Best Solo Ever (No Nirvana allowed, Or Dave Grohl)

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I'm not even the biggest Nirvana fan, but "Come As You Are" and "Heart Shaped Box" both have nice (yet short) solos.
 
SRV's little wing? hmmm... the original and andy timmons' version please me more.

hey - that makes me think of jeff beck (dunno why). he hasn't been mentioned so far. so here I go:

jeff beck's solo on blaze of glory. sounds like country-fiddles. great.

man, there are just to many great solos. just a few days ago I saw an iraqi lute-virtuoso playing something. damn. give him an electric guitar and he'd kick a lot of shredder-asses... :D


as for the list: I like them all, but B.B. King, Clapton, SRV, Jimmy Page and Keith amongst the first 10... c'mon. I think this list should be named "most famous guitar-playing dudes".

... and kurt on 12. yeah, man. I always thought richie kotzen was better than kurt, but he's not even on the list ;) .
 
SKYflyer said:
wow first person who i ever heard of that had the same taste in best solo ever! I actually heard somewhere that all three guitar playing beatles may have just traded off doing solos in that part of the song (kinda like a dueling guitars thing), but that may have just been a rumor.

I know it's not very technically challenging, but i still really like that solo!


Yep it's George, John, and Paul trading off. I can't remember the order, but if you listen closely you can hear the overlaps.
 
Anything by Jason Becker, anything off the "Perpetual Burn" cd

Also impressive:

Vinnie Moore: "Defying Gravity"

Theodore Ziras: "Virtual Virtuosity"

George Bellas: "Shredding Skin"

Michael Angelo Battio: "No Boundaries"

Another amazing set of lead guitar duals can be heard on Megadeth's "Hangar 18", the most impressive runs being performed by Marty Friedman...
 
Jimmy Page's slide solo on When The Levee Breaks.... not tecnically difficult,but the tone is awesome!!! Back in the weee years, I bought a tube screamer pedal thinking that "Tube Screamer" was what that solo sounded like lol

J.P. (also, ANY solo Django Reinhardt did was awe inspiring)
 
I'm not a big fan of shred. Yes, I can appreciate the ability being displayed, but it doesn't hold my interest. What I like are tastefully crafted solos, with well-chosen notes. As B.B. King once said, sometimes it's not what you play, but what you don't play.

A few that come to mind, but certainly not an all-inclusive list:

Mel Galley on Trapeze's 'Will Our Love End', and 'Coast to Coast'. Two of the most beatiful solos ever put to vinyl, back when they were.

In a similar vein, Don Felder (at least I think it was him) on the Eagles' 'I Can't Tell You Why'.

Clapton on the Beatle's 'Why My Guitar Gently Weeps'. Best thing he ever did.

Jesse Ed Davis' slide on B.B. King's 'LA Midnight'.

Don't know who (I should really find out) on Maria Muldaur's 'Midnight at the
Oasis'.

Once again, don't know who, on Deadato's 'Also Sprach Zarathustra'.

Walter Becker's opening solo on Steely Dan's 'Don't Take Me Alive'. One of my favorite songs of all time, BTW. Should give you an insight into my brain.

The solos in 'Reelin' in the Years'. They're all fuzzy as to who really did it and to the best of my knowledge, nobody ever came forward and said yeah, I remember, that was me. Anyway, either Dean Parks, Skunk Baxter, or Walter Becker.

Going back to my rocking chair now. Hey, where's my lap blanket? I left it right here! Dang kids... :rolleyes:
 
Cardioidpotent said:
The solos in 'Reelin' in the Years'. They're all fuzzy as to who really did it and to the best of my knowledge, nobody ever came forward and said yeah, I remember, that was me. Anyway, either Dean Parks, Skunk Baxter, or Walter


That's Skunk. I mean, just listen to it, who the hell else is that going to be?

At least, that's what it sounds like to me. And yeah, a hell of a solo. All slippery-slidey around the fingerboard. Cool.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
I don't believe in 'THE best', but my faves (duh, I like hard rock) are a handful of Gary Moore and other Thin Lizzy solos, some Joe Perry stuff, and as much as I hate to say it, Yngwie's solo on the intro of Crystal Ball just fucking kills (ME).

Any solo Eddie played on those first 4-5 albums is mind blowing. 'Hear About it Later' and 'One Foot Out the Door' have always been my favorites there.
 
Light said:
That's Skunk. I mean, just listen to it, who the hell else is that going to be?

