What is a guitar hero?...yes, yes, it’s a video game that vaguely simulates playing a real guitar…what else?...

Yes, yes, it means someone who can rock the “expert level” at guitar hero, the video game…but before that, it meant something totally different…

A guitar hero was a guy—and it was almost always a guy—who had achieved a seemingly supernatural mastery of the electric guitar…they were so good that other experts looked to them to learn and for inspiration…

Chuck Berry…Jimi Hendrix…Eric Clapton…Jimmy Page…Pete Townshend… Jeff Beck…they were among the first to be declared guitar heroes…they pushed the limits of what could be done with the instrument, amplifiers, and effects pedals…

More followed…Eddie Van Halen…Angus Young of AC/DC…The Edge from U2…Slash…Stevie Ray Vaughn…Randy Rhoads…

All excellent players…this got me thinking about guitar heroes from the world of alt-rock, specifically from when things exploded in the early 90s?...

They aren’t betterthan the first generation of guitar heroes…just different, you know?...let’s make a list, shall we?...

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