10 Best Grunge Guitar Solos

Sonic Youth never really get brought up as much as they should in the history of grunge music. Far from being the first band to embrace the genre tag, Sonic Youth tracks were found on some of the first grunge compilation albums, along with bassist Kim Gordon scouting out a fresh young talent known as Nirvana. Even with a lot of their contributions being behind the scenes, there was one ace in the hole at the start of their double release Daydream Nation.

Right off the bat, this song is an absolute treasure trove for a guitarist, with both Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore being in some of the weirdest tunings of the modern age. After you can come to terms with the more unusual chord shapes for this track, Moore and Ranaldo use the entire middle section of this song to go to war, as they send each other different blasts of distortion and noise on a whim.

Though some of the stabs might be a little too distorted for some, the result is some of the most emotional guitar playing to come before the grunge explosion, as they combine the art rock of something like the Talking Heads with the reckless abandon of the Stooges. So next time you feel limited on the guitar, throw this song on and try to dissect the inner mechanisms of Sonic Youth's mind.