Top 10: Metal Replacement Guitarists

When deciding what should be our first Top 10 of the new year, I first contemplated resuming our retrospective “best metal albums of *insert year here*” series, but figured that could wait for another week. I wanted to think outside the box. Then, I was toying with the idea of a “Top 10: Metal Replacement Singers”, but I feel that topic has been beaten to death. So it is with a certain sense of pride that I present to you a Top 10 of a seldom mentioned niche, Metal Replacement Guitarists. When ranking this list, we took into account not just these guitarists’ individual technical ability, but also their contribution to their respective bands in a studio and live capacity. On that note, here are our Top 10 Metal Replacement Guitarists.

10. Paul “Tonka” Chapman (UFO)

Paul “Tonka” Chapman’s inclusion on this list is a slight technicality as his first stint with UFO was not as a replacement member. He briefly played alongside Michael Schenker, the man who he’d one day replace, as UFO’s rhythm guitarist from 1974 to 1975. However, considering this stint never amounted to any studio output, we’re turning a blind eye. It’s his second jaunt with the band, from 1978 to 1983, that rightfully lands good ol’ Tonka on this list. Hot off the heels of UFO’s classic Obsession (1978), Chapman saved the day, filling the shoes of the M.I.A. Schenker and powering the heavy metal hovercraft through a string of equally brilliant, albeit underappreciated studio albums. To this day, The Wild, the Willing and the Innocent (1981) remains my second favorite UFO album, largely thanks to Chapman’s brilliant songwriting and face melting guitar parts.

9. Marty Friedman (Megadeth)

When Marty Friedman got the call to join thrash titans Megadeth in 1990, he was already well established in guitar circles, having made a name for himself with both Cacophony (his band with fellow prodigy Jason Becker) and as a solo artist. What would a distinguished neoclassical virtuoso like Friedman do with a band of thrasher barbarians like Megadeth? Drop one of the greatest tech-thrash albums of all time, of course! Rust in Peace (1990) changed the course of both Friedman and Megadeth’s respective careers forever, paving the way for what was to be the latter’s most commercially successful period. While subsequent albums would see Friedman tone down his shredding skills to accommodate Megadeth’s changing mainstream sound, he proved nevertheless to be an integral part of their success, providing a depth of atmosphere with his moody, melodic guitar solos.

8. Vinnie Vincent (KISS)

Here’s an entry that’s bound to split the masses in half for a couple reasons. For every person who will go to bat for the Ankh Warrior, there’s another person who will argue his over the top, shred-heavy antics are “dated” by today’s standards and “ruined KISS”. To those people, we say get lost. There’s also those who will argue KISS isn’t a metal band. Well if they weren’t, they certainly were come the arrival of Vincent in ’82. With a fresh-faced, metallic disposition, Vincent breathed new life into the floundering KISS, performing and co-writing Creatures of the Night (1982) and Lick It Up (1983), the latter essentially being his baby. Unfortunately, Vincent made the mistake of demanding equal creative and financial control of KISS as a reward for his contributions. And while arguments can be made that he deserved such, at the end of the day, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley didn’t agree (to put it lightly), leading to his 1984 dismissal.

7. Jake E. Lee (Ozzy Osbourne)

Nobody could’ve anticipated the tragic demise of Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Randy Rhoads in 1982. Initially, Gillan guitarist Bernie Tormé was called in to play the remainder of the shows on the ongoing Diary of a Madman Tour, followed by Brad “King of the Whammy Bar” Gillis for the Speak of the Devil shows. When Gillis turned down Sharon Osbourne’s offer to join the Ozzman’s band full time, confident of his own upcoming band, Night Ranger, the door was left open. Needless to say, every guitarist in L.A. fought for this spot, which would ultimately be rewarded to early Ratt guitarist, Jake E. Lee. Lee infused the hedonistic spirit of the Sunset Strip into Osbourne’s traditionally dark English metal sound, resulting in two pop metal masterpieces, Bark at the Moon (1983) and The Ultimate Sin (1986). Par the course for most Osbourne hirees, Lee was eventually dismissed by Mrs. O once it was decided his duties were no longer needed. THAT’S “The Ultimate Sin”!

6. John Sykes (Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake)

One can only imagine what could’ve been had John Sykes stuck with Tygers of Pan Tang. With is otherworldly songwriting and guitar abilities, he could’ve helped the band take a bite out of the American market, the same way their peers Def Leppard and Iron Maiden did. Instead, he contributed said talents to two veteran metal acts: First Thin Lizzy, replacing the rather self-admittedly awkward Snowy White, and then Whitesnake, replacing founding guitarist Micky Moody. With Thin Lizzy, Sykes fueled the band’s heaviest and final affair, Thunder and Lightning (1983). With Whitesnake, he essentially penned (sorry David) and performed on their 1987 self titled mega seller, singlehandedly launching them to superstardom in the States. For these two landmark releases alone, this list would be incomplete without Sykes’ presence.

5. Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden)

Iron Maiden is a band who one could argue wouldn’t have reached the heights they did if it weren’t for a string of crucial personnel changes early on, the first being the replacement of guitarist Dennis Stratton with Adrian Smith. There’s no denying Stratton tears it up on Maiden’s self titled 1980 debut, unleashing total mayhem alongside Dave Murray on the likes of “Prowler”, “Phantom of the Opera”, and “Transylvania”. Come the arrival of Smith later that year, however, and Murray had met his match. Together, the two became one of metal’s most beloved guitar duos, their twin melodies, fist-pumping riffs, and solo exchanges becoming the stuff of legend. They are as synonymous with Maiden as Bruce Dickinson’s air raid siren vocals, Steve Harris’s prog-crazed theatrics, Nicko McBrain’s unrelenting drum attack, and Eddie the Head himself. Enough said.

4. “Fast” Eddie Clarke (Motörhead)

Lemmy, Philthy, and…Larry? It sounds wrong on paper, but indeed, this was the lineup of Motörhead who took to the studio in 1975 to record their shelved debut album, On Parole. There’s no denying the late Larry Wallis’ dirtbag rocker cred. After all, he was the guitarist for unsung proto-punks The Pink Fairies. However, something just wasn’t right. Enter “Fast” Eddie Clarke. True to his namesake, Clarke delivered not just a punch, but a full blown assault on the senses with his high speed, filth encrusted riffs and solos. He matched the aggression of Lemmy and Philthy to a T, changing the course of both metal and punk with such groundbreaking releases as Overkill (1979), Bomber (1979), and Ace of Spades (1980). I’d like to think that somewhere in the great beyond, these three are together raising hell again, eviscerating spirits in the afterworld with their wild rock n’ roll.

3. Brian Robertson and Scott Gorham (Thin Lizzy)

OK, we’re cheating a bit here, but this is a case where you can’t have one without the other. Well, I guess you can (see #6), but…let me explain. When Eric Bell left Thin Lizzy at the end of ’73, he was quickly replaced by frontman Phil Lynott’s old pal and former Skid Row bandmate, Gary Moore…who ended up leaving as fast as he joined. This was the first of countless Gary Moore stints in Lizzy, but that’s another story for another day. Enraged beyond belief, Lynott decided to replace Moore with two guitarists: Brian Robertson and Scott Gorham. It wasn’t because Moore was that damn talented (he was), but rather if one of these two guitarists were to jump ship, Lynott would still have one to rely on. Needless to say, the plan was a success, singlehandedly transforming Lizzy’s sound and serving as the backbone of such masterpieces like Fighting (1975) and Jailbreak (1976).

2. Uli Jon Roth (Scorpions)

In the wake of Jimi Hendrix’s untimely passing, several guitarists forged ahead into the wild frontier that was the ’70s, creating sounds and styles anew out of what the “Purple Haze” axe-slinger had left behind. None of these Hendrixian guitarists had a greater impact on metal than Uli Jon Roth. Replacing a young Michael Schenker in Scorpions in 1973, Roth’s fusion of fuzz driven psychedelia with neoclassical arrangements quickly ascended Scorpions from krautrock mediocrity to becoming one of Europe’s most innovative metal bands of the ’70s. To this day, the trifecta of In Trance (1975), Virgin Killer (1976), and Taken by Force (1977) remain absolutely untouchable, foreshadowing what was to follow in the ’80s with bands like Mercyful Fate and Fates Warning. With Roth in Schenker’s place, what did that leave Schenker to do with the ’70s? Well…

1. Michael Schenker (UFO)

Somewhere Eddie Trunk is reading this and cackling in vindication. Was there really any other choice for #1 than Michael Schenker? I think not. After parting ways with his older brother Rudolf’s band, Scorpions, the younger Schenker replacing future Whitesnake guitarist Bernie Marsden in UFO, subsequently elevating them from space rock oddballs to high priests of traditional metal. Their role in bridging the gap between the likes of Sabbath and Purple and the NWOBHM was largely thanks to Schenker’s gallop-heavy riffs and over the top soloing, the latter of which owed nothing to the blues and psychedelia of the late ’60s and early ’70s. Behind Tony Iommi and Ritchie Blackmore, he is probably the most important metal guitarist of all time, and that distinction alone lands him at the top of our list.

Honorable Mentions

• Andreas Kisser (Sepultura)
• Craig Goldy (Dio)
• Gary Moore (Thin Lizzy)
• James Murphy (Death, Obituary, Testament)
• Rocky George (Suicidal Tendencies)