C.C., Pick up That Guitar and, Uh, Talk to Me . . .

C.C. DeVille is one of the most underrated guitar players in metal. One of the most underrated at least in 80s metal and, in particular, 80s hair band metal. With all the good guitar players in metal, I'm sure there will be some arguments here, but if you listen to Poison's stuff, you'll see what I mean. Listen to the opening runs in Fallen Angel and the fills he plays throughout. Smooth, fluid lines that build off the melody of the song. He does this frequently in Poison's songs, playing controlled melodic lines that complement each song individually.

Is he the most technically proficient player around? No, not one of the most technically proficient, but certainly more than competent. He knows his shit, that's what I'm saying. And he is one of the most tasteful players around. Whether it's adding organic note choices to ballads like I Won't Forget You and Every Rose Has Its Thorn or wicked runs in tunes like Talk Dirty to Me or Unskinny Bop, C.C. lays it down.

Still, you'll never find C.C. DeVille on anybody's list of best guitar players. Not unless the list belongs to a Poison fan. Even I must begrudgingly admit there are too many guitar players to include C.C. on such a list. And on second thought, I would still plead his case.

That said, I want to give the devil his due. He deserves to be mentioned. His vehicle is Poison and his licks are poison too. Pretty poison.

Do yourself a favor. Listen to some Poison and just take in the beauty of what it is to build solos, licks, and fills from the melodic foundation of a tune. Listen to C.C. play and see where he's coming from. Listen to his controlled chaos on some of those classic tracks. You don't have to call him a rock god, but at least admit there's some substance there.