Tom Morello’s greatest guitar solo wasn’t on any studio album – and it crammed all his tricks into one epic lead

Rage Against The Machine, Tom Morello, Pinkpop Festival, Landgraaf, Holland, 31 May 1993.
(Image credit: Gie Knaeps/Getty Images)

Aside from his politics, Tom Morello is known for two things: one is, naturally, those regime-toppling riffs, and the other is his adventurous sonics, which boldly took the guitar into the realm of the DJ.

When Rage Against the Machine’s self-titled debut dropped in 1992, it was a wakeup call to guitarists taken in by the raw, unprocessed guitar tones that dominated the alt-rock revolution of the early-’90s. It was bold and defiant: it flew in the face of convention and helped to stitch together the hip-hop and metal influences the band wore so lovingly on their sleeves.

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Michael Astley-Brown
Editor-in-Chief, GuitarWorld.com

Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism from Cardiff University, and over a decade's experience writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as 20 years of recording and live experience in original and function bands. During his career, he has interviewed the likes of John Frusciante, Chris Cornell, Tom Morello, Matt Bellamy, Kirk Hammett, Jerry Cantrell, Joe Satriani, Tom DeLonge, Ed O'Brien, Polyphia, Tosin Abasi, Yvette Young and many more. In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.