THE IMPORTANCE OF having an instantly recognizable style was clearly understood by guitarist, songwriter, singer and political activist Tom Morello, who radically reshaped the sound of rock guitar in the ’90s with the rap-metal band Rage Against the Machine, and later, Audioslave and Prophets of Rage. Morello basically invented a new way of speaking guitar by infusing his crushing riff-rock style — which he says is based on ’70s-era Jimmy Page, Tony Iommi and Ritchie Blackmore — with noise-making elements of Public Enemy’s Bomb Squad productions, a major influence on Morello and his use of effects like the DigiTech Whammy Pedal.
Morello typically wields a Telecaster in drop-D tuning or, for standard tuning, a customized Strat-style guitar with two humbuckers and an aftermarket hockey-stick neck. A few years back, he took a break from his hammering rhythms and incendiary solos laced with tapping and tremolo dive-bombing (as heard on songs like “Killing in the Name” and “Know Your Enemy”) to usher in a softer side via his solo acoustic work as the Nightwatchman and the Street Sweeper Social Club. Underscoring his artistic flexibility, he’s worked with artists as diverse as Wu-Tang Clan and Bruce Springsteen, and stepped in for E Street Band guitarist Stevie Van Zandt on the latter’s 2013 Australian tour.