10 Underrated Musicians In Legendary Bands

In the grunge canon, Pearl Jam are no slouches when it comes to the guitar pedigree at work. Even though Kurt Cobain questioned the legitimacy of the blues rock guitar stylings of Mike McCready, his leads on everything from Alive to Yellow Ledbetter will go down as some of the greatest guitar moments of the '90s. When you have that kind of spectacle at your disposal though, it's easy to get overshadowed when you're the guy pumping out the riffs.

As far as the rhythmic end of the band is concerned, Stone Gossard really is the backbone of Pearl Jam, being there since the beginning by shopping around demos with the beginnings of songs like Alive and Black. Aside from the more arena rock style that he pioneered on Ten, Gossard's eclectic side is where he shines the brightest, with the strange tunings that turn up on something like Daughter or the funky guitar breaks that come in songs like Rats.

While seldom taking a solo break during songs, Gossard's leads are always memorable when they do turn up, being the mastermind behind the painfully sad melodic phrases like in Indifference or the carnival like atmosphere of something like All Those Yesterdays. Though Pearl Jam moved past the label of grunge a long time ago, Stone Gossard is the embodiment of the band's alternative tendencies.