What do you think is the greatest guitar solo?Music

[Small_Fryz]

What do you think?

Also on a side note, what makes a great guitarist different from most guitarists?

Who are some of the greatest guitarists?

 

[[FPV]Rusty]

I'm a big fan of guitar solo's, but i cant really give a greatly iformed opinion, I'm sure there are plenty mind blowing solo's from years gone by that I've never heard. the most amazing solos I've heard arent really solos, they are alot more rythmic and tied into the whoel song nowadays, but still pretty mind blowing some of them-

Himsa - Dominion (1:25 to 2:10 by Sammi Curr and Kirby Charles Johnson)

Avenged Sevenfold - Bat Country (2:15 to 3:15 by Synister Gates as well as a bit by Zacky Vengeance)

Trivium- Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr (3:10 to 3:45 by Matt Heafy and Corey Beaulieu)

Trivium- A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation (3:20 to 4:50 by Matt Heafy and Corey Beaulieu

Avenged Sevenfold- Seize the Day (2:50 to 3:30 by Synister Gates)

This is all quite new stuff, the small amount of not so new stuff ive heard is mostly Metellica and Guns and Roses. Although my origonal love of solos was inspired by listening to some Carlos Santana stuff.

Most people are probably gongi to mention Slash as on of the greatest heavy rock guitarist/soloists, cant really argue there. Although of the new age, I think one of the best soloists gonig around now is Avenged Sevenfolds Synister Gates, or possibly Trivium's Matt Heafy, these two dont get the exposure they deserve for some of there groundbrekaing axe work, probably due to the genre of their music. But i guess you can really compare the new with the all time greats, its like trying to argue which is the greatest batsman, Lara or Bradman, or who was the better racing driver, Fangio or Senna (or Schumacher)

Check out a some vids from Avenged Sevenfold live in concert here- http://www.mtv2.com/#series/19223

One vid has Synister ripping out a seriously nice solo

 

[Touring Mars]

Not a great fan of solos,... but I guess my favourite examples of individual flare would have to be from Steve Howe in Yes..., esp. in 'Awaken' (from 'Going For The One', 1977), also his solo sections in 'Siberian Khatru' (from 'Close To The Edge', 1972) and multiple sections in 'The Gates Of Delirium'... (from 'Relayer', 1975) are all great... although his live acoustic solo song, 'The Clap' (from 'The Yes Album', 1970) is the greatest guitar playing I've ever heard (and seen)... when I first heard it I thought atleast two, possibly three guitars were playing. It was only when I saw him do it in concert (on video) that I realised it was a solo... what makes Steve Howe a great guitarist as opposed to merely a very good one? His virtuosity, his speed, his unbelievable memory ('Gates Of Delirium' is nigh on 22 minutes long, and yes, he can play it live...) and his dazzling range of sounds and styles he can mix at the blinking of an eye... from Chet Atkins/Leo Kottke-like acoustic songs (like 'The Clap'), Steve Hackett-like gentle acoustics ('Mood For A Day' from Fragile, 'Turn Of The Century' from Going For The One), Steve Hillage-like glissando and atmospheric/psychedlic sounds ('Gates Of Delirium/Soon') and raw heavy rock guitar, again like Steve Hackett of Genesis or even Frank Zappa...

Other than that, he's fairly average...

j/k

 

[F1GTR]

Led Zeppelin - Heartbreaker, Black Dog, Stairway To Heaven and Dazed and Confused.

All of those would be live, I don't really like the studio version of Stairway, since the solo seems too short, Dazed's solo is totally unique with it being played with a violin bow and Heartbreaker and Black Dog's solos are great because they're just well, great.

Queen - We will rock you

Fits in well with the song in general, shame it's too short.

Jimi Hendrix - Little wing

What can I say? It's Hendrix at his best.

Overall, my favorite guitarist is Jimmy Page, since he's one of the best rock guitarists ever, has lots of flair and stage presence, and he fitted in well with the rest of the Zeppelin crew. I don't really care if people say he's sloppy, he still sounds great.

