96Bruce Springsteen

Richard McCaffrey/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesBruce Springsteenhas always had a not-so-secret weapon: "I got signed in the pack of new Dylans," he toldRolling Stone, "but I could turn around, kick-start my Telecaster and burn the house down." Springsteen didn't make any technical breakthroughs on guitar, but few players are better at coaxing emotion from steel and wood: witness the surf-rock recklessness of the "Born to Run" solo, the junkyard-dog bite of "Adam Raised a Cain" and the melancholy twang of "Tougher Than the Rest."Key Tracks:"Kitty's Back," "Backstreets"

97Steve Jones

Tom Hill/WireImageThe Sex Pistols, Steve Jones' brutish power chords and flamboyant gutter-glam solos were a perfect mirror for the taunting bile of Johnny Rotten and a yardstick for every punk-rock noise-maker that followed. His legacy was set with indelible riffs on one record 1977'sNever Mind the Bollocks... that inspired guitarists from Slash to Billie Joe Armstrong. It was an attitude as much as a sound. As Jones told a journalist during his days with the Sex Pistols, "Actually, we're not into music. We're into chaos."Key Tracks:"God Save the Queen," "Pretty Vacant"

98Alex Lifeson

Fin Costello/RedfernsEven if he had never progressed beyond the brain-rattling riffing of "2112" and "Xanadu,"Rush's guitarist would have left his mark on Metallica and other like-minded metalheads. But he went on to fill out Rush's power-trio sound with a seamless mix of lush arpeggios and rock crunch that sounded like at least two players at once. "The guitar just had to make a broader statement," he says. Alex Lifeson reserves his most daring playing for his solos just try wrapping your head around the extraterrestrial lunacy of "Freewill."Key Tracks:"La Villa Strangiato," "The Spirit of Radio"

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