Neil Young - Guitarist

 The notion that he’s on a list of top guitar players, kind of took me aback.

I do feel,  however one links the notion of a song in one's head and then somehow interprets that into an emotional connection to others ..is Neil's unique gift. 

Because I like Neil's guitar playing, all I wanted to hear was "Like a Hurricane" when I went to see Neil Young in Albuquerque, NM, 2012. The tickets weren't cheap, and the venue had a grass area in back that was about $50 per ticket. That area was packed. The area where I sat cost ~$200/ticket and was half empty. Maybe because of this, Neil Young and Crazy Horse played "She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain" for an encore, sang one song that was mostly whistling, and another song where he yelled the f-word several times. I consider Neil to be one of the best (top 50) guitar players, but considering his concert in Albuquerque back in 2012, I was really disappointed. I think a lot of people were disappointed with the song selection for the concert as well. Neil Young fans want to hear the songs that made the musicians famous, not the experimental music.

At his best Neil sings and plays with great focus and intensity, acoustic or electric, which I think makes for a great performance even if it’s a one note solo. I had a similar experience with a CSNY concert in Minneapolis about 2006 as golden210 did. Best concert of my life by far, no matter the style popular or classical. I wouldn’t want to be on stage with Mr. Young if I was a guitar player. He kicks everybody’s ass with shear willpower. As the OP asked, no, no one plays with more raw emotion in my opinion. That doesn’t make him the greatest technical player. Couldn’t care less. Some people will also claim that their Yamaha receiver with .0001% THD is technically better than my Pass Labs with .5% THD. They can have it and their favorite speed metal guitarist du jour. 
It would be a cruel world if you could only have one guitarist to listen to. If that were the case I’d have to go with Neil, partly because of the shear volume and variety. Hendrix would be second. Neither for their proficiency.
As for his politics, as mentioned above, I was a little disappointed in the delivery of the message,  because it lacked artistry and subtlety. I believe he was so pissed that he couldn’t muster more, but I was fully on board with his intent, as was 99.9% of the audience.

onhwy614, 03-22-2018 7:58pm    Don’t take those Rolling Stone rankings seriously. Neil Young is a fine musician, but he’s only a great guitarist in the sense that Mick Jagger or James Brown are great vocalists.

Exactly.

I play guitar. #17 is laughable. #100 would have been laughable. Maybe top 100 in songwriting, but probably not top 10,000 in guitar playing.

I don't play anything but vinyl so am in no position to even understand much less critique technical aspects of musicianship. But being almost 62, Neil Young was certainly a major influence in shaping my listening preferences early on. With over 4K LP's in my collection, he probably has the most repeat runs in one iteration or another. I only recently discovered "Psychedelic Pill", done in 2012 I believe, and I keep playing it over and over. Fabulous example of his talents IMHO. As for his political rants, we are on opposite sides, generally, of the spectrum, but I'm not about to let that spoil the enjoyment I derive from his music.