Give me you top 5 guitar solos of all time

[samson66]

Been giving this a lot of thought lately and figured I'd write my picks down. Let's hear some of yours. Stick to studio recordings only - live tracks are a whole 'nother situation entirely. Here goes....

#5 Pink Floyd Comfortably Numb - I'll start out with a slower melodic solo. David Gilmour creates one of the most beautiful solos ever. He has such great tone and rhythm in this solo. Hendrix inspired bluesy sections as well. A Pink Floyd masterpiece.

#4 Van Halen Eruption - Eddie just kills it here. If you had to pick the greatest two minutes of guitar playing of all time Eruption might be it. Incredible solo that inspired so many to learn guitar just so they could impress girls with it. This wasn't even supposed to be recorded. It was basically a warm-up exercise Eddie used to do that was overheard. He was convinced to put it on the record and the rest is history

#3 Jimmi Hendrix All Along the Watchtower - Yeah this song was written by Dylan but My God what an amazing cover. The entire song is basically a guitar solo with some singing in between. Just about every aspect of Jimmi's guitar skills are on display here from blues to psychedelic to rhythm. Never ever get tired of listening to this song

#2 Led Zeppelin Stairway to Heaven - Sure this song has been played to death but what an amazing and creative solo Jimmy Page came up with here. According to him he just threw it together over a few takes and picked the best one. It is the perfect orgasmic ending to one of the greatest rock songs ever written

#1 Lynyrd Skynyrd Free Bird - This solo has just blown me away for decades now. I know technically this isn't as hard to play as some other solos, but I don't know that there has every been an extended solo jam on this level ever recorded in the studio. To me the first five minutes are just a warm-up for just about the greatest four minutes in rock history

[joli160]

Great list, hard to argue

The one that gives me real goose bumps is Texas Flood from SRV live at El Mocambo.

[CashGap]

EVH - A pity the video isn't better

[Dr. Robert]

In no particular order
Honey Bee- Muddy Waters
East West- Mike Bloomfield
All Along the Watch Tower- Jimi Hendrix
Statesboro Blues- Allman Brothers
Crossroads- Clapton/Cream

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[Tricolore66]

Mark Knopfler “Sultans of Swing”

[Boothroyd]

Prince comes on at 3:30 in this rendition of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"......

[Jocke]

Gary Moore - Empty Rooms in Montreux.

[Chester01]

Jimmy Hendrix. Johnny b Goode at Woodstock.

[rjd1]

Larry Carlton in Steely Dan’s Kid Charlemagne

[Burlington]

Your #5 is my number one

My favourite song

[CashGap]

Originally Posted by Boothroyd

Prince comes on at 3:30 in this rendition of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"......

Yeah my jaw dropped when that happened!

[Masteryacht]

Prince was so amazingly talented.

[nikhsub1]

Originally Posted by Burlington

Your #5 is my number one

My favourite song

If I could only pick one - the best guitar solo ever it would be Comfortably Numb. Apparently what is on record is the first take. The story is they did several but never laid one down better than the first.

[FTX I]

The black submariner of guitar solos is on Joy Division - Shadowplay (unknown pleasures). Can't get more simple and powerful than that.

[The Joker]

Beat it - EVH

[sickened1]

Not in any particular order:

- Gary Moore - Still got the blues
- Randy Rhoads (Ozzy Osbourne) - Dee (but any of his solo really)
- Yngwie Malmsteen - Crying (same as Randy's)
- Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath) - Turn up the night
- Rudolf Schenker (Scorpions) - Lady Starlight

[slawa]

I'm good with your five.
i would ad
Deep Purple - Highway Star
Muse - "Invincible"

[trippinjimmy]

I like where your head is at - I’ve been trying to think of anything that would qualify more recently...I’ll add almost anything by Tim Reynolds, but I’m particularly fond of “betrayal.”

It’s hard to think of just pure solos as opposed to iconic riffs like sweet child of mine, crazy train, etc.

My top of all time is eruption though!

And I might put voodoo child instead of watchtower.

