Top Guitar Solos

#1

A while back we debated the relative merits of various guitar artists. Now we move on to their work. What are some of your favorite guitar solos?

I scoured several guitar themed web pages and found several Top 100 lists. Many of the solos carried from one list to another while others just sat by their lonesome in their individual lists. I've compiled a list of 40 guitar solos from the most popular to the less popular. If anyone's really curious how I came about the ranking, I'll be more than happy to share, but suffice it to say that it was logical, mathematical, and scientific.

Here's the list:

1. Comfortably Numb, David Gilmore
2. Eruption, Eddie Van Halen
3. Freebird, Collins/Rossington (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
4. Stairway to Heaven, Jimmy Page
5. All Along the Watchtower, Jimi Hendrix
6. Hotel California, Don Felder/Joe Walsh
7. Highway Star, Ritchie Blackmore
8. November Rain, Slash
9. Texas Flood, Stevie Ray Vaughn
10. One, Kirk Hammet
11. Crazy Train, Randy Rhoads
12. Mr. Crowley, Randy Rhoads
13. Crossroads, Eric Clapton
14. Voodoo Chile (Slight Return), Jimi Hendrix
15. Layla, Eric Clapton and Duane Allman
16. Johnny B. Goode, Chuck Berry
17. Aqualung, Jethro Tull
18. Child In Time, Ritchie Blackmore
19. Maggot Brain, Edie Hazel (Funkadelic)
20. Sweet Child O' Mine, Slash
21. Little Wing, Jimi Hendrix
22. Who Do You Love (Live Medley), Quicksilver
23. Cliffs of Dover, Eric Johnson
24. Cause We've Ended as Lovers, Jeff Beck
25. Fade to Black, Kirk Hammett
26. Floods, Dimebag Darrell (Pantera)
27. Jessica, Allman Bros.
28. Heartbreaker, Jimmy Page
29. Magic Word Sandman, Lon Mackey
30. Stranglehold, Ted Nugent
31. Time, David Gilmore
32. Since I've Been Loving You, Jimmy Page
33. Rhapsody, Emerald Sword
34. Sultans of Swing, Mark Knopfler
35. Nottingham Lace, Buckethead
36. Sails of Charon, Uli Jon Roth
37. For the Love of God, Steve Vai
38. Turbonegro Must Be Destroyed, Euroboy
39. Bohemian Rhapsody, Brian May
40. Glass Prison, John Petrucci

I love seeing so much of Jimi listed in here, but one that wasn't listed that blows me away every time I hear it is the Star Spangled Banner that he played at Woodstock. I'll have to upload that cut so y'all can hear it (but I'll wait until WAI is done deleting shit).

Pipe in with your choices.

#2

Why can't the king of surf guitar get no love..? I am appalled by the apparent lack of respect paid to the king of the surf guitar...Was I the only one that though Miserlou was the shit..?

What an awesome list...What would be even more awesome, is having samples from these songs, as I have never heard many of them...

Off the top tho:

6. Johnny B. Goode, Chuck Berry

I love that guitar in that song...

#3

I'll try and upload some clips of some of the solos, but some of these I've never heard of either (especially toward the bottom of the list). This week is going to be hell (getting ready to fly out early Friday AM) as is the rest of the month. But I'll try my best.

#4

QUOTE(AYHJA @ Oct 3 2006, 01:46 PM) Why can't the king of surf guitar get no love..? I am appalled by the apparent lack of respect paid to the king of the surf guitar...Was I the only one that though Miserlou was the shit..?

No, you're not.

I fucken LOVE Miserlou!

Damn I hate how the Black Eyed Peas butchered that song, a bloody atroticy..

#5

your list is rigged:

the Joker - steve miller band has a GREAT IMMORTAL SOLO

slash n' roses - November Rain

Alex Skolnick from Testament - any song ever

Gabby P. - hawiian slack key god

and finally and definitively, Carl Perkins. the man who made the guitar the focal instrument in rock n roll (in blue suede shoes)

#6

QUOTE(raum @ Oct 5 2006, 09:49 AM) your list is rigged:

That's FuturePublishing for ya.

Those webpages are basically carbon copies of the same list that GuitarWorld and its various guises (ie FuturePublishing is the monopoly of guitar magazines) have published, more than once. I know because I remember alot of the exact list, except in this one, everything's been shifted a bit (Fade to Black was #24, not #25. And Stairway to Heaven was #1. Everything else is pretty much in the same pattern).

Oh another thing- they misspelled Kirk Hammett's surname, they got it right @ #25, and stuffed it up @ #10.

#7

Yeah, one of the lists was GuitarWorld's list, but I did find 3 others that were fairly different. I then assigned points (20 for #1, 19 for #2, etc) added them together and sorted by total.

#8

I've at least got to hear the solo from the first song...I hope someone finds it...

#9

QUOTE(AYHJA @ Oct 10 2006, 06:56 PM) I've at least got to hear the solo from the first song...I hope someone finds it...

What songs on that list have you heard?