Although it's impossible to catch every single guitar-tinged album that comes out in a given year, 2002 was so saturated with material -- some worthy, some not so much -- that it was difficult to remain concise.
There were, as always, the stand-out moments: George Harrison released his final album, the posthumous Brainwashed. Tom Morello churned out more modern rock squeals and slaps on Audioslave's self-title debut. Yngwie Malmsteen responded to the tragedy of 9/11 with Attack!!. Korn, System of a Down and Disturbed pushed nu-metal into maturity with their respective new records.
And how many albums did Buckethead release in 2002? Three?
With all these great records, the hard part now lies on you: Which one deserves this week's top award for Best Guitar Album? There are, of course, several more records of note, in addition to the aforementioned gems. Take a look at this week's poll to see who else made the cut.
Thanks for voting!