10 Guitarists That Changed Rock Music Forever

A lot of people tend to forget the possibilities that come with the electric guitar. For all of the virtuosos that have come and gone throughout the years, this is still a relatively new instrument, and there's no limit to where it can go with the different advances in technology. The guitar hadn't been pushed to its limit yet, but Tom Morello got a bit more mileage out of it the minute that you heard the first Rage Against the Machine project.

Seeing how Rage's message always had heavy subject matter, every one of Tom's riffs measures the intensity of Zack de la Rocha's vocals, like the pure stomp of something like Bulls on Parade or when he locks into the groove with Brad Wilk on the verses of Killing in the Name. For all of the technical chops that he accumulated over the years though, Tom might be one of the greatest guitar players that barely has to play any notes when he solos.

Operating as a rap rock hybrid, Tom's guitar served as the makeshift DJ for the band, making different avant garde sounds like the toggle switch making his guitar sound a synthesizer on Know Your Enemy or sounding like some futuristic soundscape from a Stanley Kubrick film on the intro to Ashes in the Fall. He might not be the most flashy guitar player out there or anything, but there's a good chance that Tom Morello hasn't played an unoriginal lick in his entire life.