10 Greatest Guitar Duos In Hard Rock

At the start of the '90s, everyone was bringing things back to basics. While not necessarily to a punk rock level of simplicity, acts like Nirvana and Soundgarden were pioneering the grunge sound with guitars that were not as concerned with melting your face off with virtuosic playing. Amid all of the more artsy grunge acts, Pearl Jam managed to stick out by being a throwback to the greatest era of '70s rock.

When talking about the success of Pearl Jam, Stone Gossard may be the biggest unsung hero of the group, coming up with riffs that became the foundation for songs like Alive, Daughter, and Even Flow. Though these songs might be known as vehicles for Eddie Vedder's amazing voice, the guitar parts are what make everything jump out at you from the very beginning. Then again, the real killing blow to all of these songs comes from the bluesy madness that is Mike McCready.

Picked up after playing in a few failed metal bands, McCready offered just the right amount of shred to get casual rock fans into the genre, with a style that was clearly indebted to the work of Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan. While the grunge era is not known for being the most technically gifted era of rock, Pearl Jam's guitar dichotomy made for one hell of a ride whenever you threw their records on.