10 Rock Guitarists That Are Impossible To Imitate

After the British Blues Boom of the late '60s started to turn a corner, it was time for rock stars to started getting more serious about their craft. Aside from the more grandiose rock operas from the likes of the Who coming down the pipeline, other acts like Pink Floyd and Genesis were testing the waters of prog rock, bringing with them episodic songs with multiple movements between them. Though many had tried to test the limits of rock and roll, Alex Lifeson kept that signature fire in all of Rush's tunes.

Being one of the heavier guitarists of his respective genre, Lifeson brought a certain edge to every one of these Canadian icons' epics, from the crunch of Anthem to the amazing solos on something like Freewill, the latter of which could give even some '80s virtuosos a run for their money. Apart from the manic solo work, Lifeson also was an inventive musical thinker, bringing in open jazzier chords on songs like Xanadu, even turning some into massive hits like Limelight.

Up until Rush eventually disbanded in the late 2010's, Lifeson has remained a student of the guitar, looking to push his playing that much further, whether it's the Zeppelin tinged riffs of his youth or the outlandish inflections of his own. It may seem weird at first, but this is the kind of guitar playing that ages like fine wine.