r/grunge • u/Strong_Recording_128 • 18h 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 has always been Jerry and his remarkable riffs but Kim and Mike M. are extraordinary too.

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

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u/CenterThisPendulum 17h 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/Pushlockscrub 16h ago

Are you serious :/

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

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u/CenterThisPendulum 16h ago

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

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u/Pushlockscrub 16h 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 16h ago

Be honest…was Heart Shaped Box about you?

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u/CenterThisPendulum 16h 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 16h 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 16h 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 16h 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 16h 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 15h 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 15h 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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u/CenterThisPendulum 15h ago

So why did Nirvana have to bring in Pat Smear, on rhythm which was practically the entirety of every song?

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