10 Best Grunge Guitar Solos

In terms of the true guitar legends of the grunge scene, Nirvana's Kurt Cobain is one of the few superstars who will unfortunately not grace this ranking. With all of the massive success of Nirvana's records notwithstanding, Cobain would even tell that he never considered himself a great guitar player, instead deciding to play to serve the song with little bits of chaos thrown in. Now, if you want someone who combines classic rock and roll with chaos successfully, it has to be Kim Thayil.

As opposed to the more customary heavy riffs coming out of the grunge scene, Thayil was a guitar wizard across every one of Soundgarden's records, with Spoonman being one of his finest guitar moments. The riff in and of itself is already great, as it sounds like the perfect combination of Zeppelin swagger with the smack of Black Sabbath, and yet the solo is where things go into the stratosphere. Starting off with a few slow licks that seem pulled out of George Harrison's playbook, Thayil fires off some of his wildest phrases, almost like he's trying to combine the original blues foundation with the chaotic noise that comes with punk rock.

Even when listening back after a hundred times, it's still difficult to pin down what exactly he's doing, as some of the licks seem too fast for any mere mortal to play. While Spoonman might have more emphasis on drums and...well...spoons, Thayil absolutely steals the show once his opening guitar lines cut through.