50 Greatest Guitar Solos
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Guitar World ranks the 50 greatest solos in rock and roll history.
50) "Shock Me" (Ace Frehley) - Kiss Alive II, 1977
“I basically did the same solo every night on that tour, with minor alterations, so I had it kind of planned out when I did it the night we recorded it for Alive II album,” says Ace Frehley.
“But if you listen carefully to the ‘Shock Me’ solo you can hear me make a mistake about two thirds of the way through. Instead of tapping a B at the 19th fret of the high E string, I accidentally hit the A# note at the 18th fret—that’s definitely a wrong note for the scale I’m using. We could have fixed it in the mix, but I said to Eddie [Kramer, Alive II producer], ‘Screw it! Leave it in. The run sounds cool, so who cares—it’s rock and roll!’ ”
49) "Europa" (Carlos Santana) - Carlos Santana Amigos, 1976
“I started writing this song in 1966 or ’67, but didn’t finish it until ’75 when we were on tour with Earth, Wind and Fire, in Manchester, England,” says Carlos Santana. “We were backstage while they were on stage playing. And we were just warming up, tuning up. I started playing it and [keyboardist] Tom Coster and I completed it right there on the spot. It immediately became a crowd favorite; it is one of those songs that, whether it’s played in Japan or in Jerusalem or in South America, it just fits right in with everything.”
48) "Sympathy for the Devil" (Keith Richards) - Rolling Stones Beggars Banquet, 1968
Writer Stanley Booth once suggested to Keith Richards that “Sympathy for the Devil” was cut from the same cloth as bluesman Robert Johnson’s haunting “Me and the Devil Blues.” “Yeah,” Richards replied. “All of us pursued by the same demon.” But while “Sympathy’s” lyrics reflect the Stones’ attraction to the dark side and allegiance to Johnson, the music is a prime example of how in a real band, composition is a group effort.
“It started as sort of a folk song with acoustics and ended up as kind of a mad samba, with me playing bass and overdubbing the guitar later,” says Richards. “That’s why I don’t like to go into the studio with all the songs worked out and planned beforehand. Because you can write the songs, but you’ve got to give the band something to use its imagination on as well. That can make a very ordinary song come alive into something totally different. You can write down the notes being played, but you can’t put down the X Factor—so important in rock and roll—which is the feel.”
47) "Jessica" (Dickey Betts) - Allman Brothers Band Brothers and Sisters, 1974
Dickey Betts’ instrumental “Jessica” is as uplifting a piece of music as can be found in all rock. And that, says Betts, is no coincidence: the music actually began with his desire to express pure jubilation.
“My instrumentals try to create some of the basic feelings of human interaction, like anger and joy and love,” says Betts. “With ‘Jessica,’ I knew what I wanted to do, but I couldn’t quite find it. Then my little daughter, Jessica, crawled into the room, and I just started playing to her, trying to capture the feeling of her crawling and smiling. That’s why I named it after her.”
Betts wrote the song’s melodic theme while emulating one of his heroes—the gypsy guitarist Django Rheinhardt, who had the use of only two fingers on his left hand. “I came up with that melody using just two fingers as a sort of tribute to Django,” says Betts. “That the song turned out so well is very satisfying. In general, writing a good instrumental is very fulfilling, because you’ve transcended language and spoken to someone with a melody.”
46) "Hot For Teacher" (Edward Van Halen) - Van Halen 1984, 1984
“I winged that one,” says Eddie Van Halen. “If you listen to it, the timing changes in the middle of nowhere. We were in a room playing together and I kind of winked at the guys and said, ‘Okay, we’re changing now!’ Because I don’t count, I just follow my feelings. I tend to do a lot of things in threes and fives, instead of fours.
“My weird sense of time just drives my brother Alex nuts because he’s a drummer, so he has to count. But generally he’ll say, ‘Well, Ed, you did it in five again. If that’s the way you want it…’ But that’s not the way I want it, that’s just what feels right to me.”
45) "Light My Fire" (Robby Krieger) - The Doors The Doors, 1967
“Light My Fire” was one of the first songs ever written by Robby Krieger, and his extended solo on the album version was also one of his shining moments as a guitarist. Ironically, however, in order for “Light My Fire” to become a hit for the Doors and Krieger the songwriter, Krieger the guitarist had to swallow his pride and allow his masterly two-and-a-half-minute solo to be trimmed down to its essential opening and closing themes for use on the single.
