It’s been three decades since grunge cracked the mainstream, but it remains one of the most important moments in the history of guitar music. In a new series, we examine the important bands, gear and players from this remarkable movement.
Nirvana’s Nevermind may have been the headline rock hit of 1991-1992, but a less-heralded release offered equal guitar thrills. If you haven’t already, get to know the power-pop masterstroke of Matthew Sweet’s Girlfriend.
The 1976 mega-LP wasn’t just a landmark in home recording, it also saw Tom Scholz build a custom guitar sound all on his own. And then lie to his own record company.
If there’s one guitar player who encapsulates the very sound of his band, it’s the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards. His playing is idiosyncratic, loose, hard to copy… and the stuff of legend.
They were tagged “punk” because of a time and place, but Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd’s guitar alchemy in Television was a lot more sophisticated than just rock ’n’ roll with a sneer at 99mph.
Achtung Baby is now acclaimed as U2’s finest achievement, but the 1991 album nearly didn’t get made. In fact, its beginnings nearly split the Irish band apart.
Back in the late 80s, My Bloody Valentine revolutionised many players’ ideas of what a guitar sounded like. It was a mix of borrowed gear, happy accidents and “sound as an infinite horizon”… and still sounds awesome.
A figure who wielded his Fender Strats like Excalibur? The forefather of neo-classical shred? A believer in the mystical, wearing tights and playing old madrigals? It can only be great Ritchie Blackmore.
