10 Greatest Guitar Solos Of The '90s

Out of all the bands that came out of the first wave of grunge rock, Soundgarden was actually more accomplished than any of their peers. Even though Nirvana may have had the chart success and Pearl Jam had the classic rock style to back them up, there was a lot going on under the hood of records like Louder Than Love and Badmotorfinger, as the guys played around with different time signatures while pumping out riffs so heavy they could put Black Sabbath to shame. Now that they had years to hone their craft, their crossover to pop success had Kim Thayil serving the song perfectly.

Sounding much more psychedelic than any other Soundgarden record, Black Hole Sun has a bit of an ominous feel coming from Kim's guitar, using a Leslie speaker and a slide guitar that sounds like what George Harrison would have played if he were reborn as a metal guitarist. In between the different lead fills that he plays over Chris Cornell's vocal, the barrage of notes that come during the solo is almost impossible to match, capturing the kind of whirlwind energy that you see in the video.

Even if the actual solo might sound a little bit slapdash, Kim's attention to detail is a lot more nuanced than any other grunge rocker, playing around changes that shouldn't really sound right and somehow making it all fit under one roof. Kim might not be the most celebrated guitarist in the Seattle world, but just like his lead singer, you aren't going to mistake his solos for anyone else when he gets the opportunity to rip.