The Best Guitar Solos Of All Time: Number 6

What happens when you mix a pop icon with a guitar god? You get "Beat It," of course. The track is on Michael Jackson's 1984 album, Thriller. "Beat It" features a blistering guitar solo by none other than Eddie Van Halen. "Beat It" comes in at number 6 on my list for the best guitar solos of all time.

There's a reason Thriller is the best selling album of all time: it is basically flawless, from beginning to end and there's a little something for everyone. Jackson struck literal gold with "Beat It" - the song is definitely more rock than pop and that is due to Van Halen's masterful guitar work. The solo is short - clocking in at under 30 seconds - and yet it is the pinnacle of the song. This cross-over, melding pop and hard rock, was one of the first of its kind. Amazingly, Van Halen did the solo as a favor, taking no money for his work.

Back in 2012, CNN interviewed Eddie Van Halen about his "Beat It" solo and the short interview is worth a read.

Of course, "Beat It" was a huge commercial hit. It also won the Grammy for "Record of the Year" among other awards. Remember, the video is pretty iconic too, with the street gangs doing a dance-off. Tracii Guns is in the video.

Now you might be thinking, "How could Allyson choose 'Beat It' over 'Eruption?'" Great question! Of course "Eruption" is a great solo - and Eddie Van Halen's trademark. But for all its importance in music, the song did not achieve the same crossover appeal attained by "Beat It." It seems like everyone on the face of the planet knows the wailing guitar solo in "Beat It." That means something.

The isolated solo:

Here's "Beat It" live during the Jackson's Victory Tour - with special guest Eddie Van Halen! Incidentally, the Victory Tour is one of those shows I wish I could go back in time to attend.

Comments

[Him]

Allyson, I admire you wandering into heady waters . . . and justifying your choice as against "Eruption." And that's the thing with lists of this sort: they make you think; they make you mad; they confirm what you already knew.

Personally, I have never used a song's (or a solo's) mass market (or pop culture) bona fides as a measure of said song's (or solo's) greatness, goodness, or meh-ness. If that was so, I would rank "Happy Birthday" as The Greatest Song of All Time!!! Thing is, that very factor often works into what we heard or listened to when a song grabbed us. Then as now, we often don't just find a 'great' song or solo. It is delivered to us . . . even if the mechanism (or the medium) is different now than it was in the 1980.

I often do a thought experiment when I am listening to a song I really love (and have loved for a long time). I ask myself: when did I first hear that? Sometimes, seriously, I can't recall. Other times, I can work back through the thicket of my foggy memory and find an approximate origin story. Sometimes, the moment is as clear to me now as it was then ("Running with the Devil" has to be the clearest of the bunch, for a host of reasons).

But, back to your choice. I'd rank that solo as the best solo in a Jackson song. Hands down. I would rank "Eruption" as one of the best EVH/VH solos of all time. Hands down again. That is a slight tweak. But it again speaks to why I admire you doing this in the first place. It helps me locate my memories, reflect on them, and I find that process edifying. Thanks.

[fletch]

I have the same problem, him. I can tell you the first time I heard eruption. But, steel panther? I've tried to remember. I even brought a friend to m3. He tells me that, that was the first time he saw the steel. I reply, I'm glad that I helped. But, I still don't remember my first time.

[Him]

First, an 'are' was missing in my post. My apologies.

Second, Fletch, it happens to us all. We love what we love even if we can't remember why. Luckily, with a song or solo, that sort of recognition (of non-recognition) doesn't normally carry bad tidings or suggestions of a slide into absent-mindedness (though, I suppose, it could).