Testament guitarist Alex Skolnick recently opened up about his early musical influences and made a case for AC/DC’s Angus Young deserving far more recognition as a musician.
Skolnick traced his guitar journey from his earliest inspirations to the artists who truly shaped his playing style, ultimately arriving at why he believes Angus Young is underappreciated as a guitarist.
“Going back, when I first started playing at 10 years old, I would say my first two or three years I was really focused on songs, and I didn’t know if I wanted to be a rhythm guitar player, singer or a lead guitarist,” Skolnick said. “I was more into John Lennon, Paul Stanley, Elvis [Presley]. I loved ’50s rock.”
“Although Chuck Berry, he really inspired me to play guitar. He was in a movie called ‘American Hot Wax’. Yeah. And then I later made the connection: ‘Oh, he inspired The Beatles, he inspired AC/DC, he inspired KISS.’ But he was really my idea of a lead guitarist until I heard Van Halen, and when I heard Van Halen, it was a few years after the debut. And this was already the early ’80s, so say, like, ’82 or so. I’m 13. They were already on, like, album four or five.”
Skolnick then reflected on how his influences evolved over time, eventually leading him to champion Angus Young’s often-overlooked musicianship.
“The Beatles [were] probably [my] biggest [early influence], or KISS as well, and Chuck Berry, all of those,” he continued. “But then it quickly evolved into Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions, AC/DC. I think [AC/DC lead guitarist] Angus Young actually deserves a lot more credit. He’s a guy that gets a lot of attention more as a performer. But he’s a really fantastic musician. And [late AC/DC guitarist] Malcolm [Young], too, may he rest in peace… And Eddie Van Halen cited [Malcolm] as one of his favorite musicians. And they were close friends too.”
The comments highlight Skolnick’s deep appreciation for the foundational figures of rock and metal guitar. He firmly believes that Angus Young’s technical abilities remain undervalued by the wider music community.
Skolnick’s perspective cuts to the heart of a long-standing debate in rock circles — one that separates Angus Young the showman from Angus Young the guitarist. For decades, the AC/DC icon has been defined by his duckwalk, his wild stage energy, and that unmistakable schoolboy uniform. Skolnick argues that those theatrical trademarks have consistently distracted listeners from something far more important: the actual music.
The schoolboy outfit and the performance spectacle have long been Angus Young’s most recognizable calling cards. Skolnick believes that image has worked against him in terms of musical credibility. People see the costume and the theatrics first, and the guitarist underneath often gets lost in the noise. It is a rare case where a musician’s stage presence may have inadvertently undermined his reputation as a serious instrumentalist.
What makes Angus Young’s playing particularly difficult to appreciate at face value is how deceptively simple it sounds. His riffs are built on precision, phrasing, rhythm, and timing — and crucially, on knowing exactly what not to play. That restraint is a discipline that takes years to develop. It is precisely what makes his style so hard to replicate. Guitarists who attempt to reproduce his riffs often discover that the feel and impact simply do not translate, no matter how technically proficient they are.
Skolnick also pointed to the broader musical foundation that Angus built alongside his late brother Malcolm Young. AC/DC’s power was never rooted in technical excess or flashy soloing. It came from discipline, chemistry, and an almost surgical understanding of groove and dynamics. The Young brothers created something that sounded effortless but was anything but, and Skolnick views both of them as criminally underappreciated architects of rock guitar.
Eddie Van Halen — widely regarded as one of the greatest guitarists in rock history — counted Malcolm Young among his favorite musicians. Van Halen and Malcolm were also close friends, a detail that speaks to the mutual respect shared among the genre’s elite. For Skolnick, that connection is further proof that the Young brothers’ contributions have always been recognized by those who understand the craft most deeply, even if the broader public has been slower to catch on.
