10 Greatest Rock Guitar Solos Of The 90s

Compared to the rest of the rock scene that had come and gone, the '90s weren't necessarily a prime time for the guitar hero. Though you still had acts like Aerosmith and Van Halen dominating the rock landscape in the beginning, the new wave of alternative music didn't think to concern themselves with solos all that often. When one great piece of music came along though, it was an absolute showstopper.

As the decade wore on, the guitar hero started to creep ever so slightly back into the mainstream, with songs that felt like a major musical event whenever they came on the radio. While some of the pinup acts of the time may have had a basic understanding of the guitar, these are the people who really honed their craft and gave us something that was a lot more off the wall than what we had seen before.

It wasn't breaking down barriers left and right though, and most guitarists were more than happy to launch themselves into guitar solos that were a great tribute to the past guitar heroes that had come before them. No matter how much people say that the flashiness was gone, the guitar had not yet stopped menacing the guitar community. We played from the heart, but we still had the chops to back it up.

There are probably a ton of guitar players looking at this article who are really confused right now. Of all the places to start with the guitar heroes of the '90s, how the hell are we talking about the same band that made songs like I Want It That Way? Well, if you looked past all of the hair gel and sick dance moves, Larger Than Life is a bit of a dark horse in the guitar community.

It's not like the guitar solo is tucked away in the background either. No, this thing practically announces itself right out of the gate, going for some odd bending techniques before launching into some insane triplet rhythms as it goes through different scales. There are even a few little accentuations that seem like they are ripped straight out of the classic rock playbook as well, sounding a lot closer to the glory days of rock and roll.

Just imagine if you had a guitar player like Angus Young and then had them write a solo that sounded like he were trying to be Steve Vai and you'd probably get something pretty close to what you're hearing right here. Though you can rest assured that none of the Backstreet Boys actually played this, they are definitely carrying some top tier players whenever they work in the studio.