there might be legendary punk and post punk guitarists out there that deserves merit, but a guitarist friend of mine always says these guitarists are not very technically achieved, however they are innovative in finding their own playing styles in an uncompromising and untraditional way. i guess one can define it as "old school" and "new school." it's like you'll never see someone with a technical prowess like Eric Clapton actually compliment someone like Bernard Sumner... i know, poor analogy but that's the closest thing i can think of at the moment. anyway, with that said...
Will Sergeant - Echo and the Bunnymen
Bernard Sumner - Joy Division and New Order
John McGeoch - Siouxsie and the Banshees, Public Image Ltd.
The Edge - U2
Johnny Marr - The Smiths
Robert Smith - The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees: as much as i love Mr. Smith's work, the same guitarist friend mentioned above maintains that much of Robert's guitar work is decidedly simple (imagine the way he slags off Kurt Cobain!
), which i tend to agree on. Robert can play some mean 6 string bass solos though. Porl Thompson, who played with The Cure for quite a long time, is actually an estalished guitarist... one of the reasons why he quit The Cure was to play with his heroes Page and Plant.
Keith Levine - Public Image Ltd.
and some more recent guitarists:
Kevin Shields - My Bloody Valentine
Andy Bell - Ride (who now sadly plays bass for Oasis)
John Squire - The Stone Roses
Bernard Butler - Suede
Nick McCabe - The Verve
Brian Futter - Catherine Wheel
Jonny Greenwood - Radiohead
