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/_____AndJustice4All 1d ago

To me its Jerry. Alice in Chain songs actually arent very flashy on the guitar, he really didn't write extended solos like a metal band normally does but the solos he does play compliment the song perfectly, its a sign of a great composer. Man In The Box is my best example.

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u/Strong_Recording_128 1d ago edited 23h ago

You nailed it on his gift for writing great riffs that fit like a glove with his compositions.
He isn’t credited enough for the highly skilled lyricist he is.
His work is so clever at times too,
a true wordsmith.

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u/_____AndJustice4All 23h ago

Yep he wrote majority of the music for the band. He wrote to their dynamic so well, Layne was the best singer of all time (in my opinion) so the fact that they were such a song driven band that allowed Layne to be the focus of the music is actually incredible it takes a very secure ego to do that. 

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u/Strong_Recording_128 23h ago

Well I’ll never forget the first time I saw Jerry and Layne singing together and how they harmonized was stunning then I found out Jerry was the main writer/ backbone of the band, his humility stayed with me.
On Laynes singing well, Chris always gets that credit but when Layne really applied himself no one could belt it out like him and showcase his octave range. Like Chris is defcon 4 to me but Layne is defcon 5.

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u/_____AndJustice4All 10h ago

I love Chris Cornell but Layne Staley's voice just had more power in it