10 Most Underrated Guitarists In Rock Music History

You didn't necessarily have to be God's gift to the guitar to necessarily make it in the golden age of emo. When you look at acts like Fall Out Boy and Brand New, most of their guitar parts tend to be fairly straightforward, always sticking to basic chords and playing only the bare minimum for a solo half the time. They may have been just inspired by the simplicity of a band like Green Day, but Ray Toro had graduated from the classic rock school of guitar before coming on the scene with My Chemical Romance.

Going through MCR's back catalog, Ray always seemed to be one notch above all of his contemporaries behind the fretboard, creating solos that seemed to be more in tune with the rock stars that he loved as a kid like Jimmy Page or Eric Clapton. While an album like Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge may have had a bit of fire to it, The Black Parade was where Ray really got to show his chops, with solos that felt like Brian May could have written them had he been born a few years later and was raised on a healthy dose of the Cure.

Ray might seem like he's overqualified for the job here, but there's never a point where his unique brand of rock and roll guitar ever gets in the way of the songs either. Emo might have been about wearing your emotions on your sleeve, but there's nothing wrong with putting a little bit of shred into your diet either.