10 Rock Music Guitarists Who Outshone Frontmen

10. Nuno Bettencourt - Extreme

By the end of the '80s, was there anyone who really cared about the glam rock movement anymore?

Since the new acts coming out at the time were people like Guns N Roses and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the era of the Sunset Strip brand of rock was starting to breathe its dying breath. Even when some of them rose to the top though, we were paying attention more to the playing than the song.

That's not to say that Extreme was only a remnant of the hair metal fad. Across all of their albums, Nuno Buttencourt's approach to guitar seems more in tune with the world of funk rock than the typical glam rock chords that you find out of Poison.

Every time that Gary Cherone opened his mouth though, it felt like you were just waiting to get back to Nuno's leads, which felt like they were assaulting you at every turn.

Just listen to something like Play With Me to get a load of the masterclass he takes you on, even sprinkling in little touches of traditional children's melodies along with his crazy scale runs. While the rest of Extreme served as a decent hair metal act to close out the revolution, what Nuno has been able to do with a guitar ever since is not human.