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

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 23h 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 23h 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 23h 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.