough to Cry" from
Just a Game, unique in that it's 3/4 time. otherwise, he excels in 3 different genres: hard rock, archtop jazz and classical guitar. he also does sappy love songs and catchy pop tunes