Legendary Guitar Solos
Tuesday, April 23, 2019 at 12:01AM Here’s a great Amazon playlist I stumbled on by accident. It is called Legendary Guitar Solos and there is some great stuff here!
One of my very favorite songs ever, “Bulls on Parade” by Rage Against the Machine makes the cut. So does Jimi Hendrix’s version of the “Star Spangled Banner.” Alice In Chains “Man In Box” is here and so is Ozzy’s “Crazy Train.” Ted Nugent’s best song “Stranglehold” makes the cut as does “November Rain” by Guns n’ Roses, but I would argue the solo in “Estranged” is much stronger (it is also Slash’s favorite!)
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There’s some more obscure stuff too like “Made Up Mind” from Tedeschi Trucks Band and “Search and Destroy” from Iggy & The Stooges.
Of course, every playlist can’t be perfect. I would not include “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana here. I’d probably drop “Reba” by Phish too but that’s just because I don’t like that band very much.
Then there’s those underrated songs I feel like everyone loves but no one thinks of much like Mountain’s “Mississippi Queen.”
Rounding out the end of the playlist is Buffalo Springfield’s masterpiece “For What It’s Worth” – definitely in the top 5 protest songs of all time.
Reader Comments (35)
Top 10 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time:
1) “Heartbreaker”, Led Zeppelin
2) “Freebird”, Lynyrd Skynyrd
3) “Zomby Woof”, Frank Zappa
4) “Johnny B. Goode”, Jimmy Hendrix
5) “Money”, Pink Floyd
6) “Too Rolling Stoned”, Robin Trower
7) “Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo”, Rick Derringer
8) “Hot For Teacher”, Van Halen
9) “She’s Not There”, Carlos Santana
10) “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking”, The Rolling Stones
As much as I love Zeppelin, Page's strength was not as a soloist.
My personal favorite guitar solo is Vivian Campbell's work on Rainbow In The Dark. Has been for 35 years now. Second might be Uli Jon Roth's outro solo in Your Light. Other great ones that I can think of off the top of my head are: George Lynch on In My Dreams, Stone Gossard's and Mike McCready's wonderful jam on Reach Down, Alex Lifeson on La Villa Strangiato,Ritchie Blackmore on Still I'm Sad.
I was going to list David Gilmour on Comfortably Numb, and that's just fantastic. I'll bet it's No. 1 on eight of every 10 best solo lists, and for a reason. But instead of that I'm going to say his solo on Fat Old Sun, from the Live In Gdansk record. Take a listen:
https://youtu.be/vJBEipKLIiU?t=194
Zakk Wylde - Road to Nowhere
Jimi - Star Spangled Banner and Little Wing (tie)
Vito Bratta - Little Fighter
EVH - Eruption
Slash - Estranged
Stevie Ray Vaughn - Texas Flood
Eagles - Hotel California
Allan Collins - Freebird
Joe Satriani - Surfing with the Alien
Just a few of my favorites in no particular order
What are your Top 10 (or more) favorite guitar solos?
It doesn’t get any more free minded than that!
- Child in Time- Deep Purple
- Tornado of Souls- Megadeth
- Rainbow in the Dark- Dio
- Groaning the Blues- Eric Clapton
- Why Does Love Have To Be So Sad (live)- Derek and the Dominoes
And a modern day one...
- Miles Away- Lynch Mob
And finally, my all time favorite...
- Jessica (from 3:45 into the song to about 5:30)- Allman Bros
Speaking of Uli Joh Roth’s outro solis, the one from We’ll Burn the Sky is shit hot
I was fortunate to catch Betts POINT BLANK in 1998 at a little roadhouse on the tip of Long Island called The Stephen Talkhouse (named after an old Indian who walked all the way from Montauk to Manhattan delivering the mail) in Amagansett.
Needless to say, he tore the roof off the place and at various times during the show reached which could only be described as hypersonic speed levels that I actually thought it was Zappa underneath his ten gallon hat since they both share the same style of handlebar mustache.
I make this comparison as I also saw Zappa POINT BLANK in 1978 blow the doors off Cole Field House at the University of Maryland, another shred fest before there was Shred!
Gogmagog, I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment of Derringer’s solo. TOTALLY KILLER!
p.s. But what’s with all the hate for Page? C’mon, man, he frickin’ shreds! It doesn’t matter if he’s f*ckin’ up left and right, especially live. That’s what makes his solos so beautifully raw and killer like he’s plucking a tightope in a highwire act crossing the river Thames. All ya gotta do is listen to the “Whole Lotta Love” medley on the “Song Remains The Same” soundtrack to catch him in all his ripathonic glory. And as far as iconic solos go, just ask Rita! At least my Heavy Metal Love gets it with her adoration for Page’s solo on “Stairway To Heaven”. I might also recommend everyone take a listen to his absolutely iconic solo on the studio versions of “Whole Lotta Love”, “Good Times Bad Times” and “Communication Breakdown” to be reminded of the majesty that is one Mr. Jimmy Page!
- After Midnight- Eric Clapton, Just One Night (live)
- Definitely Maybe- Jeff Beck Band
And one that is a bit random and probably unremarkable to most but that I always look forward to when listening to the song...
- Rock Me- Great White
- Musical Box- Steve Hackett, Genesis Revisited II
Yes, I know it’s originally from Genesis’ Nursery Crymes album, but the version from Hackett’s album is sonically superior
They played a lot of Hackett and I recall he plays a mean guitar. I will check out his stuff again later tonight.
And though most take great umbrage when I use the term “Hair Metal”, I admire those who scaled the heights higher than their hair and certainly Great White is no exception. Undoubtedly, “Rock Me” is their best track and Mark Kendall’s solo(s) absolutely scorch on it. And “Stick It” is my second favorite song by them.
I was also fortunate to meet the man on The Monsters of Rock Cruise when I was able to tell him an amusing story about Punk Rock pioneers, “The Damned” as he was wearing a vintage Damned T-shirt at the time.
Here are some of my favorite solos of that genre, though some on here will sneer in disdain for me categorizing some of these bands as such:
1) “Long Way To Love”, Britny Fox
2) “Midnight Mover”, Accept
3) “Love Kills” Vinnie Vincent Invasion
4) “Dream Warriors”, Dokken
5) “Scratch My Back”, Roxx Gang
6) “Livewire”, Mötley Crüe
7) “Cool To The Wire”, Dirty Looks
8) “Smooth Up In Ya”, Bulletboys
9) “No One Like You”, Scorpions
10) “Do You Like It”, Kingdom Come
11) “Rockin’ Is My Business (And Business is Good)”, Four Horsemen
But where the h*ll is The Metal Oversight Commitee? ...
“Let There Be Rock”, AC/DC