10 Best Grunge Guitarists

There’s probably an entire legion of guitar players who would be shell shocked to see Kurt Cobain on a best guitarists list. Granted, from a critical standpoint, Cobain is far from someone like Yngwie Malmsteen, with some of the ugliest tones in the entire rock pantheon. However, sometimes it’s not about what you play and all about your actual delivery.

Though a lot of Nirvana’s star power came from Cobain’s fantastic songwriting, it meant that much more once he layered his guitars onto it. While some may focus on the pain in Kurt’s voice or the pummeling drums of Dave Grohl, everything in Nirvana’s sound doesn’t click until you have the guitars kick in. The solos are also always right where they need to be in every song, whether it’s Kurt following the melody or just choking the life out of the guitar.

Even the effects Kurt employed became classic, which is saying a lot considering they’re pretty average effects. Sure, everyone’s used distortion and chorus on a guitar, but how many people can get you to feel like you’re floating underwater on something like “Come As You Are.?” An entire generation of guitar players could pick up Nirvana’s riffs in no time flat, but achieving the definitive sound Cobain had takes a lifetime to actually refine.