10 Greatest Guitar Duos In Rock Music History

There wasn't much time to focus on what a metal guitar sound was going to be like in the '70s. Since Tony Iommi kicked down the door for what constituted heavy with Black Sabbath, you had people like Deep Purple popping up trying to play the riff based rock with a darker slant. Although Jimmy Page and Ritchie Blackmore definitely had their dark moments, why not just bump it up to two guitarists like with Judas Priest?

Being one of the first guitar duos on the metal scene, what made Glenn Tipton and KK Downing work so well was how different they sounded whenever they played. If you were looking at just the technical level, Tipton was probably the better player, making for leads that could tear your head off if you weren't careful. You always knew when you were listening to a KK solo though, being one of the few madmen who could command the whammy bar at will.

Beyond just their playing, both Downing and Tipton learned the importance of what could happen when you play the riffs in time together. Though you might just be playing the exact same thing, having another guitar player at your side brings a lot more depth to the music that you don't realize until you try it. Whereas one guitar player might make a riff sound cool, the world gets a lot more exciting when you have two gods at the helm.