“That always bothered me,” Krieger readily admits. “We never wanted to cut it, but our first single, ‘Break On Through,’ flopped and radio stations told us that ‘Light My Fire’ would be a hit if we cut it down. We didn’t have much choice because AM radio ruled everything, and if you wanted to get on AM you had to have a short song.”
The longer solo now regularly broadcast on the radio in its entirety, is a perfect distillation of Krieger’s style. A flamenco-trained guitarist who played with his fingers and often evoked sitar-like Eastern sounds, with his Gibson SG, Krieger pulled out all the stops on “Light My Fire.” Still, the guitarist says that the complete version on the album is far from his finest effort. “It was the kind of solo that I usually did, but it was different every night. To be honest, the one on the album is not one of my better takes. I only had two tries at it. But it’s not bad; I’m glad that it was as good as it was.”
44) "Alive" (Mike McCready) - Pearl Jam Ten, 1991
“Basically, I copied Ace Frehley’s solo from ‘She,’ ” says Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready. “Which, of course, was copied from Robby Krieger’s solo in the Doors’ ‘Five to One.’ ”
43) "Sharp Dressed Man" (Billy Gibbons) - ZZ Top Eliminator, 1983
In 1983, a smart gambling man would have bet the house on ZZ Top’s imminent doom. After all, it wasn’t the best of times for good and greasy Texas blues and boogie music. Then the Little Old Band from Texas surprised everyone with Eliminator, a brilliant merger of roadhouse blues and synthesizer swells and looped beats. The album quickly became their biggest hit ever, spurred in large part by the irresistible “Sharp Dressed Man.”
“That song and the whole album really embrace the simplicity of blues and techno music with the complex challenge of how to blend them together,” says guitarist Billy Gibbons. “If you zero in on the middle solo, you will find a slide guitar part played in open E tuning on a Fender Esquire and a sudden shift halfway through the solo to standard Spanish electric tuning played on my good ol’ Les Paul, Pearly Gates. Both were played through a Marshall plexi 100-watt head with two angled cabinets with Celestion 25-watt greenbacks. It was a compound track, two parts blended to one.
"To this day, the song certainly stands among one of the band’s favorites and we’re particularly delighted to share spotlight on a solo that enjoys such favoritism. There are, of course, the more intricate and demanding solos, but we will gladly finger through the solo of sharp dressed man at any requested moment! The track just has a really raucous delivery, which is a good ignition point on stage, sitting on the tailgate out in the middle of nowhere, sipping a cold one, or wherever you may be. It just does something to you.”
42) "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (Eric Clapton) - The Beatles The Beatles (White Album), 1968
“When we actually started recording this, it was just me playing the acoustic guitar and singing it, and nobody was interested,” recalls the song’s author, George Harrison. “Well, Ringo probably was, but John and Paul weren’t. When I went home that night, I was really disappointed because I thought, ‘Well, this is really quite a good song; it’s not as if it’s crap!’ And the next day I happened to drive back into London with Eric [Clapton], and I suddenly said, ‘Why don’t you come play on this track?’
"And he said, ‘Oh, I couldn’t do that; the others wouldn’t like it…’ But I finally said, ‘Well, damn, it’s my song, and I’d like you to come down.’ So he did, and everybody was good as gold because he was there. I sang it with the acoustic guitar with Paul on piano, and Eric and Ringo. Later, Paul overdubbed bass. Then we listened back to it and Eric said, ‘Ah, there’s a problem, though; it’s not Beatlesy enough.’ So we put the song through the ADT [automatic double tracker] to wobble it a bit.”
41) "Brighton Rock" (Brian May) - Queen Sheer Heart Attack, 1974
Universally venerated for his lavish guitar orchestrations and tasteful British restraint, Brian May kicked over the traces on this high energy rocker that leads off Queen’s third album, Sheer Heart Attack. One of May’s most blues-based excursions ever, the song’s extended solo section grew out of the guitarist’s experiments with an Echoplex tape delay unit. His original goal was to reproduce his multi-part guitar harmonies live on stage with Queen, back in the days before harmonizers were invented.