Amazing tone - he made the Les Paul and Marshall Amps instantly-recognizable "classics"

Memorable Riffs - Good Times Bad Times, Dazed and Confused, Black Dog, Whole Lotta Love, The Ocean, Nobody's Fault but Mine, many more...

Great solos - Stairway to Heaven. Any questions?

Mastery of a huge range of styles, from blues to jazz to rock to world influences.

Great concerts - think violin bow, theramin, doubleneck, etc.

 

[Ev0]

Greatest solo ever? It has to be Van Halen's 'Eruption'. That solo pretty much set the tone for rock guitar for the entire 1980s, and it's influence can still be heard in modern metal guitar. It also sounds absolutely mind blowing, even though it is 27 years old.

One of my other favourite solos at the moment? Zappa's solo in Montana has to be one I've listened to a lot lately. I've also been listening to a lot of Iron Maiden lately as well; Adrian is a pretty good soloist. Ditto John Petrucci of Dream Theater.

 

[James2097]

A range of different guitarists (silly to say one is the best):

All Along The Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix (yes there are many other Hendrix solos just as good... I just find this the most perfect in its structure & tone (drool) )
Red House - Hendrix (beautiful, perfect note choice)
Star Spangled Banner - Hendrix (If this wasn't THE MOST definitively kick arse moment in guitar soloing I don't know what is...)
Voodoo Child (slight return) - Hendrix (another reason why he'll never be topped)

Crossroads - Eric Clapton (Cream era - best solo Clappo ever did bar none)
Layla - Clappo

For The Love Of God - Steve Vai (amazing! )
Whispering A Prayer - Vai (an absolute modern classic)
Tender Surrender - Vai
BTW - Vai kicks Eddie Van Halen's arse clean across the stage, in every way (taste, technique, style, musicianship, intelligence, ego (or comparitive lack thereof), showmanship, etc). Eruption would be absolutely nothing for Vai to pull off, if he cared.

Comfortably Numb - David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) ... nothing need be said.
Money - Gilmour

Sultans Of Swing - Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits)
Going Home (theme from Local Hero) - Knopfler
Brothers In Arms - Knopfler

Texas Flood - Stevie Ray Vaughan
Little Wing (possibly EVEN more beautiful than the original IMO - and thats saying a LOT!) - SRV
Scuttlebuttin' - SRV

Cliffs Of Dover - Eric Johnson
Desert Rose - Eric Johnson

Scatterbrain - Jeff Beck (defined Jazz-Rock)
Cause We've Ended As Lovers - Jeff Beck

Just about anything from these guitarists will be amazing solo - wise. There's probably something super important that I love that I've forgotten... Oh well!


EVH doesn't do anything for me (strangely). I like his tone on "Panama", but thats it. He's not a genius.
Jimmy Page doesn't do anything for me (strangely). I like the bluesy riffing on "Whole Lotta Love" and "Heartbreaker", but Stairway leaves me as a cold lump of festering cheese I'm sorry to say...
Slash doesn't do anything for me (strangely). I somewhat like "Sweet Child O' Mine" but thats it.

Weird huh?

 

[Young_Warrior]

Santana. Cant rember name of the track though but the man made me buy a electric guitar.

 

[James2097]

Santana is lame. Crap overly compressed tone, limp phrasing/timing. He's rubbish, sounds the same on most of his material (and anyone else's he plays on). A very limited guitarist.

He's ok, but not anywhere near the greatest. He's a one trick pony (like BB King - sorry BB I still love you!).

 

[Greycap]

Mark Knopfler is one of the greatest for me, Sultans Of Swing, Romeo And Juliet, Telegraph Road... they are my favourites of his songs. The Local Hero is also great, I'm listening to it at the moment.

Being a CCR fan, John Fogerty is still my favourite guitarist. Green River, Fortunate Son, Up Around The Bend - simple but very effective. Go Johnny, go!

