Buzz Osborne names “one of the greatest guitar players ever”
Creating a unique guitar sound is one thing, but achieving widespread influence with it is a rare feat. Only a select few have managed to be truly distinctive players who leave a lasting impact on the world of the six-string. Melvins frontman Buzz Osborne is undoubtedly among the most significant. Drawing from influences as diverse as Led Zeppelin and Black Flag, the sludge metal pioneer has traversed multiple genres, his experimental spirit underpinning all his work—a quality that has, in turn, inspired countless others.
Osborne is a singular artist, shaped by a unique worldview developed without any early external musical influences, like older siblings. His sound, though rooted in punk ethos and hardcore spirit, reflects his openness to varied genres. He unabashedly embraced whatever he was drawn to, spanning classic rock icons like Led Zeppelin, glam metal bands like Van Halen, and the punk and alternative acts driving the underground scene of the 1980s.
This is an authentic mindset which eschews the standards of the generation he was a part of, and unsurprisingly, it also ballasted a sprawling oeuvre that has seen Osborne be lauded as a seminal influence on grunge, doom, sludge, and other forms. He’s had such an impact that even Nirvana leader Kurt Cobain cited him as a key influence, as did the band’s drummer and later Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil, Tool’s Adam Jones, Sleep’s Matt Pike, and numerous others. Osborne’s thunderous, precise, and often bizarro lines stood out from the era in which his band emerged and set a precedent for all heavy music moving forward.
As with every proficient artist, Osborne has not restricted himself to solely being the frontman and lead guitarist of the power trio Melvins. He’s also been a part of the widely influential experimental supergroup Fantômas – led by Faith No More frontman Mike Patton – played in the hardcore supergroup Venomous Concept alongside Napalm Death’s Shane Embury, and released a duo of experimental solo albums as King Buzzo.
While Osborne has always pushed himself forward, he still holds some foundational influences dear. One of these is The Who’s lead guitarist Pete Townshend, whom he dubbed “one of the greatest guitar players ever” during an exclusive interview with Far Out.
He said: “But I think Pete Townsend is one of the greatest guitar players ever, and he had everything. He had a great band to write songs for, and he’s an amazing songwriter, and I think his guitar playing is severely underrated.”
Comparing the British invasion legend to other ostensible guitar heroes, such as virtuoso Joe Satriani, Osborne was in no doubt that this crop of players pale compared to the mind behind ‘My Generation’ and ‘Baba O’ Riley’. He continued: “I think that, you know, people like Joe Satriani, or any of those kinds of guys, they couldn’t kiss his ass.”
As Osborne emerged at a time when many of the guitar-playing greats who inspired him were still alive, he met some of his most vital influences, including The Stooges’s proto-punk progenitor Ron Asheton. Famously, Asheton wrote most of the music on the band’s first two albums, 1969’s self-titled and the following year’s Fun House, and was their lead guitarist before begrudgingly switching to bass on 1973’s Raw Power, with James Williamson playing guitar. Osborne claimed Asheton told him The Who and Townshend were instrumental in them shaping their own explosive sound.
“I remember asking Ron Asheton from the Stooges,” he recalled. “I was like, ‘What bands did you guys like before The Stooges happened?’ He said, ‘We were into The Who. He said he saw The Who in Ann Arbor in the mid-60s, and he still had a piece of Pete Townshend’s broken guitar from the show”.
In naming Pete Townshend as one of the greatest guitar players, Osborne maintained that The Who does not get the credit they deserve. He even postulated that they might be the best live band of all time and are “without question” the best of the 1960s. Now that you come to think of it, a lot of Melvins’ raucous early material does contain flecks of Townshend’s early heaviness.