At least, that's what it sounds like to me. And yeah, a hell of a solo. All slippery-slidey around the fingerboard. Cool.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

The solo was done by a studio musician named Elliott Randall.
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:1vmyxdyb1ozk

I don't think there is a best solo ever, only personal favorites. Mine is
on a live version of Rodney Crowell's Wandering Boy by a player named
Will Kimbrough. :)
 
I can agree with you guys that its not all about shredding in rock music. Along the lines of jazz...anyone ever hear Barney Kessel on the Poll Winners record? he BURNS on Jordu, and hes a complete jazz kat. Joe Pass can put most "shredders" to shame as well...he's mind blowing playing fingerstyle on an archtop. John McLaughlin (hes a speed guy, but o so tastey), Pat Metheny, anyway, these guys play incredibly, but how many of their solos are memorable? It takes a few listens to wrap your head around the song and their playing, and then you finally start to find memorable parts. It's hard to find the catchiness of a "Comfortably Numb" solo in a jazz tune by these incredible players...I think its specific to genres as far as that goes, and its very stylistic as far as players go...to some less is more, to others the journey never ends...

How about the solo to "Holiday" by Green Day? It's pretty much perfect for the song, its catchy, memorable, and my 5 year old students can play it....I really don't know how to gague that as a musician. Anyways, carry on...

-Steve
 
I didn't like Rock until I heard the solo Slash of Guns N Roses did in November Rain... ;)
 
i really like the solo on sick sad little world by incubus.. that is one generally underrated guitarist and band.
 
wow...i feel dumb, i just looked on the first page and low and behold sick sad little world by incubus was one of the first songs listed. maybe i should take my underrated statement back.
 
not the best ever...but how about faith no more's cowboy song and everything's ruined. jim martin had some short but sweet solos.
 
guitar player just had this poll...i think lead in Stairway/Zepplin. was 1.

personally off top of my head, Reelin in the Years, whoever played that...pretty cool harmony sht going on.
 
COOLCAT said:
guitar player just had this poll...i think lead in Stairway/Zepplin. was 1.

personally off top of my head, Reelin in the Years, whoever played that...pretty cool harmony sht going on.

Reelin in the Years= Elliott Randall. ;)
 
Who else thinks doogle listens to blink 182 and simple plan :D

Ohh kurt had/has it ALL over them.
 
Cardioidpotent said:
I'm not a big fan of shred. Yes, I can appreciate the ability being displayed, but it doesn't hold my interest. What I like are tastefully crafted solos, with well-chosen notes. As B.B. King once said, sometimes it's not what you play, but what you don't play.

A few that come to mind, but certainly not an all-inclusive list:

Mel Galley on Trapeze's 'Will Our Love End', and 'Coast to Coast'. Two of the most beatiful solos ever put to vinyl, back when they were.

In a similar vein, Don Felder (at least I think it was him) on the Eagles' 'I Can't Tell You Why'.

Clapton on the Beatle's 'Why My Guitar Gently Weeps'. Best thing he ever did.

Jesse Ed Davis' slide on B.B. King's 'LA Midnight'.

Don't know who (I should really find out) on Maria Muldaur's 'Midnight at the
Oasis'.

Once again, don't know who, on Deadato's 'Also Sprach Zarathustra'.

Walter Becker's opening solo on Steely Dan's 'Don't Take Me Alive'. One of my favorite songs of all time, BTW. Should give you an insight into my brain.

The solos in 'Reelin' in the Years'. They're all fuzzy as to who really did it and to the best of my knowledge, nobody ever came forward and said yeah, I remember, that was me. Anyway, either Dean Parks, Skunk Baxter, or Walter Becker.

Going back to my rocking chair now. Hey, where's my lap blanket? I left it right here! Dang kids... :rolleyes:



Midnight at the Oasis solo is played by Amos Garrett - I play with him all the time. He has the ability to sound like he's playing slide or steel when he's not - totally uniqe and tasty.
 
Gorty said:
Kirk Hammet does not play that solo, it's Big Bad James Hetfield on that one!


No sir - that's Hammett. Hetfield plays the solo on Nothing Else Matters.
 
Well, the question is how do you define a solo? Would you count the guitar on the intro of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" as a solo? Anyway, that would be a good choice. Along with that:

Eagles: "Hotel California" (first one that came to mind, instantly)
Pink Floyd (David Gilmour): "Dogs" (fantastic guitars throughout the song), "Comfortably Numb"
Rory Gallagher: "Cradle Rock"
The Scorpions (Uli Jon Roth): "Fly To The Rainbow", "We'll Burn The Sky", "The Sails Of Charon", "Evening Wind", "Yellow Raven"
Queen (Brian May): "Killer Queen", "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Don't Stop Me Now", "Who Wants To Live Forever" (ridiculously unimpressive but perfect), "A Winter's Tale" (the sweetest sound I can imagine coming out of an electric), "Mother Love" (one of the most haunting sounds ever produced from a guitar, especially keeping in mind that the last verse of the song was sung by Brian himself after Freddie had passed away - this solo takes a very emotional song to the next level).

There's more, but it's late and the brain's not working :P :D
 
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