100 Greatest Guitarists: David Fricke's Picks: Tom Verlaine

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Tom Verlaine

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There was punk energy propelling Television, but guitarist Tom Verlaine was no angry primitive hacking at the strings. He used a crisp, needling attack and favored long, carefully developed exchanges with guitarist Richard Lloyd. The result was music of Coltrane-like depth at a time when the spastic outburst was the norm.