“I started messing around with the Echoplex, the delay that was available at the time,” May recalls. “I turned up the regeneration until it was giving me multiple repeats. I discovered you could do a lot with this—you could set up rhythms and play against them, or you could play a line and then play a harmony to it. But I decided that the delay [times] I wanted weren’t available on the Echoplex. So I modified it and made a new rail, which meant I could slide the head along and make the delay any length I wanted, because the physical distance between the two heads is what gave you the delay. Eventually, I had two home-adapted Echoplexes. And I discovered that if you put each echo through its own amp, you wouldn’t have any nasty interference between the two signals. Each amp would be like a full-blown, sustaining, overdriven guitar which didn’t have anything to do with the other one.
“So, ‘Brighton Rock’ was the first time that got onto a record. I’d already been trying it live on stage in the middle of ‘Son and Daughter’ [from Queen’s self-titled ’73 debut album], when Queen first toured with Mott the Hoople. It was rather crude at first. But I certainly had a lot of fun with it.”
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terryivie
January 22, 2013 at 4:53pm
# 1 and # 2 on the money anyways. One notable mention for Donald Brian "Buck Dharma" Roeser for the live version of Astronomy.
Shobhit Bhatnagar
September 01, 2012 at 7:37am
Are you kidding us with "All along the watchtower " at 5# if there is any "Jimmy Hendrix" song which need to be in top 5 is "Purple Haze" which didn't even crack the top 50 in their list
2nd why the hell is "You really got me" by "Kinks" at 59# it is one of the most influence guitar riffs ever played. Placing song like "November rain" in top 10 doesn't make any sense . As much as i have listened "Queen" "Keep yourself Alive" is their best guitar riff. Where the hell is "Back in Black" by "AC/DC" one of the most important guitar solos ever in rock history. This is such a weird list. At the end "Rolling stone magazine 100 guitar solos" is pretty accurate and meaningful list. However they have some misleading choice but it is far better than this piece of shit
bobspitz
July 20, 2012 at 1:37pm
I suppose you’ve never heard Power of Soul on the Band of Gypsies album. Try listening to the solo starting 20 seconds in, then fix your dismal list.
kpm-fs
April 05, 2012 at 4:17pm
No John Fruscante in the list!? Some of his solo albums (Not with the RHCP) have some truly unbelievable solos!
Kevin
Right to Buy Mortgages
p40ampa
January 27, 2012 at 4:26pm
We can agree to disagree between Skynard and Floyd & I'll have to be ok with that, but Eruption is just shredding and showing off, which is ok if that's what you're into, but what I think makes a great solo is how it affects you. When Comfortably Numb kicks into that solo or any of Gilmore's solos for that matter, everything else kind of takes a back seat for a few minutes. He makes it speak to you, whether it's plaintive in one of the Animals solos or dreamy like numb. It's played perfectly and it makes you feel.
jctoo
January 21, 2012 at 4:49pm
Strange list by any standard ... no Glen Buxton, George Kooymans, Manny Charlton, Tommy Shaw, Robin Trower, etc, etc ... they didn't even make the top 100 ... I suppose I just don't get it
Loridans1
September 15, 2011 at 4:57am
How could anyone playing guitar with the Eagles have even a top 100 (or 500?) ranking, much less top 10!?! I'll give credit for getting #1 correct, but leaving out influential work by talented guitarists such as Richard Thompson, George Harrison, Zal Yanovsky, Steve Howe, Syd Barrett, John Cippolina, Peter Green, Steve Jones (maybe?) and John Fogerty, while putting something by Ace F. at #50??
DominoDm
August 14, 2011 at 1:15am
This list is pretty much all classic rock. I understand that most good solos are in the classic rock genre, but it would be nice to see more modern guitar players.
It lacks shred solos like petrucci and michael romeo, and it would be awesome to have seen a BOC buck dharma solo on there.
And why is kurt cobain on here???
