Top 5 guitar solos ever

[The30YardSlant]

IMO:

1: David Gilmour - "Comfortably Numb"
2: Jimi Hendrix - "All Along the Watchtower"
3: Eddie Van Halen - "Eruption"
4: Jimmy Paige - "Stairway to Heaven"
5: Eric Clapton - "Layla"

 

[Juke99]

Jimi Hendrix- Red House
Gary Moore- Still Got The Blues For You
Hotel California- the Walsh/Felder solos at the end
Clapton- Crossroads
Joe Satriani- Surfin With The Alien

Cool idea for a thread.

Thanks

 

[Hostile]

Randy Rhoads...Crazy Train
Slash...November Rain
Jimmy Paige...Stairway to Heaven
Stevie Ray Vaughn...Texas Flood
Mark Knopfler...Sultans of Swing

Honorable Mention...Anything by Chet Atkins.

 

[Juke99]

Randy Rhoads...Crazy Train
Slash...November Rain
Jimmy Paige...Stairway to Heaven
Stevie Ray Vaughn...Texas Flood
Mark Knopfler...Sultans of Swing

Honorable Mention...Anything by Chet Atkins.

And Tommy Emmanuel....

Sultans of Swing is a good choice.

 

[Hostile]

And Tommy Emmanuel....

Sultans of Swing is a good choice.

Knopfler is underrated.

My 10 year old daughter loves the Randy Rhoads solo in Crazy Train. Cracked me up when I heard her tell her cousin, the guitar in this song is just bad.

Andres Segovia is a definite favorite of mine as a solo guitarist.

 

[jem88]

IMO:

1: David Gilmour - "Comfortably Numb"
2: Jimi Hendrix - "All Along the Watchtower"
3: Eddie Van Halen - "Eruption"
4: Jimmy Paige - "Stairway to Heaven"
5: Eric Clapton - "Layla"

Excellent list. Mine would probably go something like this (I'm listing my favourites, not necessarily the best or most difficult, etc.):

Eric Clapton, Badge- I've always felt that a guitar solo is only as good as the melody/rhythm holding it up. There can few more precious moments in rock than when the leslie-laden rhythm guitar kicks in on the bridge to Badge (I suspect George Harrison may have had something to do with this, as I think he got a co-writing credit for the song and it does sound very Beatles-like.) Clapton's solo simply soars over this churning, beautiful riff.

Jimmy Page, Black Dog- The stop/start tension of the song finally gives in to a rollicking/messy/typically-Page guitar solo. Instant air-guitar stimulator.

David Gilmour, Dogs; Another Brick in The Wall, pt.2- The triple harmonies on the epic Dogs solo mirrors the isolation and despair of the song's lyrics. Gilmour's compact, economical phrasing in the outro to Another Brick in The Wall pt.2 is a masterpiece in restraint. My favourite guitar solo when I was a kid, before I even thought about playing guitar.

Angus Young, Whole Lotta Rosie- I've been listening to this a lot lately. Angus goes beserk on this one and it's about as rocking as you can get.

Paul McCartney/George Harrison/John Lennon, The End- All three of them traded licks on the climax to the Abbey Road medley and each player's solo perfectly showcases his personality: McCartney is measured and precise, Harrison is bluesy, and Lennon is scrappy and messy. When this breaks into the final outro and they break into "and in the end...", the lump in the throat inevitably rises.

Jonny Greenwood, Paranoid Android- Can't really describe this one. You just have to hear it to know what I mean.

Jimi Hendrix, Are You Experienced?- A backwards slice of heaven.

Mick Taylor, Sway- The Stones were never the same after Taylor left. This is his best solo as far as I'm concerned (followed closely by Can't You Hear Me Knocking?)

 

[The30YardSlant]

Jimi Hendrix- Red House
Gary Moore- Still Got The Blues For You
Hotel California- the Walsh/Felder solos at the end
Clapton- Crossroads
Joe Satriani- Surfin With The Alien

Cool idea for a thread.

Thanks

Forgot about Crossroads, that's a good one too. Hotel California, while a great song, doesnt do much for me in terms of solos

 

[jem88]

Knopfler is underrated.

My favourite Knopfler solo is on Telegraph Road.

