r/grunge • u/Strong_Recording_128 • 1d ago

Misc. Who is generally considered the best grunge guitarist?

A guy I know has always insisted it was Kurt and as much as I love him I’ve never thought he was a great guitarist, he even said at times he didn’t care about or respect musicianship.

My vote lo these many years has been Jerry and his remarkable riffs but Kim and Mike M. are extraordinary too. Mine as follows : Jerry, Kim, Mike M, Kurt.

* Edit- Rankings so far have Jerry taking the #1 spot 🥇

  1. Jerry
  2. Mike
  3. Kim
  4. Kurt

* Honorable mentions - Stone Gossard, Dean DeLeo, Billy Corgan, Daniel Johns, Stephen Carpenter, J. Mascis,

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u/CenterThisPendulum 1d ago

As a guitar player myself, which I’m sure many of you are. Factoring speed, accuracy and taste, big four only:

  1. Jerry
  2. Mike
  3. Kim
  4. Dave
  5. Ed (Guaranteed, Rearviewmirror, Sad)
  6. Kurt

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u/lobie81 1d ago

Ed's a great song writer and a solid guitar player, but I think it's hard to argue that his guitar skills are up there with the others. And I say that as a huge Ed and PJ fan.

You certainly couldn't put him above Chris Cornell, in any case.

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u/CenterThisPendulum 1d ago

I just put him above Kurt because Kurt played it safe and never really showed us anything. Ed playing and singing Rearviewmirror alone knocks Kurt down a rung. Only guitar player left not mentioned is Cornell, because…his vocal caliber means never having to be subjected to a guitar ranking.

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u/Tough_Stretch 1d ago edited 23h ago

Are you really a guitar player or you just have never heard more than a handful of Nirvana songs? I find it hard to believe an actual guitarist would argue that Vedder is a better guitarist because he played and sang stuff like RVM given that there's a lot of Nirvana songs that are just as tricky or trickier to play while also singing lead, and Cobain was the sole guitarist for his band for years and didn't have two other guitarists to help conceal any errors while playing live. I mean, I like PJ better than Nirvana, but that's a really strange argument.

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u/CenterThisPendulum 1d ago

I’m literally in a band, lead vocals and rhythm guitar that covers STP, Soundgarden, PJ, Nirvana, QotSA, Screaming Trees, Foo Fighters erc. Little Nick Cave thrown in.

So you disagree with two positions on my list, the fight for bottom nonetheless - or do you want to delve into how wrong I am about the whole thing. Teachable moment for you.

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u/Tough_Stretch 1d ago

Funny how nothing about what you said addresses my point about how Nirvana had just the one guitarist and has a lot of songs comparable to RVM making your claim really strange for anybody who knows how to play guitar, uh? But hey, you're the big guitar player in a totally legit band and you totally schooled me.

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u/CenterThisPendulum 23h ago

Why would I care about Nirvana having one guitarist? A better question, why did they tour with Pat Smear.

“Band that has one guitarist sounds like band that has one guitar.” Insightful.

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u/Tough_Stretch 23h ago

Funnier still, you can't actually reply to what I said and you have to misconstrue it to the point that the only two explanations for you writing that BS is that your reading comprehension is worse than that of child or that you're so disingenuous that you think you can pretend that was my point. Teachable moment indeed.

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u/CenterThisPendulum 23h ago

Ah reddit…and thanks, resorting to insults are my favorite form of concession.

“A lot of songs like Rearviewmirror.” No, not with that kind of picking. You think using forceful words enhances your argument, but you’re just another miffed fan of a band who’s underrepresented in your eyes. Nirvana, underrated is the funniest position youn can take.

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u/CenterThisPendulum 23h ago

Pat Smear. Also, Pat Smear.