Overall, a decent list, but could use some improvement.
frogos
July 15, 2011 at 11:31am
Carlos Santana Amigos, 1976,how can i dont remember it,one of the best all time for me and for many.---forex signals
honorablecbm
June 28, 2011 at 11:44am
Wow, no Buckethead in the top 50? Soothsayer or even Nottingham Lace are better than quite of few of the songs listed....
johnsonsmith
May 13, 2011 at 7:11am
Santana on songs like these can make you feel there's something to silence and beauty. This song must be the UN's national anthem. Payday lenders
johnsonsmith
May 12, 2011 at 9:00am
Statesboro Blues from the Allman Bros Fillmore album is missing in the list. The best slide guitar solo ever recorded. And for Stevie Ray, the all time great performance is Testify.
Payday loans
soapboxjoe2
March 05, 2011 at 8:44pm
La Villa Strangiato is not on the horizons of anyone contributing to this list. Check out IV: "A Lerxst in Wonderland" and you might think you've missed something BIG in the World of Guitar playing.
billyockam
March 04, 2011 at 9:19pm
Uli - Sails of Charon
also
when Fast Eddie Clark fell off his stool on Motorhead's "We are the Road Crew"
marocup
February 08, 2011 at 12:39pm
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قسم الافلام والمسلسلات والمسرحيات العربية |
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افلام انمي و كرتون |
ركـــن تطويــــر المنتديات |
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دروس وأدوات الإشهار ومحركات البحث |
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قسم الصور و الثيمات و المسجات |
تحميل نغمات الجوال Mp3 |
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megatallica8690
September 19, 2010 at 12:14pm
ok Kirk hammett does belong on this list, but where the heck is megadeth's tornado of souls solo?! That is the greatest effing solo of all time! I don't care if you don't like metal, listen to that solo and tell me it isn't way better than almost all of these solo's.
koosh25
January 07, 2010 at 12:32pm
I DONT CARE WHAT ANYONE SAYS-JIMMY PAGE IS THE GREATEST GUITAR PLAYER OF ALL TIME-HE DESERVED #1! NO ON HAS BEEN SO VERSATILE AND TOUCHED SO MANY PEOPLE EMOTIONALLY WITH THEIR MUSIC. THE MUSIC STANDS THE TEST OF TIME AND STILL ROCKS!
jwoods
November 21, 2009 at 12:22pm
can be heard in 'Victim of Changes' by Judas Priest from about '76. Why anyone would even *want* to see Nirvana on this list blows my mind. Nirvana is one of my favorite bands of all time, but even Cobain knew his guitar playing was sub-par. The solo in the song that's listed basically just follows the rhythm guitar of the entire song. I know a 9 year old that could replicate that solo on his first try.
staffsbantam
October 24, 2009 at 7:28am
Of course not everybody will agree, and I am no different.
No Steve Morse?
No Chris Rea?Mark Knopfler - Brothers in Arms (Mandela Concert)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vUDmFjWgVo
lunchbox43
October 09, 2009 at 1:02pm
i think the list is rated pretty good cuz if you look at the top ten alot of the songs start out slw and get really haeavy and have long complicated guitar solos
winter
June 20, 2009 at 10:15pm
I know alot of younger players don't like "pretty" but for me the most articulate, well composed, tone rich, best use of theme and variation, best use of vibrato, note selection, plain good taste is in the first solo (the second one ain't too shabby either) in "Theme For an Imaginary Western" off Mountain Climbing and only the version on that album.
And he ends it with a whistling sustained harmonic like the cherry on top of a hot fudge sundae. For me, that solo is religion. I've listened to it thousands of times and somehow still haven't tired of it. Try it, you'll be glad you did. Alot of players; Van Halen, Satch have expressed their fondness for West's style. He just has that ...somethin!!!
abeman
October 03, 2009 at 6:55pm
I'll second that about Leslie West. I'd be more than a little ashamed to call myself a rock enthusiast and leave Mountain out of my collection. What are they teaching these kids in school today? ;-) Check out tracks 4, 5 and 6 on this playlist here:
http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/mountain/concerts/fillmore-east-june-27-1971.html
drkoob
February 20, 2009 at 7:26pm
I would say you missed one of Jimi's best, the Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock. And another Woodstock piece, Alvin Lee and Ten Year's After "I'm Going Home." Take if from a guy who was there, nothing like 'em. Ever!
paulsh
February 15, 2009 at 4:44am
How about Donald (Buck Dharma) Roeser's "Dominance and Submission" with Blue Oyster Cult and Ronnie Montrose's "Black Train"?
