Favorite guitar solo
 

What is your favorite guitar solo of all time? This doesn't necessarily mean what solo you find to be the "best," but rather what just does it for you because of the style, emotion of the playing, a personal connection, etc.

To start, I'd have to say my favorite solo ever is by David Gilmour in Pink Floyd's Time. Technically, he doesn't do anything amazing in this solo. It's just the sound and the feeling of the thing. His guitar is just on the brink of feeding back, giving the solo a sense of urgency (which goes along with the lyrics of the song), yet it is quasi-laid back and mellow. The solo just seems to be very emotional, very thought out, and not a note is wasted.

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Chingador

The live version of David Gilmour's "Comfortably Numb" solo. It just goes on and on and on. Love every note of it.

Joe Satriani - Summer Song. I love the tempo of the song. Sounds great on a good set of speakers. Good on my Definitive's, better (as much as it pains me to say) on a set of Klipsch.

Studio - John Frusciante's solo for Californication
Live - Jimmy Page's solo for Stairway To Heaven on How The West Was Won

The many mini solos in SRV's version of "Little Wing"
I also love Mark Knopfler's solos in "Sultans of Swing"

Obviously there are loads that are even better, but towards the end of Rough Boy by ZZ-top I tend to think that there the guitar was really being used properly. Sublime.

The first solo to Master of Puppets by Metallica.

Hmmm... SRV's whole version of Little Wing is incredible.

I also like the Comfortably Numb solo.

Id have to say that overall, I like the Stairway to Heaven solo best though. It just works so well--it isnt really fast, but it just works, better than anything else I have heard.

Do I have to pick one? I have to think about it... there are so many!

I really really love "Touching Tongues" by Steve Vai, but my favourite solo solo would have to be... yeh, Comfortably Numb I guess.

So many to choose from

Master of Puppets
One
Fade to Black
99 Ways to Die
Voodoo Chile
Number of the Beast
Kissing the Shadows
Hate Me

Thats really all i can think of at the moment.

Oh and just about anything from Steve Vai, Joe Satriani or Paul Gilbert

Eddie Van Halen's in "Eruption" and The Edge's in "Silver And Gold." (Its had never heard Sinead O'Connors song "Heroine" but the first time you hear the guitar you know who it is. I really like what Edge does what that song but its not really a solo). The Edge has to be the most under-utilized guitar player in rock today. I have heard bootlegs and sound checks and the stuff he does if absolutely outrageous. He has skills that no one knows about. Finally take your pick from Tom Morello. That man is a fucking magician. There are a few more but thats it for now.

P.S. Robby Krieger at the beginning of Spanish Caravan.

I like Halen, and he can play like a fiend, but I never thought his solos went much beyond that. Its a totally personal preference, but they always struck me as more show than substance.

i love the last solo by slash on november rain... just a great feel and when he is on the piano in the film clip... magic

Ted Nugent - Stranglehold, it happens mid-song and seems to go on forever.

EDIT: Oh shit, I almost forgot about Dream Theater - The Glass Prison

Slash plays incredibly well all over those Use your Illusion albums. Estranged, Locomotive, Double Talking Jive...Fantastic!

I have to go with Sweet Home Alabama, great guitar licks...
(although the SRV Little Wing and Nugent are also great)

Zappa's lead in to Po'Jama People is smokin' hot. That's the one I play for people who say, "Oh sure, he's technically perfect, but he has no soul." It really puts the lie to that.

Of the full length solos, I think Steve Vai, For the Love of God is incredible.

I'm partial to George Harrison's backwards solo in "I'm Only Sleeping". The Beatles were damn innovative for their time, not to mention it just sounds neat.

My fav is Steve Vai - For the love of god. The start is a bit boring but after a minute or 3 he starts to play some really good stuff.

Emotional / Powerful:
I've got a 12 min version of Comfortably Numb that blows my head away
Steve Vai - For The Love of God
Ozzy Osbourrne - No More Tears
King's X - Cigarettes (especially the live version)

Skill / Wanking:
Metallica - Disposable Heroes
Joe Satriani - Borg Sex
Liquid Tension Experiment - Paradigm Shift (or any of their songs, really)

Anything by:
- Greg Howe
- Marty Friedman
etc

I could go on and on. To pick one perfect solo is nearly impossible (I guess it would have to be Comfortably Numb though). As a musician, I appreciate talent and know what it takes to play this stuff as well as these guitarists do.

Any solo by Neil Young live - he's so ugly that it is beautiful. He has that look of intense pain of his face, and it just flows out of him. He looks like he's channeling something from deep, deep inside that he doesn't even understand.


I'm not much of a guitar solo kind of guy... but here's another guy I'll throw out there:

Kim Thayil

The guy is weird, known for starting a song by playing it with his beard (actually he was just blowing on the strings). His picking style and note selection is crazy. Somehow it always seemed to fit the music, though. Salute to Kim Thayil!

I wonder what happened to him... he seemed to have fallen off the earth since Soundgarden broke-up.

Dickie Betts in Blue Sky

Picking one is damn near impossible, but this jam always makes me feel good.

My favourite solos are in "Domination" by Pantera and "Sweet Child O'Mine" by GNR. They're by no means the most technically profficient solos one could find, but bring a tear to my eye and involuntary clenching to my fists each time I hear them.

Queen - Princes of the Universe
Janet Jackson - Black Cat

Eric Johnson-Zap

Dimebag Darrel (Pantera) - Cemetary Gates
Eric Johnson - Cliffs of Dover
David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) - Comfortably Numb
Dimebad Darrel (Pantera) - Walk
Zack Wylde (Ozzy) - No More Tears
Vernon Reid (Living Colour) - Cult Of Personality
David Gilmour ( Pink Floyd) - Time
Tom Morello (RATM) - Bulls On Parade

Achilles Last Stand

-Led Zeppelin

Just to mention a few:
Robin Trower "Bridge of Sighs"
GNR "Sweet Child of Mine" (Slash is the man)
Styx "Man in the wilderness"
Stevie Ray Vaughn - all his tunes
Jimi Hendrix- "Stone free"
Ted Nugent- "Stranglehold"
Peter Frampton "Do you feel like I do"
I'll think of more........

Now there's one I haven't thought about in years! Good choice.

I'll second that one! It moves me everytime.

Also, The Knack's 'My Sharona'(full version of course) has a solo that takes a so-so '80's pop song and tuns it into a bit of a tour-de-force on guitar.

Lastly, The Cars 'Just What I Needed'.

John poppers song a man can't dance jeez ive tried t o play it fior years i'm just not fast enough

Joe Satriani

Summer song
ALways with you always with me

Apart from the classics, anything by Shadows Fall, or even some Chimaira have amazing solos in them

Chimaira - Implements of Destruction is the definition of brilliant modern metal.

any solo ever done by Steve Lukather....
well, save some of the Toto crap..........I'm thinking more along the lines of his work on solo albums like Candyman.

I thought of the beginning of money for nothing-not long, probably not real difficult, but I like it.
I like Slash and many of the ones mentioned above too.

Stairway to Heaven for the smooth kinda flowing solo.

Eruption for the Look at me shred kinda thing

The Black Dahlia Murder - Funeral Thirst.. and yea, anything by Dire Straits

Good song, but I think i missed the solo under the growling somewhere along there...

Very hard to choose. Comfortably Numb and Jimmy's solo in All Along the Watchtower are my 2 favorites. Allman Bros Bly Sky is a favorite also.