I'm sorry, but I can't enlighten you. I just love how he plays guitar and it's not my job to brainwash people to love him or make them think he's one of the greatest guitarists. Even if the whole world would hate him, it won't hurt me because I know what I love.

To me it's probably his riff what makes him so original - simple, yet hard to copy for anyone else.

Squire is an absolute wizard as well.

The thing that I love about Johnny Marr's playing is that he only plays to serve the song. There aren't any long solos and there's nothing self indulgent about it. The 'clean' sound that people often associate with him is a breath of fresh air and a pleasant departure form the other so-called rock bands of that time. I think it's called hair metal or something like that but there was a lot of excess masculinity and bloat that surrounded rock 'n' roll. Johnny and The Smiths took it right back to basics and because the songs were so good, the clean and understated production absolutely suited them. They could have all been played acoustically and would have sounded brilliant.

The only guitarist that challenges Marr IMO is Nick McCabe

Seen the title of the thread this is the right place to say it...Angels is a great song 

really hate Nirvana and Foo Fighters - awful bands, awful singers

i'm not only talking about the voice, don't care if he's a good singer or not - just can't stand him

Wow I think this is one of the more shocking opinions here...the strings are epic...the only thing I would change is some of the clumsy lyrics (weird coming from Ashcroft at his peak)

I can agree with just about everything here, except for how Springsteen can't perform, and that The Who are overrated.

Springsteen does a good job making up in performing, where he lacks in singing & guitar ability. I've never liked any of his songs he's had out, his voice is far too annoying (like he's got something stuck in his throat he desperately is trying to get out), and the songs, themselves, are a cheesy & blase mix of some of the most stereotypical synths and uneventful guitar playing. Can't stand him, and have no clue why he is as big as he is & have no clue why people call him "The Boss". That's Tony Danza, you dumbasses...  

As for The Who, I've never really listened to them much so I can't agree, nor disagree with what you said about them. 

Fret wankery is what I call it.

Marr is the departure from the usual axe grinder of a guitarist which makes him stand out - and I think too many people associate the very best as he ones only with an extravagant style, which is too narrow minded for me. There's no emotion there and it's only impressive on a technical level whereas Marr is driven by the melancholy that works so well in tandem with Morrissey as a frontman. He's a real team player and that's important in being one of the greatest guitarists of all time.

Those two complement each other so well - the best example is Suffer Little Children. For such an extremely harrowing subject, it's very difficult to get that one right, even if you are treating it with the utmost respect. It could easily have come off as overly sincere to the point of insincerity so it cannot be underestimated what a very very fine line they were treading with this one. But the pure poetry that flowed from Morrissey's mouth and the sad understated droplets of guitar showed a band with a great deal of compassion for the victims and their families. I don't know if they could have had such an intrinsic understanding of the true horrors if they hadn't been from Manchester as it obviously had a profound impact on the community, and that clearly is evident in this song. Particularly for a generation like ours not that clued up on the Moors Murders, it's true genius to invoke the pain that surrounded these crimes but confronting such taboo topics, and if we can face it, also aids in our own ability to be compassionate.

It's true art of the highest kind. And I find it amazing that the pair of them - Morrissey and Marr - were in their early 20s when they wrote it. The sensitivity and maturity to write such a song at a very young age is an appraisal of what a truly unique duo they are.

Yea Rain got to disagree with U man ...... You can not like his singing , even songwriting , But PERFORMER MAN THE GUY PLAYED 5 or 6 hour gigs house lights would come on and people were all dancing and singing in the aisles man ....best performer I have ever seen , by miles , a bruce show is like a revival , even now at his age he plays 3 hour gigs and never dissapoints , Don't see how anyone can say he can't peform , judging by the millions and millions who make sure his show is sold out every night , that certainly qualifies as a unpopular , and dare I say wrong opinion , But hey it's you opinion , your entitled

- I don't care much for The Strokes, but I found Angles to be a pretty good album.

- Blur fanboys are bitter twats towards Oasis, they like Oasis but they just don't want you to know that.

- I love Echo & The Bunnymen first 4 albums, but their other albums I pretend that they are from another band or something, two very different worlds.

- XTC is very underrated, they were the Blur before Blur existed.

- That Rolling Stones Black & Blue album is very good and underrated, great jams, who liked Noel's The Right Stuff will like this album.