DominoDm
August 14, 2011 at 1:07am
Dominance and submission has to be one of my favorite songs (and solo) of all time. Just my opinion, I think Buck is best on "Buck's Boogie"
analugb
February 10, 2009 at 3:54pm
I think jimmy page IS the best... not only because of one solo, but because all his music history
alexg124
February 09, 2009 at 12:07pm
Nirvana? wow and its not just that its on the list but its above songs that have OBVIOUSLY superior solos. i dont even count the solo from smells like teen spirit as a solo, its more like a small very simple riff.
cobainfan001
February 07, 2009 at 8:04pm
How can Sympathy for the Devil be on the worst solos list AND the best?
helimike
February 07, 2009 at 10:56am
Eruption is clearly #1. Satriani and Vai are awesome as well. I can't help but wonder why Michael Schenker is missing(Rock Bottom and Lights Out off UFO Strangers in the Night are both STELLAR performances).
dmaple08
February 06, 2009 at 9:37am
I am very disappointed.....Guitar player magazine has gotten so user friendly AND/OR politically correct that "some" true guitar work has been completely set aside.
It appears to me that these picks although some are good have been randomly picked, put in a shaker an fell out in no particular order. No disrespect to Cobain, but A GUITARIST??????? Come on. I know kids who pick up the guitar there first time and play that way. Where's the "LOVE" for real guitar playing.Trower, Beck, Trucks, Mayer, Metheny, Lifeson, Mayer, Gilbert, Howe, Marino, Livgren .....I could go on and on!
Thank You for letting me vent.
Darren Maple
pooploser
February 05, 2009 at 8:02pm
where would steve vai be without frank zappa. yeah and is smells like teen spirit even consider a real solo, he has better solos than in that song.
paulles2special
February 04, 2009 at 5:34pm
for a second i thought yall were'nt gonna put free bird in there but you did......thats awesome pleased with the 50.
windex
February 04, 2009 at 1:56am
No mention of Ernie Isley "Summer Breeze" Isley brothers? One of the best.
vanhalenfreak
February 02, 2009 at 4:54am
jimmy page didn't even write stair way to heaven
the band Taurus wrote the tune about 4 years before
page did
Page should coff up and tell the truth
cannibalist
February 01, 2009 at 5:21pm
Why in the HELL is the solo to "Smells Like Teen Spirit" even in the running?
tunesdoons
February 01, 2009 at 12:37pm
He is an Idol to many on this list. UFO's Rock Bottom
should be in the top 10 on this list. Anybody that has heard Schenkers solo in this song would have to agree.It also has rock guitars greatest song opening riff.
the_maka179
February 01, 2009 at 9:50am
are ever hear about sea of lie by michael romeo that the best solo in the history of the electric guitar ,plase fir your list.
raijin2448
March 26, 2010 at 8:18pm
I'm surprised Michael Romeo's solo from Ayreon's 2000 album, Universal Migrator Part 2: Flight of the Migrator, wasn't in the listing. He plays a chromatic rift in it that is technically impossible for crying out loud.
bmurphy821
January 31, 2009 at 8:04pm
I am very disappointed and shocked with these picks, how can you possibly not include Ritchie Blackmore, Buck Dharma, Tony Iommi.
bmurphy821
January 31, 2009 at 8:16pm
you idiot blackmore is 15, but there still is no Dharma or Iommi.
wahhey
January 31, 2009 at 5:11pm
50 plus years of Rock and Roll music and Dimebag Darrell is on this list twice? Slash twice? I would have to say this is a wake up call that your music collection has way to much metal in it. There's more to guitar than diminished and harmonic minor scales. It's really hard to pick up a guitar magazine if you are over 25.
Ace Frehley ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha .......
maybeyeah
January 31, 2009 at 12:12pm
It appears you're keeping this to commercial releases, there have been a zillion blazing Jerry Garcia solos, many of which blow a lot of what you list away. Granted it isn't the type of thing you'll hear on commercial radio but so what? They're commercial releases, the "Vault" and "Dick's Picks" stuff. Throw a dart at any of those and you're bound to hit a killer Jerry solo.
drp
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