LOL...I left him out on purpose, because I havent listened to Deep Purple in eons!!! But I dont think he does the kind of multidemnsional playing that I was referring to....
In regards to Steve Morse,,,,and maybe others,,hard to judge the guys only by the work in the groups....lots of limits imposed,,,Morse (Who's music I dont really care for) has chops, plays different styles, he is a good guitar player, just not as creative in his writing...
To be honest, writing for straight ahead rock isnt as hard as trying to put together good guitar for jazz-fusion or prog rock.
Thinks of the some of the 70's super bands like Genesis, Yes, King Crimson, Camel, etc....all the guys are basically virtuosos in their respective instrument, and for one of them to stand out, speaks millions of the guy...
Fe: Allan Holdsworth managed to shine in envirionments with Bill Bruford, Jeff Berlin on Bass, John Wetton on bass with BB on drums, same can be said of Fripp and Howe,,,,I think its deserving that we go back and listen again to some good 70's rock and appreciate how far ahead some of these guys were.
Go get Yes's Relayer (even if you dont like it, follow the instruments and what they are doing, and you will know what I mean)..