 

[F1GTR]

For The Love Of God - Steve Vai (amazing! )
Whispering A Prayer - Vai (an absolute modern classic)
Tender Surrender - Vai
BTW - Vai kicks Eddie Van Halen's arse clean across the stage, in every way (taste, technique, style, musicianship, intelligence, ego (or comparitive lack thereof), showmanship, etc). Eruption would be absolutely nothing for Vai to pull off, if he cared.


Jimmy Page doesn't do anything for me (strangely). I like the bluesy riffing on "Whole Lotta Love" and "Heartbreaker", but Stairway leaves me as a cold lump of festering cheese I'm sorry to say...

Weird huh?

Any Vai albums you'd reccomend? I'm pretty new to him and I haven't heard much. Most of what I've heard leaves me as a 'cold lump of festering cheese'
as you eloquently put it.

Mmmm yes, very weird

 

[ceiling_fan]

Lately I've been loving some Pantera solos, you know the fast stuff. My favorites are:

Domination (!)
Walk
The Sleep
Cowboys From Hell

I also like Dream Theater (John Petrucci):

Pretty much anything off Train Of Thought (except Vacant)

Gotta Love Stevie Ray Vaughan. Scuttlebuttin' is very cool, but Lenny has a special place in my heart.

As far as jazz goes, Sunny by Pat Martino, So What by Mike Stern, Nuages by Django Reinhardt, and How Insensitive by Pat Martino.
This thread has been done before though.

 

[Solid Lifters]

Van Halen - "5150 - Live Without A Net (Video)"

Van Halen - "Panama"

Van Halen - "Beat It"

Pink Floyd - "Comfortably Numb (End Solo) - Delicate Sound Of Thunder (Video)"

Pink Floyd - "Another Brick In The Wall"

Robert Cray - "Smoking Gun"

Don Henly - "Dirty Laundry (Steve Lukather)"

ZZ Top - "Rough Boy"

 

[Shannon]

Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb

Sure, there's a lot of shredders that pull off amazing solos, but this one just sounds so awesome.

Anyone care to tell me what's so great about Jimi Hendrix? I think he's seriously overrated... there's been plenty of better guitarists to walk this earth.

 

[Danoff]

It's so increadibly hard to pick. It's like asking someone their favorite food or their favorite car. There are so many great choices that it's nearly impossible to come up with a winner.... they're also very very different.

I really like Pink Floyd's "One of these Days..." solo. But I suppose the winner in my mind has to be the one that everyone else is jumping on as well..

Van Halen's Eruption.

I love the solo in Ozzy's No More Tears, and Ashes to Ashes by Faith No More. Ian Moore has done some fantastic stuff, as have the obvious mentions - Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, Eric Clapton, Hendrix, Page, Vaughn, etc. etc.

I'm sticking with Eruption though. It has it all. Structure, Freeform, superfast, superslow... it's like every guitar solo in one.

 

[Blackbird.]

A7X - Eternal Rest

SOAD - Question!

 

[James2097]

I'd like to reccommend some Satriani, but I can't actually think of any one song that really has a super emotive, tastefully constructed, awesome solo that really affects me emotionally... as cool as he is, and as much as I like many of his songs... dunno he doesn't leave me with a lump in my throat shall I say...

He's really cool (tone, rockin' out kick-arsedness) but I just can't think of a real king-hit solo of his... many great solos, but not a classic shall we say. Maybe "Satch Boogie" but I'd like to choose something more emotional that isn't just "fun" & "cool" sounding - a common trait of Satch's work...

As far as Vai goes, a LOT of his material is really eccentric and just plain wierd, and his older stuff with Whitesnake and David Lee Roth is just wankerage I admit, but I feel he's really cemented his uniqueness and a great emotional voice on the instrument of late (last ten years or so). You either "get" Vai's wackiness/humour (a lot of the cheesy shredding is done in jest - just look at his funny faces he pulls - its theater, a joke!) and type of composing or you don't...

There is no ONE album (IMO - some say "Passion & Warfare") that is pure gold (they all have a level of silly crap on them), but when he's on and playing a nice classic song with a nice melody, I don't think he can be touched among modern (metally high-gain) type of players...

