10 Most Underrated Rock Guitarists Of All Time
3. Pat Smear - The Germs
Compared to the other legendary guitar players of his time, Pat Smear has had one of the more interesting career trajectories as a guitarist. I mean, not many other people can claim to be in 3 legendary bands and still feel somewhat faceless in the grand scheme of things. While never really the flashiest of players, Smear still manages to make his presence known on nearly every record he's featured on.
Being the lead musical force for the hardcore punk outfit the Germs back in the day, his work on something like Lexicon Devil is crunchy as all hell, almost like you're listening to the notes being pumped out by a jackhammer. Though he never really got a chance to leave any sizeable impact on Nirvana, his role as the touring guitarist was a shock to the system once they started to tour stadiums around the world.
After serving as the lead guitarist for a while in the Foo Fighters though, Pat had had enough of the rock star business, until eventually returning to the fold with the Foos in the late '00s. This made the Foos' sound really jump up a notch, with his grimy distorted tone clashing perfectly with Chris Shiftlett's more precise lead work. Whereas most Foo Fighters releases fall into the realm of mainstream rock nowadays, Pat still has the same punk aesthetic as he did when he was a young degenerate in the glory days.