^ I agree with you entirely, Aaron, although, on the subject of speed, both times I’ve seen Slash live (Snakepit, VR), he’s been very sloppy on the fast stuff.
I remember a quote from Steve Stevens about his hero Steve Howe (Yes/Asia) – Stevens said, “he wasn’t just playing guitar, he was playing music.”
That applies perfectly to Dean, imho – he is, first & foremost, a consummate musician who knows instinctively when and how much or little to play. His parts are often very subtle (much more so than the vast majority of rock guitarists), he has great versatility (again, that very few outside of the best jazz-rock players can match) and, most of all, he is a modest player who never seeks to hog the limelight. Even when he rips it, he’s about as far away from a macho show-off as it’s possible to be. He has a wonderful combination of masculine & feminine elements in his playing that reminds me very much of the late, great, Tommy Bolin (although TB was technically superior, no question).
I can’t fault Dean on anything – yes, there are guys like Al di Meola and Dean’s own hero Allan Holdsworth who are on another planet as pure players; plus, I take the previous point about Dean not being an innovator. But, as an all-round guitarist with excellent rhythm chops, dynamics, great writing ability & sassy note choice, for me there’s no-one better in rock.
I just wish there was some footage of when he sat in with Robben Ford and his band - I read a comment somewhere one time from a dude who was just blown away by how good Dean was!