If I can just recommend some songs instead of albums (the 'best of' album "The Infinate Steve Vai - An Anthology" does have much of his best stuff actually)...
For The Love Of God - Bad Horsie - Whispering A Prayer - Feathers - Frank - Tender Surrender - Giant Balls Of Gold - Blue Powder - Boy From Seattle (Hendrix tribute) - Little Wing (yes he does an awesome modern version on the Live At Astoria DVD - a must buy IMO). There's a lot more JEMs in the rough however (sorry had to - pun intended).

The man can't be touched in a live setting IMO. Simply jawdropping. However, you either "get it" or you don't.

 

[Saleen Man]

The Call of Ktulu by Metallica has a pretty wicked solo in it. I've always liked that one. Like ceiling_fan said, most Dream Theater songs have great solos in them. If I had to pick a couple Petrucci solos, they'd probably be Endless Sacrifice, Fatal Tragedy and This Dying Soul. There's so many from him, but those are the 3 that come to my head.

 

[Solid Lifters]

I keep forgetting to mention this artist and song that has an awesome guitar solo that no doubt influenced me to play in similar style. Laugh if you want, be he's an awesome guitarist and this song has one hell of a guitar solo.

Prince - "Let's Go Crazy!"

 

[Seven]

I never really liked guitar solos. Although one that comes to mind is J Mascis in Dinosaur Jr:s In A Jar. Quite simple, punchy and with a dirty feeling to it.

 

[Casio]

Come on Guys. Sorry to say, you're all wrong.

Omar Rodriguez - Lopez is the greatest guitarist ever. Period.

 

[-Fred-]

SOAD - Question!

There's no guitar solo on Question...


Propagandhi - Purina Hall of Fame has a great "semi" solo near the end (I say semi because the drum still plays)... It sounds mean, and that's all that matters. You purists will say it's crap, but I don't care, I'm not old enough to be sweatin' to the oldies yet.

 

[PeterJB]

The riff that runs through Can't Stop by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

THREAD REVIVAL FTW!

 

[ilovethescudo]

Metallica - One has one of my favorite solo's.

 

[P3nT4gR4m]

I love the Vai/Ry Cooder playoff from the end of Crossroads the movie, Eugene's trick bag it's called. Also worth a listen from Vai is Bad Horsie and The Audience is Listening

David Gilmour's Comfortably Numb solos - so much feeling and yet still within the realms of playable for us mere mortals

My two favourite guitar solos of all time are Tito and Tarantella's After Dark, from the movie Dusk til Dawn and Blue Oyster Cult's (then came) the Last Days of May

 

[GTP_JASE72]

Anyone care to tell me what's so great about Jimi Hendrix? I think he's seriously overrated... there's been plenty of better guitarists to walk this earth.

True but Hendrix was the first.

As for solos anything that picks you up and transports you somewhere else.

Metallica - Bleeding Me. Especially when I play along ( as does most of their music)

Page,Gilmour,Pete Townsend,SRV,Ritche Blackmore. The list could go on a long way.......Oh and the guy from Rush (can't remember his name )

 

[MagpieRacer]

Invincible my Muse, amazing solo.
Seize the Day by Acvenged Sevenfold.

Invincible, can just about here it.


Seize The Day

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Metallica's Orion is made of awesome. Suicide & Redemption also comes pretty close; at first I thought it was just all the leftover riffs worked together, but I've come to appreciate that saying that is pretty much blasphemy.

 

[RyanGee]

Zakk Wylde - Farewell Ballad

 

[nobuffalo]

Pearl Jam - Alive... gives me goosebumps.
Pink Floyd - Comfortably numb... gives me more goosebumps.

 

[Nicksfix]

True but Hendrix was the first.

As for solos anything that picks you up and transports you somewhere else.

Metallica - Bleeding Me. Especially when I play along ( as does most of their music)

Page,Gilmour,Pete Townsend,SRV,Ritche Blackmore. The list could go on a long way.......Oh and the guy from Rush (can't remember his name )

Geddy Lee 👍