 

[The30YardSlant]

Excellent list. Mine would probably go something like this (I'm listing my favourites, not necessarily the best or most difficult, etc.):

Eric Clapton, Badge- I've always felt that a guitar solo is only as good as the melody/rhythm holding it up. There can few more precious moments in rock than when the leslie-laden rhythm guitar kicks in on the bridge to Badge (I suspect George Harrison may have had something to do with this, as I think he got a co-writing credit for the song and it does sound very Beatles-like.) Clapton's solo simply soars over this churning, beautiful riff.

Jimmy Page, Black Dog- The stop/start tension of the song finally gives in to a rollicking/messy/typically-Page guitar solo. Instant air-guitar stimulator.

David Gilmour, Dogs; Another Brick in The Wall, pt.2- The triple harmonies on the epic Dogs solo mirrors the isolation and despair of the song's lyrics. Gilmour's compact, economical phrasing in the outro to Another Brick in The Wall pt.2 is a masterpiece in restraint. My favourite guitar solo when I was a kid, before I even thought about playing guitar.

Angus Young, Whole Lotta Rosie- I've been listening to this a lot lately. Angus goes beserk on this one and it's about as rocking as you can get.

Paul McCartney/George Harrison/John Lennon, The End- All three of them traded licks on the climax to the Abbey Road medley and each player's solo perfectly showcases his personality: McCartney is measured and precise, Harrison is bluesy, and Lennon is scrappy and messy. When this breaks into the final outro and they break into "and in the end...", the lump in the throat inevitably rises.

Jonny Greenwood, Paranoid Android- Can't really describe this one. You just have to hear it to know what I mean.

Jimi Hendrix, Are You Experienced?- A backwards slice of heaven.

Mick Taylor, Sway- The Stones were never the same after Taylor left. This is his best solo as far as I'm concerned (followed closely by Can't You Hear Me Knocking?)

Honestly, one could make a list like this of nothing but Hendrix solos. "All Along the Watchtower", "Purple Haze", "Are you Experianced", "Voodoo Child", "If 6 was 9", "1983", etc. It just goes on and on.

The same goes for Jimmy Paige and David Gilmour, though Gilmour is an acquired, queer taste

 

[Juke99]

Excellent list. Mine would probably go something like this (I'm listing my favourites, not necessarily the best or most difficult, etc.):

Eric Clapton, Badge- I've always felt that a guitar solo is only as good as the melody/rhythm holding it up. There can few more precious moments in rock than when the leslie-laden rhythm guitar kicks in on the bridge to Badge (I suspect George Harrison may have had something to do with this, as I think he got a co-writing credit for the song and it does sound very Beatles-like.) Clapton's solo simply soars over this churning, beautiful riff.

Jimmy Page, Black Dog- The stop/start tension of the song finally gives in to a rollicking/messy/typically-Page guitar solo. Instant air-guitar stimulator.

David Gilmour, Dogs; Another Brick in The Wall, pt.2- The triple harmonies on the epic Dogs solo mirrors the isolation and despair of the song's lyrics. Gilmour's compact, economical phrasing in the outro to Another Brick in The Wall pt.2 is a masterpiece in restraint. My favourite guitar solo when I was a kid, before I even thought about playing guitar.

Angus Young, Whole Lotta Rosie- I've been listening to this a lot lately. Angus goes beserk on this one and it's about as rocking as you can get.

Paul McCartney/George Harrison/John Lennon, The End- All three of them traded licks on the climax to the Abbey Road medley and each player's solo perfectly showcases his personality: McCartney is measured and precise, Harrison is bluesy, and Lennon is scrappy and messy. When this breaks into the final outro and they break into "and in the end...", the lump in the throat inevitably rises.

Jonny Greenwood, Paranoid Android- Can't really describe this one. You just have to hear it to know what I mean.

Jimi Hendrix, Are You Experienced?- A backwards slice of heaven.

Mick Taylor, Sway- The Stones were never the same after Taylor left. This is his best solo as far as I'm concerned (followed closely by Can't You Hear Me Knocking?)

Good selection. The order is, for those who don't know, Harrison, McCartney, Lennon...For me, McCartney's last line just steals the show.

Mick Taylor did some great work. The solo to the live Love In Vain, always kills me. And I agree, Taylor really lifted the Stones.

