10 Amazing '90s Bands That Everyone Forgot About

In the age of Britpop, it was almost an anomaly to see John Squire shredding his guitar every time he took to the stage. The era of the guitar hero seemed to be out the door once grunge hit, and yet here was this madman behind the Stone Roses, bringing together different solos that would have made the likes of Jimmy Page proud back in the day. That worked in the context of the Roses, but things were looking a lot different towards the end of the decade.

After the Stone Roses started to fall apart during the making of Second Coming, John formed a new group with singer Chris Helme called the Seahorses, which brought an almost folksy tinge to his usual sound. On tracks like Blinded by the Sun, you can hear Chris trying to put some more pop flavored songs back into the mix, which managed to nab them a spot opening for Oasis during their legendary gigs at Knebworth.

That doesn't mean that John's knack for solos has gone anywhere though. For anyone enamored with the Britpop scene, this is basically the one album for guitar geeks, with John flying off the handle in almost every song, from pulling solos in the background to giving a clinic on how to create a chaotic jam on Love is the Law. It was that kind of showmanship that ended up driving the band apart though, as John would get more and more into jamming onstage while the rest of the band tried to keep up with what was going on. Much like the Roses, The Seahorses ended up fizzling out and broke up after one album, long before most of us were ready for them to stop.