10 Greatest Guitar Duos In Rock Music History
The Twin Guitar Attacks.
No casual rock fan is going to argue the fact that the most important instrument is the guitar. No matter how many people like Sting or Elton John get famous playing some other instrument, the reason we remember icons like Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen is because they have a six string in their hand. For the mere mortals though, you don't always get to the realm of rock god alone.
As far as the dawn of the rock band, there have been guitar duos who have always worked best when complimenting each others' style. Even though these roles are primarily given to people on rhythm or lead guitar, it's not easy to just put them in a box like that. Some of them may be able to pull off ripping solos like no one else, but the other guy might have a hand in coming with the greatest riffs of all time or be able to flesh out the sound to make the entire band sound good.
And when they harmonize with each other, you better be prepared for some of the most wild guitar solos ever known to man. Despite the old adage that all musicians are taught, less is not more in these situations. More is more, and the more six strings are on stage, the better off we'll be.
10. Joe Perry and Brad Whitford - Aerosmith
Whenever you have two guitar players in the band, you tend to have the one guy that gets overshadowed too often. Since there's only so much room onstage, it's up to one of them to play the big rockstar while the other guy fleshes things out in the background. Then again, no other guitar partnership works like a team in the same that Brad Whitford and Joe Perry do.
It would be easy to just bring up the riffs themselves for this one though, since songs like Walk This Way and Sweet Emotion have enough iconic guitar parts to put you in the category of guitar gods. You just have to remember how much Brad Whitford is doing the heavy lifting on some of these songs, being responsible for some of the heavier material in their catalog like the solo of Last Child and the pure bombast of Nobody's Fault.
That's not to take away from Joe Perry's chops too. In a sense, Perry feels like what Keith Richards would have done if he had the same kind of swagger of Jimmy Page, making stuff that's equal parts bluesy and experimental while still having that trademark boogie. Each of these guys could have made a respectable guitar player in a big band, but thank the gods of rock that they realized they were better together.