I love Jeff Beck (Truth is a classic LP) but I'll be the first to admit that he's a genius plagued by bad decisions. He's not a writer in the way that Van Halen or Hendrix is, he's an interpreter (more like Page in that way) but he's always seemed to be a half-step off. Instead of Plant, he has Rod Stewart, who's great, but not Plant. Instead of getting in with a Bruford/Wetton (like Fripp) or an Emerson/Palmer (like Lake) he's sort of off in cool jazz land or with Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice (great musicians, but not Bruford, Wetton, Emerson, or Palmer). Into the 80's, he sort of veered off again into I'm not sure what I'd call "Flash", but it was great PLAYING that just SOUNDED atrocious.
If you have any doubts about his abilities, though, get the live album he did at Ronnie Scott's with Tal Wilkenfeld and Vinnie Colaiuta.