I think a lot of it is timing-I saw Sabbath in 79 and they absolutely stunk the place up. Ozzy was pure crap. Saw Ozzy in 87 when he was clean and he was great.
Same with Aerosmith. Saw them in 79 when Perry and Tyler were in the "Toxic Twin" Stage. Garbage-almost walked out. Saw them again in 87 and they put on one hell of a show.
Blackmore and Page could both suck terribly when they were off. Blackmore's temper was legend and part of the hype.
I am not a guitarist, don't play one on TV and didn't stay in a Holiday Inn express :), so I am not really qualified to discuss the technical side of playing Guitar.
I just go with what sounds good to me. I like Blackmore when he's on his game. Something just clicks in my head.
You're right, there are so many good Guitarists these days. Saw Yngwe too-very impressive.
Well here's an old rock guitar slinger (turn 50 in two days) who can't resist some comments after reading this thread. :)
Blackmore.....pretty good, but overhyped IMHO. Legendary a**hole to work with. Steve Morse is a guitar player's guitar player (my ultimate compliment to axe slingers, and a small club.....headed up by the inimitable Gary Moore).
Yngwie.......very talented, spotty live performances. Still doing it, but needs to lose about 30 pounds and definitely the Spandex. Ugh........(it's called a "mirror", Yngwie...).
If you like Yngwie's classical bent......and since someone mentioned Savatage earlier.........check out Trans Siberian Orchestra, especially "Christmas Eve and Other Stories". Beautiful AND rockin'.
Speaking of seasonal rock, get both "Merry Axemas" CD's produced some years ago by Steve Vai. Each song performed by a different, big-name guitarist. Awesome performances by Eric Johnson, Steve Morse, Jeff Beck.......great stuff by others.
Hair bands? Hmmm........I actually sorta liked 'em. Cinderella got slagged here, but that little lead guitarist/lead singer of theirs (can't remember his name) was DAMNED good. Motley Crue....when they were really "on", could melt the stereo. Tesla......some great stuff. GnR.....sucked hugely. AFD was a decent freshman release, and "Welcome to the Jungle" showed huge promise for the band; promise they never lived up to afterward.
Whitesnake.....early stuff sucked, but stuff like "Still of the Night" or "Here I Go Again" (pick your version; think they did a dozen) were a lot of fun to play. VERY decent guitar work (John Sykes, I believe?).
I've been looking for some new bands to listen to, but haven't heard squat that appeals to me in a long, long time. Can't wait till the kids get tired of the overamped, 7-string-dropped-tuning crap they're being fed and NEW rock emerges.
I predict a return to more '70's style rock; some awesome rock 'n' roll came out of that decade despite the ever-present disco garbage.