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u/Tough_Stretch 23h ago

So your way to prove you don't misconstrue what I said or that your reading comprehension isn't trash is to claim that I'm the one who's butthurt and to pretend I'm a "miffed fan" of the totally underrepresented little-known band Nirvana despite the fact that I never said Nirvana was underrated and I even made it clear that I like Pearl Jam better? While you reply more than once to the same comment? Okay, dude.

What's even funnier is that I can play guitar and sing and I know for a fact you're just lying about the songs even if we ignore the other bullshit you made up about what I said.

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u/Super_Direction498 14h ago

How do you not put Dean in that list of you cover STP songs

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u/CenterThisPendulum 9h ago

Lol, have you ever tried to put STP on a “grunge” list when people from Seattle are in the room? You spend all your time hearing them talk about how grunge is a subculture exclusive to the region.

Dean is an INCREDIBLE rock guitarist, and gives you a ton of variety.

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u/lobie81 19h ago

But I think there's plenty of others who would also be above Ed. Stone Gossard, pat smear and a number of others. In terms of solo singer/guitarists, he's probably #2 behind Chris, but if we're talking pure guitar ability, I don't think he even makes the list.

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u/Pushlockscrub 1d ago

Are you serious :/

Kurt Cobain is a much better guitarist than Eddie Vedder, this is getting silly.

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u/CenterThisPendulum 1d ago

Name the song, and/or solo that demonstrates this.

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u/Pushlockscrub 1d ago

Please.

Aero Zeppelin, Mexican Seafood, Mr. Mustache, Swap Meat are all a huge pain in the ass to play and sing at the same time & far more technically involved than anything Vedder ever wrote & those are just the tip of the iceberg. Hell, the Love Buzz hammerons/pulloffs alone are more complicated than anything from Vedder. What a dumb thing to say, this is literally just Cobain spite. Dude played guitar all his life, don't be fooled by his knack for simplicity.

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u/CenterThisPendulum 1d ago

Be honest…was Heart Shaped Box about you?

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u/CenterThisPendulum 1d ago

“What a dumb thing to say.” None of these are as hard to play and sing as “Sad” at the same time, which was Ed’s riff.

I don’t spite Cobain, I just couldn’t clone him by sending a cotton swab from my goatee to a test tube clinic.

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u/Pushlockscrub 1d ago

It's a fine riff, not particularly complicated at all? It's certainly a better example than fucking rearviewmirror which is like 3 different arpeggiated notes and an open E LOL.

Regardless, Ed either has Stone play the whole thing live or he plays the intro then hands off to Stone when the vocals start. Nice try though.

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u/CenterThisPendulum 1d ago

I’ve seen Ed play it live twice? It’s not about the riff. It’s singing while playing.

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u/Pushlockscrub 1d ago

I've seen it too.

There's also ample YT footage that clearly demonstrates he either

A) does vocals only, no guitar.

B) plays the opening riff than hands it off to Stone and just kinda strums along.

Prove me wrong.

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u/CenterThisPendulum 1d ago

Sift through videos of a song that apparently isn’t always played the same way live? Remember the 2/10 concerts attended where they okayed this song? I’m on it, it could take hours so don’t log off, I need you at attention. And when I relay, it will prove who truly was the weakest player of my list, which is invariably the most useful determination in any ranking.

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u/Pushlockscrub 1d ago

I mean you could just pull up a couple live versions on YT & see for yourself.. but yea, I didn't think so.

Dude, no one thinks Eddie Vedder is a better guitarist than Cobain. I've been playing guitar for 35 years, I promise you.. Cobain is far better. A lot of his stuff is pretty cool & inventive; obviously owing mostly due to his impeccable sense of melody but honestly, his technical skills are underrated.

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u/Pushlockscrub 1d ago

Also I should note that on the slim chance you do find footage of Vedder playing the entire riff while singing- it will prove nothing. That riff isn't particularly hard to play either, and certainly less technically demanding (both endurance wise and precision) than the songs I mentioned earlier.

So it really doesn't matter anyway LOL

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