My Top 10 Guitarists of the 1990s

How I judged:

Technical Ability - Their ability to move around on the instrument.
includes: versatility(10) control (10) and quality of tone (10). - 30 points

Unique-ness - How different their view of the instrument was than others at the time.
includes: rhythm voicing (10) lead voicing (10) and tonal uniqueness (10) - 30 points

Influence - How many current guitarists are/were influenced
includes: shortly after (10) currently (10) - 20 points
How well they work/ed with others - Did they make their band better
includes: previously (10) currently or towards the end (10) - 20 point
1. Tom Morello - 93 - Without a doubt one of the geekiest men to ever wield a guitar, Tom played less like a guitarist and more like a DJ. Morello with Rage Against the Machine was able to successfully invent and popularize a whole new way of approaching the guitar. Using the whammy pedal, normal guitar controls, and thoughts about the instrument Morello forever changed the way people will think of the guitar and the guitar solo.
2. Josh Homme - 92 - Today, Homme is best known know as the guitarist vocalist for Queens of the Stoneage, but he's been a Stoner rock pioneer since 1985 when he formed the cult favorite Kyuss. He also did session work with Screaming Trees, and started Queens of the Stoneage in 1997. He has single handedly developed an iconic complex form of hard rock guitar style, as well as popularizing a super rare ovation electric guitar.

3. Ian MacKaye - 91 - MacKaye was the front man for Bad Brains influenced Minor Threat, and in 1987 created the seminal post-hardcore Fugazi. Fugazi wasn't just a band they were a movement. They actually made the world a better place, and along the way gave a lot of upcoming bands their big break. Before alternative rock was called alternative rock it was called post-hard-core. Music would probably be pretty boring today without the contribution of MacKaye and Fugazi did. If you're scratching your head listen to Fugazi's Waiting Room. MacKaye revolutionized guitar and he did it all, with one Gibson SG and a JCM 800.

4. Kurt Cobain - 90 - Whether he was a really lucky a great plagiarizer or supremely gifted is completely irrelevant, Cobain forever changed the guitar, and rock music, with 4 chords. I'd love to see you try and do that.

5. Billy Corgan - 90 - Corgan wanted to play rock music in an era in Chicago music history when rock was very unpopular. Well, he not only played rock music, but in the course of 4 years created two of the best albums the city has ever birthed. But that wasn't enough in order to be the best he had to create a double disc manifesto on what Corgan thought guitar could and should be. Every song brought in new approaches to rock guitar, from the sweeping epic Tonight Tonight to the ballsy brooder Bodies to the sparse heart breaking acoustic ballad 33. No guitarist has ever done anything quite as ornate and gotten away with since.
6. John Frusciante - 89 - Once Frusciante realized who he was on Blood Sugar Sex Magic, the Red Hot Chili Peppers finally moved past cult funk-punk rockers to the alt-rock superstars they are today. He had his flip-out where he couldn't deal with being a super star, but he eventually accepted it and has gone on to help create enough hits to keep RHCP on the radio for decades to follow. No guitarist will ever sound as good with Flea, or vice-versa as John Frusciante. If you're a bass player you better hope your guitarist likes him.

7. Dean DeLeo - 88 - The originality of Stone Temple Pilots aside, Dan DeLeo is a brilliant guitarist. If he wasn't the lead guitarist of STP he would have been the guitarist for the most popular cover band in San Diego history. DeLeo should have his picture next to versatility in the guitar dictionary. His sounds covered the complete spectrum of what Rock guitar was in the 1990s, and he pulled off every bit with style and poise.

8. Mike McCready - 88 - Without McCready Pearl Jam wouldn't have been quite the band they were. McCready was the flashy blues guitar soloist which gave Vedder's vocals a musical equivalent. Few people have been able to rise up from the Stevie Ray Vaughn/Jimi Hendrix School of guitar playing and develop their own voice. McCready is one of them.

9. Kim Thayil - 87 - Thayil helped form the hard-rock variant of the Seattle sound in 1984, with Soundgarden. Thayil's guitar playing is the perfect synthesis of Iommi style heavy riffs and Gilmour style psychedelic atmospherics.

10. Rivers Cuomo - 87 - Cuomo formed Weezer in 1992. Weezer is the most important post-grunge band that has ever existed, and Cuomo along with guitarist Brian Bell have created some of the most enduring and imaginative guitar riffs of the 1990s, and they were able to do it with just 2 albums. With their first self title album (the Blue one from 1994), Weezer mixed Cars style pop anthems with 70's style hard-rock guitar. On their second album Pinkerton (1996) they unveiled a raw honest sound that rivals many guitar rock albums to this day.

It comes from the blues.

Every time I listen to a song in the genre called "the blues" I remember why I play music.

