10 Perfect Rock Albums For Guitar Players

10. Ramones - Ramones

There are probably a certain amount of guitar players who would turn their nose up at including the Ramones album on a list like this. From the first few notes, Johnny Ramone was never meant to be your traditional guitar hero, always straying away from guitar solos and designating himself to permanent rhythm guitar for most of the Ramones' run. Even if he never went the route of the guitar solo, why are we acting like that's a bad thing?

You have to remember that this was the age when guitar solos were starting to sound overly stale, which made Johnny a breath of fresh air with his endless amount of power chords hitting you in the face on songs like Beat on the Brat. And when you break it down, this is a lot harder than it might seem on paper, causing you to really build up your strumming hand strength by always downpicking everything you do.

Though there are many bands that will play circles around the Ramones, what's here are the building blocks for future generations of heavy guitar music, from the emergence of hardcore punk to being a huge influence to a young James Hetfield when Metallica were first cutting their teeth in the thrash metal scene. Above all else, this is the kind of record that can help get the beginners of guitar off the ground and make them fall in love with music. Rock and roll isn't meant to be flashy, so just cut to the chase and play your ass off.