Harrison plays on Badge, which by the way was called that because Clapton misread Harrison's note on the "bridge" as "badge"

 

[Juke99]

Forgot about Crossroads, that's a good one too. Hotel California, while a great song, doesnt do much for me in terms of solos

I just like the harmony lines they worked out...and when I've seen them play it live, they truly cut loose on it...

I also like the side by side of Felder's technique and the craziness of Joe Walsh.



OOOH...I'd also like to add Jeff Beck's end solo in "People Get Ready" YOWZA.

 

[jem88]

Good selection. The order is, for those who don't know, Harrison, McCartney, Lennon...For me, McCartney's last line just steals the show.

Mick Taylor did some great work. The solo to the live Love In Vain, always kills me. And I agree, Taylor really lifted the Stones.

Harrison plays on Badge, which by the way was called that because Clapton misread Harrison's note on the "bridge" as "badge"

Are you sure about the order of solos on The End? According "Revolution in The End" which documents every Beatles song, the order is McCartney, Harrison, Lennon. This would make the most sense to me, judging by the sound of each solo.

 

[Juke99]

Are you sure about the order of solos on The End? According "Revolution in The End" which documents every Beatles song, the order is McCartney, Harrison, Lennon. This would make the most sense to me, judging by the sound of each solo.

Absolutely positive. Yep.

No way that is Harrison's style. Harrison never bent a note in his life.

And it's also a screamingly Les Paul sound...which is what McCartney often used.

It's got "McCartney" written all over those second solos.

Honestly. I wouldn't lie to ya.

 

[Hostile]

I also like "Freebird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. The guitarists names are escaping me.

"Mr. Crowley" by Randy Rhoads is dark but brilliant.

Ted Nugent's "Stranglehold" is good.

"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is absolutely stunning. Not sure which of the Beatles played it. I want to say McCartney.

I really like Vernon Reid in "Cult of Personality."

 

[jem88]

Absolutely positive. Yep.

No way that is Harrison's style. Harrison never bent a note in his life.

And it's also a screamingly Les Paul sound...which is what McCartney often used.

It's got "McCartney" written all over those second solos.

Honestly. I wouldn't lie to ya.

Oh I trust you, it's just that I actually find the first solo to be very McCartney-ish. Much like his solo on Taxman. But again, not to doubt you or anything, are you basing this on something you read? I'm curious, because I've trusted Ian MacDonald's book for so long. Nothing worse than broken trust!

 

[lane]

gary rossington...call me the breeze
the lead guitarists from ratt.......round and round
felder and walsh........hotel california
matthias jabs......rock you like a hurricane
eddie van halen...eruption


too many to list...

 

[lane]

I also like "Freebird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. The guitarists names are escaping me.

"Mr. Crowley" by Randy Rhoads is dark but brilliant.

Ted Nugent's "Stranglehold" is good.

"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is absolutely stunning. Not sure which of the Beatles played it. I want to say McCartney.

alan collins is the primary lead in freebird.

 

[The30YardSlant]

I also like "Freebird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. The guitarists names are escaping me.

The Freebird solo was performed by Gary Rossington and Allen Collins, and yes, that is a great solo, probably the longest great sustained solo in rock history

 

[jem88]

"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is absolutely stunning. Not sure which of the Beatles played it. I want to say McCartney.

That was Eric Clapton and yes it is stunning.

 

[Juke99]

Oh I trust you, it's just that I actually find the first solo to be very McCartney-ish. Much like his solo on Taxman. But again, not to doubt you or anything, are you basing this on something you read? I'm curious, because I've trusted Ian MacDonald's book for so long. Nothing worse than broken trust!

Listen to the last of the three grouped solos...there's simply no way Harrison plays that line...it's simply out of his reach...

Harrison also has that high treble on his guitar, whereas McCartney's sound was much thicker...And the style of the lines fits with a solo song like "Maybe I'm Amazed" It's the same type of playing.

I've seen McCartney do that live a few times..and he plays that last line as well.

I'll look for a link but I'll bet body parts that it's Harrison, McCartney, Lennon...

McCartney was a much better guitarist than Harrison who's playing on those solos is very stiff and practiced. Lennon was a buzzsaw on those solos, he was a pretty awful guitar player BUT he was playing with emotion...so was McCartney.