Past all the spotless production sheen, fancy image tricks, and sex appeal, there is an energy that us musician get to channel. A restless spirit which is contained inside each inspirational note. You see it really doesn't matters when you played, where you played, how much you were payed to play, or why you played. It's all about the restless cry that exists in the way Miles Davis made his trumpet cry, Muddy Waters made his harmonica scream, and Jimi Hendrix made his guitar scream. The sound is intoxicating and it pulls me into it like a siren. I want to be a part of it. I want to conect to that open channel, and I know I'm not alone.

It's odd, but when you're up on stage and the audience is full of people. It doesn't matter how much you practiced or how fancy your musical tools are there is an energy that connects everybody. Sometimes it's hard to dial into it, but when you can there is very little on this earth that is better than that. But it's really quite a wonderful thing. The music which really makes a difference gets past silly things which divide us like genre or language or politics. Rage Against the Machine was a powerful protest band not because the lyrics were incredibly insightful, but because their music had that "blues" spirit in it. Next thing you know the children of very same white republicans they were raging against we're chanting along to Bulls on Parade.

It means something. Even without words. And when you combine powerful words with that super powerful music...

it changed this kids life

Let's Break Up

They way you make the guitar signal "break-up" or distort is an essential part of playing electric guitar. There are a million ways to do it, and each one does varied things to the overall sound. One method may not be the only way to go. There may be occasions for a guitarist to use

The pre-amp distortion guy: distorting the amps pre-amp tubes by pushing driving the pre-amp section into distortion. This is achieved by pushing a large amount of signal (or volume) to the pre-amplification stage of the amplifier, and than typically limiting the overall volume sent to the power amplifier by using either a master volume control or a gain channel (essentially a on off button for gain and master volume control). Pre-amp distortion is typically thick and milky. This usually works well enough, but it is so very 80's and 90's.

Power-amp distortion dude/chick: distorting the power amp tubes by running a large amount of signal through the power-amp tubes. This can be very loud and is best accommodated on low-wattage amplifiers or with a device which decrease the output of the amplifier, or a power brick. This can be a loud menacing set-up in which the slightest mention of turning your amplifier down pisses you off.

Pedal distortion folk: This person enjoys the sound of a little tiny box full of solid state circuits clipping. There are a myriad of pedals which create lots of different sounds. Some of them work really well. If you want to have a lot of different sounds this is a good way to go. There are: muffs, rats, shredders, screamers, factories, and so much more. Most of them pretty much sound the same, like a big ball of fuzz. However, recently a few companies have started creating more realistic asymmetrical distortion sounds. This is starting to become a rather solid way to go.

The Digital Modeling Geek: Start off by connecting the throbbing alternating current running out of the veins of your guitar into a circuit which turns it into the binary information that is digital audio, than that digital audio is run through a computer which modifies the sound based upon previous calculations and measurements of the previous methods of breaking up the guitar. Then the signal is converted back into the throbbing alternating current and sent to either a line level signal out (straight to the PA) or to an Amplifier level signal (straight to some speakers). This technology has advanced very quickly in the last few years, and improves every day. The Fractal Audio System Axe-FX sounds awesome, but at $1,999.95 it is difficult to justify buying that when you can buy an set-up which probably does just what you want for half the price.

Post Amp Distortion: Some guitarists (especially in the 60's) used to distort their sound after the amplifier. You can distort a compressor/limiter or pre-amp in the signal of the microphone on the guitar amp/cabinet, or you could do what Dave Davies of the kinks did by cutting the speakers in your amplifier or cabinet up with a razor blade. These can be used with other methods as well to create a unique and often retro sound.

Dr. Strangehats or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bob

On Monday February 23rd I will be taking the single biggest and most terrifying step of my music career. I'm ready to make a radical shift in the way I think about making music. I've let go of my musical pacifiers. Shed my two channel Marshall amplifier. Moved on past the musical iconography of my youth, and shed the notion that I'm a recording engineer or music producer who can record himself. In fact, I've let go of the notion all together that I have what is needed to be a music producer. I've died of my careerist visions and at this moment I am living for my musical here and now, because that is all I ever had. It is time for me to ask:

1. what is the goal
2. what is needed to reach the goal
3. is the goal possible (if not establish a new goal)
4. is the goal worth the effort
5. what are the strengths I have to reach the goal
6. what strengths my fellow band mates have or could have to help reach the goal
   
7. who or what can be brought in to help us reach our goal
   
8. what am I doing that is hurting or hindering
9. what are others doing which is hurting the goal

I know this is a bit logical and serious for music, but there is nothing wrong with thinking logically in a creative setting. Yes there is the potential for over thinking, but I think at this junction that may be better than under thinking. It is 100% possible that our goal may never be reached. I may end up spending countless amounts of time and energy doing something I love, and for me to find that in a year or so I'm still not making enough money doing it. I don't know if that is so bad. As long as the thing I love doesn't hurt other people I will do it with pride. As long as I do truly love doing it I will enjoy every second. It's time to seize the day.