10 Greatest Guitar Riffs Of The 90s
5. Them Bones - Alice in Chains
But enough of this average alternative rock. We've been going for this long on this list, so where is the all out metal that people can headbang to? And that's fair, since metal was about to have one of the best eras right at the start of the '90s. So allow your humble author to serve up this brilliant banger....but with a twist.
Although Alice in Chains got the label of being one of the first alternative metal bands, there's a lot more complexity in their songs when you really look for it. Outside of technical stuff, Them Bones already works as a phenomenal opener to their album Dirt, with the upward guitar riff serving as a smack in the face the minute it hits your ears. As it continues though, don't you start to feel a little weird whenever you're trying to catch the groove again?
That's not by mistake, since this entire riff is in an odd time signature. Whereas most grunge musicians weren't thinking like this, this song is actually in 7/4, which causes the song to drop a beat at the end of every measure. Compared to the other weird riffs to come out at the time, it almost feels like the notes are collapsing in on themselves as you listen to it. Then again, when your album is about sinking deeper into your addictions, it's not going to be the most pleasant ride down to Hell anyway.