10 Best Classic Rock Guitarists Of The '70s

10. Ace Frehley - KISS

For all the smoke and bombs that flew around, KISS were never the most complicated band of all time. No matter how many mind-blowing stage theatrics they put on their live stage, half of the songs that were written by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons were some of the more generic guitar riffs of the early '70s rock sound. As opposed to the straightforward rock style of the shock rockers' early years, they did have one Swiss army knife in Ace Frehley.

While Frehley himself claims that he isn't that good of a guitar player, everything that he played was perfect for the song that he was on at the time. Across every one of the group's great records of the '70s like Dressed to Kill or Love Gun, Frehley is flying off the handle at every turn, wearing his influences of Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, and Eric Clapton on his sleeve as he tears through songs like C'mon and Love Me and I Stole Your Love.

In addition to his flashy leads, Frehley's way with songwriting also resulted in some of the group's heaviest tracks, like the stomping run on Parasite or the tone-bending riff on Shock Me. Though Ace may have had his issues with drugs and alcohol in the early days, he gifted us with a blueprint for later metal bands without even knowing it.