With the exception of Black Sabbath, early heavy metal was built upon a foundation of two-guitar bands. Whether it was the sturdy rhythm/lead axis of Scorpions' Rudolf Schenker and Uli Jon Roth or Judas Priest's legendary K.K. Downing and Glen Tipton team, metal with two guitars is usually twice is good as metal with just one. Black Sabbath being a major exception, of course.

Often credited with inspiring this configuration, Wishbone Ash has to be mentioned. Their use of two guitars playing either harmonic themes or trade-off leads was something not many rock bands were doing at the turn of the 1970s. Andy Powell and Ted Turner should be hailed for their innovative approach. They defined the twin-guitar team approach for four albums, hurling off majestic, sublime, attacking blues-prog-hard rock mutations. When Laurie Wisefield replaced Turner in 1974, they continued to refine that approach for eight further albums, heard to especially good effect on There's the Rub (1974), New England (1976), No Smoke Without Fire (1978) and the unfairly ignored Just Testing (1980). Of course, by the 1980s, a heavier 12-string frontline took this idea to new extremes.

Here are 10 of heavy metal's finest guitar teams. A couple pairings may not seem obvious, and may be entirely obscure, but listen to the examples and know and understand the glory of it all. We've pointed you toward specific time codes for the solos, but do check out the whole songs, as there's lots of great interplay throughout all of them