The Best Of 2012: The Guitarist, Album and Tracks of The Year

There was a time when the mere mention of Mark Tremonti’s name drew a scornful response. As a founding member of both Creed and Alter Bridge he was often tarred with the same super serious, over earnest, and moribund brush that is usually used to dismiss the likes of Nickelback. Over the course of the last two decades the vocal detractors have diminished, and Tremonti’s reputation as a thoughtful and expressive guitarist has grown to the point where he can effortlessly claim Guitar Planet’s Album Of The Year (he doubled the next vote getter’s tally).

Steve Vai has pipped an all-star cast of competitors to the post to win the Guitarist Of The Year title. In a great year for guitar music rest assured that is no mean feat, and strangely, when compared to his peers, Vai’s year looks a little ordinary. Jack White went solo and delivered a devastating concept album about the brutal break up he never had, Tony Iommi overcame cancer to not only take the stage, but steal the show, at Download 2012, and Eddie Van Halen got the band back together and held them in place long enough to record a brand new LP that far surpassed expectation.

Then again Steve Vai has made the extraordinary look effortless for so long that it’s easy to forget just how remarkable a guitarist Vai has always been. The Story Of Light might fall back on a series of early-80s prog troupes but it is still more inventive and more singular than anything his competition could muster. Vai certainly did enough to make the GP staff gush this summer:

“Such are his compositional skills that Vai never sounds ragged or truly on edge, a sense of control exudes at every level of his playing, but he can still catch his audience off guard. Three decades into his career and Vai remains at his best when he embraces his own eccentricities and risks alienating half his adoring public”

Unlike his peers there isn’t one big event or moment that made Vai’s 2012. He released some apps and worked with an array of incredible artists, but there was nothing definitively different about his 2012. Instead Vai earns this award for being consistently brilliant and making the sort of music that inspires guitarists the world over - without the aid of a handy media narrative.