3 Alternative Rock Guitarists Who Were Influenced by Heavy Metal Shredders

Alternative rock guitarists aren’t often associated with heavy metal shredders. You might connect the dots between certain bands and Black Sabbath. But the pointy axes and two-handed tapping of many guitar legends would have been stylistically unacceptable on a Lollapalooza stage in the 90s.

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Still, alt-rock had its share of virtuosos. Though the scene’s punk ethos might have been in opposition to lengthy guitar solos and flashy technique, many of alternative rock’s leading figures grew up with shredding heroes like Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, Yngwie Malmsteen, and Steve Vai.

Let’s look at three alt-shredders who became guitar heroes in their own right, whether they wanted to or not.

Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine)

Rage Against The Machine albums come with a disclaimer: “No samples, keyboards, or synthesizers used in the making of this record.” Because rock guitarist Tom Morello mimicked the scratching vinyl of DJs, one might assume he lifted the noises from old records.

But Morello used a combination of pedal effects and shredding to create his iconic sound. When RATM arrived on the scene, Morello sounded like a guitar revolutionary. Think Jimmy Page meets Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay with a dash of Randy Rhoads and Tony Iommi.

Rivers Cuomo (Weezer)

When I first heard Weezer’s Blue Album, something about the guitar solos stood out to me. Beneath the veneer of slacker rock, I noticed licks that wouldn’t be out of place in a heavy metal odyssey. Before Rivers Cuomo began studying The Beach Boys and Nirvana, he burned countless hours attempting the neoclassical fury of Yngwie Malmsteen. Not the best fit for power pop. But it gave him the ability to play whatever melody he wanted.

Cuomo didn’t shred a million notes on Weezer’s debut, but the instrumental breaks mixed expert technique with earworm hooks. For examples of Cuomo’s metal chops, check out his band’s hard rock release, Van Weezer.

Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins)

If you needed to introduce someone to the ideal alternative rock guitar tone from the 90s, you might play “Cherub Rock”. Billy Corgan wasn’t the only rock guitarist using a Big Muff, but his arena-size riffs blended Black Sabbath and The Cure. Part heavy metal, part gothic post-punk. There’s also a wall of noise courtesy of shoegaze. But listen to “Soma”, where Corgan echoes the lightning speed hammer-ons of Eddie Van Halen.

Corgan’s solos are agitated and chaotic. And his rage wasn’t limited to the lyrical angst in his songs. You can hear the zeitgeist of the 90s squelching and squealing out of his Fender Stratocaster. While many bands of the time disdained rock stardom, Corgan embraced it with all the bombast and ambition of the heavy metal legends that shaped him.

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