Chords...

Hey I have just found this forum, hopefully its going to help me alot. I have been playing electric guitar now for about 4 months. Had a book with chords in etc. However drifted solely onto solo's, started with Plug in Baby, Hysteria, Chilli songs progressed to harder solo's and techniques now, but have NO chord knowledge other than 5 basic.
So my question is; is it essential to learn the chords? Or can you be a good player without them?

You can be a good player without any knowledge of theory at all, but theory sure helps. Learning chords would definatley up your skill. It'll help you lean how to solo. I don't mean just soloing like you probably do now, I mean phrasing and note selection over chords and riffs that you write or record yourself, to combine the notes in your solo and the chordes underneath, to make all new chordes and harmonies as your solo progresses.
Also, knowledge of chords is great, because you'll know how to do more than just slam away on power chords. Not that thats a bad thing, but playing bigger, nicer chords every once and a while is pretty nice to hear.