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[RichM]

Not in any order,

Key To The Highway ........ Eric Clapton/Duane Allman

Green Grass and High Tides .......... The Outlaws

Since I’ve Been Loving You .......... Led Zeppelin

Mountain Jam .......... Allman Brothers

Machine Gun .......... Jimi Hendrix/Band of Gypsys

Not Fade Away/ Going Down The Road .......... Greatful Dead

[Wllnv19]

Many excellent choices here..hard to argue with any of these..but I will add one of my favorites... Slash..Guns n Roses ..November Rain

[Old Expat Beast]

Originally Posted by rjd1

Larry Carlton in Steely Dan’s Kid Charlemagne

This for one

[TNT009]

Mr 101st Airborne Division....

Jimi Hendrix and Band of Gypsys

Machine Gun

[CashGap]

Originally Posted by sickened1

- Gary Moore - Still got the blues

Yes, that is insane. So is “Bad For You Baby”.

[Tricolore66]

Not one guitar player, but Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner playing the intro solo on Sweet Jane from Lou Reed's live album "Rock and Roll Animal"


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FdWPeHFAMk

[Slimpee]

Originally Posted by Boothroyd

Prince comes on at 3:30 in this rendition of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"......

Came to post this. Unreal.

[SpeakWithMichael]

I'm a big Dream Theater fan, from 1998 to today. I got their tattoo, my only tattoo, in 2000 after the Metropolis 2000 concert in which my friend who turned me onto them who was with me in the front row said to me after the show, "I'm sorry, I just ruined all future concerts for you. Because that was the best I've EVER seen." And he had been to a LOT of concerts. Since then I've gone to see them 5 more times in concert in three countries.

Every single one of these below is live. So here's my John Petrucci top 5:

5. Hollow Years Live at Budokan - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc5tRUkiAe8
4. Petrucci just shreds for 8 minutes (Once in a Livetime) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta05M7k4a6s
3. Breaking All Illusions - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xxn3okpMqo
2. The Spirit Carries On - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBCNLzhHYYo

1. Dream Theater did this side project called Liquid Tension Experiment, and the first song on the album is this mind-blowing "What the FFFFFF just happened to my ears" type of incredibleness from the very first second. You weren't ready - I mean, you didn't even know what to expect from this new venture of theirs and then WHAM. But this song is not that one. This song is smack in the middle of that album, often overlooked, but the song said in very clear musical terms, "not only can we rip your face off, and we will again as soon as this ends, but we're going to make you cry first." And that is the beauty of Dream Theater (most members of Dream Theater were involved in LTE). They're truly magnificent at tugging at your emotions, and this song is exactly that. Here a very young John Petrucci gives you all of that emotion and starts to solidify the fact he is a guitar god.

State of Grace (from LTE) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHlNYPNZCXg

[fmc000]

the OP #2 and the whole Lindsay Buckingham's song "Big love" are my favorites.

This video is amazing even if he missed a note.

[samson66]

Originally Posted by trippinjimmy

I like where your head is at - I’ve been trying to think of anything that would qualify more recently...I’ll add almost anything by Tim Reynolds, but I’m particularly fond of “betrayal.”

It’s hard to think of just pure solos as opposed to iconic riffs like sweet child of mine, crazy train, etc.

My top of all time is eruption though!

And I might put voodoo child instead of watchtower.

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Funny reading this because you mentioned the two that I debated on but wound up leaving off the list Crazy Train and Sweet Child of Mine

Slash was/is incredible and November Rain is right up there with Sweet Child. Both amazing solos, modern masterpieces really.

The solo that Randy Rhoads does in Crazy Train is so iconic, so fast, so difficult. Reminds me of Eruption in a lot of ways in how it's played. Another one taken from us way too soon.

I also struggled to not put Stevie Ray Vaughan on this list. I think he's the greatest guitarist to ever live. But his best licks were live. He had some great studio solos as well like Texas Flood, Pride and Joy and OMG Scuttle Buttin' is amazing. To me though, Stevie's live stuff just blew all the studio recordings away. Must have watched YT videos of SRV Voodoo Child live a hundred times. Beyond belief...

[Speedbird-1]

Tony Peluso. The Carpenters, Goodbye to Love.

Carlos Santana (just take your pick)

[brandrea]

Anything by Stevie Ray Vaughan.

I believe Eric Clapton is quoted as saying “there was no one on the planet better than SRV”. High praise I’d say