10 Greatest Hard Rock Guitarists Of The '90s

There's no use in playing hard rock music without the guitar. The sound of a cranked electric guitar blaring through a Marshall amplifier is the stuff of dreams for most hard rock aficionados. Though there have been many fantastic wielders of the six-string over the years, let's take it back to when the genre shifted to the alternative side of the spectrum.

As the '90s were dawning, the hard rock community was being given a different spin. After being bogged down with the hair metal scene, the entire landscape expanded after grunge swept the nation. With no set genre anymore, bands from all across the rock world came together, each with their own unique brand of fury. From genres as diverse as metal, alternative, or progressive, the guitar was still front and center pumping out one great riff after another.

Each of these guitarists helped bring something different to the table by recontextualizing the guitar as a songwriting tool rather than an excuse to mindlessly shred. Let's take a look back at the guitarists who taught a legion of kids a different form of virtuosity.

John Frusciante was a player plagued by contradictions. Though he had the ability to combine 13 different kinds of shred into one song, the man ended up playing some of the most minimalist riffs ever imagined in the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Even if it wasn't all that flashy, Frusciante proved that doing the bare minimum was actually the perfect approach.

Sure, there are moments in songs like "Funky Monks" where Frusciante really goes off the rails, but there's a certain responsibility that comes with playing rhythm as opposed to lead. With Flea on the low end to anchor things down, Frusciante's subtle accentuations let you get into the groove of the song much more, making each track impossible to get out of your head. When the band would eventually slow down with songs like "Under the Bridge," John's guitar work gave the band a second melody along with Anthony Kiedis' voice.

Even when Frusciante returned on Californication, the amount of depth that he brought to the band on that record left many guitarists wondering how he could find the perfect note for every occasion. Whereas most guitarists try to impress by playing a thousand notes at once, John Frusciante is the definition of the phrase "less is more."