The Top 100 Rock Guitar Solos of All Time--49-40

49.) "Midnight" (Joe Satriani)



Similarly to Eddie Van Halen on "Mean Streets," Joe finds new ways here to use finger-tapping to expand the boundaries of the guitar's vocabulary. Joe had several of these tapping pieces on his early albums, but this is by far the best. The opening measures are haunting because of the combination of rhythm and melody made possible through tapping multiple parts at once. I love the part at 0:50 too. For a long time, this was probably my favorite track on the album. Guitar playing need not be loud or absurdly fast to be impressive. I'm glad he decided to keep an incredibly clean tone for this.

48.) "Santeria" (Sublime)



Absolutely and completely one of the most tuneful guitar solos ever. God, I do love singing this one. I would probably also say this is Sublime's best song. What can you really say about this song? It's beautiful. How many people on this list died too young? Way too many, that's for sure.

47.) "Memories" (Joe Satriani)



I based "Memory"'s place on this list off the studio version from Satch's first LP Not of This Earth, but I had to include the live version from the Dreaming #11 EP on here just because of how slamming it is. But from here on out, I'll talk about the studio version.

Joe had a very unique tone on his first album. Almost overdriven on treble, with a sort of squawking sound, it veers on grating, but somehow Joe is able to save it with his defiantly expressive soloing chops. This is such a well-constructed solo. Speed flows together deftly with precisely-phrased licks and a sense of purpose, as if this solo could never have been constructed differently than how it sounds on the final cut. One thing that Joe and Steve proved over all other shredders is that a solo can be both technically well-constructed and still be emotionally expressive. The two need not be mutually exclusive, which sometimes people seem to think is the case.

46.) "Over the Mountain" (Ozzy Osbourne)



Randy absolutely tears the shit out of this solo. He opens it up with a very unusual-sounding, and yet still completely catchy, repeating riff, before diving headfirst into a series of frightening, dissonant passages in which he plays completely alone, the rest of the band stepping back in awe to the majesty that was Randy Rhoads. This is a rather different solo, since it seems full of a kind of spontaneity and wildness that Rhoads wasn't especially known for. Very adept at creating finely-crafted and melodic solos, "Over the Mountain" displays a side of Randy not seen very often--reckless, a Dionystic lack of inhibition. Obviously Ozzy's wild ways had rubbed off a little bit on his small, blond friend. Still, nothing could ever destroy the angelic air which clung closely around Rhoads.  (Don't be surprised if they take this video off of YouTube soon.  They seem to be removing all studio versions of Ozzy Osbourne songs.)

45.) "Rubina" (Joe Satriani)



Named after his wife, Joe's first ballad is not as melodically sweet as some of his later ones ("Always with Me, Always with You" or "Love Thing," among many others). But it has an otherworldly quality to it that lifts it above his other ballads. It isn't a pop ballad, but a pean to his love for his wife, which because of Joe's previously mentioned innocence and earnestness has a kind of sweet sincerity that was certainly severely lacking in the power ballads that dominated the radio airwaves at the time this came out in '86. The song's instrumentation is tasteful, yet lush, reminding me of Prince's '80s records. As mentioned earlier, there is a completely ethereal quality to this, and when the solo comes in, it feels like a necessary release, and yet also a continuation of this prayer to a higher power. There isn't the least bit of wankery in this solo, and already from his first record, Joe was leaps and bounds beyond his peers.

44.) "Misirlou" (Dick Dale)



Completely bad-ass starting with that first sliding note, Dick Dale's instrumental is supposedly a "surf guitar" song, but it has always sounded just a little tougher than that for me. The tone is so righteous and loud on the tremolo notes, it's just completely in your face, daring you not to like it. I wonder how big this was before Pulp Fiction. I don't think any of us can remember a world before that, though.

43.) "The Forgotten, Pt. II" (Joe Satriani)



This song is all raw, gut-busting build-up and release, and I love it for that. It's an absolutely draining listen. Joe's soloing here doesn't feel like a technical showcase, but instead is like a modern, instrumental reinvention of the blues. Every single note of its five minutes comes right from the heart, without any pretension. While Joe often throws a lot of bluesy licks in his songs, and indeed even had a self-titled album out in '95, I believe it was, that was composed completely of the blues, I wish he put out more songs with the kind of feel this one had. It feels like Joe's crying from the depths of a terrible, fatalistic love affair. This is not the spiritual purity of "Rubina." It is forbidden, tainted, terrible love. I like that it's called "The Forgotten" (check out "The Forgotten, Pt. I" for a great finger-tapping piece).

42.) "Floods" (Pantera)



Again, Dimebag shows his penchant for melodic beauty on this excellent track. I think the best way to describe Dime's solo is majestic. Opening with a phrase of pure emotion, over incredibly powerful bass, Dime awes us with a three-sectioned solo of such crystal power that I've almost never heard its equivalent in metal guitar. I've heard many beautiful and jaw-dropping metal solos, but I'm not sure I've ever heard one where I felt the guitarist's presence overtake me with such force. Dimebag at his absolute best was a bald eagle, a lion, that dominated not through technicality or subtlety, or even through heaviness, but through his ability to connect clearly and directly through the listener with passages of such clarity and overwhelming power that they couldn't be ignored. He was like the Homer of metal guitarists--his art doesn't feel practiced or refined, and yet it hits you in the gut with its force.

41.) "Always with Me, Always with You" (Joe Satriani)



As great as Joe was at the blues, this is what he did best. Pure melodic beauty--his catchiest song by far. Gotta go with the obvious here: Just listen to the fucking song.

40.) "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" (Chris Impellitteri)



This may seem like a stupid concept: take a culturally classic song from a legendary movie and have a '80s shredder cover it. But it most definitely works. I'm not even sure why. He puts his heart into it--that's really about all I can say. And Jesus Christ does Chris ever have chops. His speed is almost unreal on here, and because of the song's longing nature, here it feels like both a Ozymandian longing for god-like prowess and a longing for simple happiness and innocence. I love that during the fastest parts of each solo, it dips into an uncertain key, only to be resolved in the beautiful, eternal melody of old-time Hollywood. There is something about this clash between such a simple melody and the bottomless depths of Impellitteri's technical ability that gives this song its unique charm. I love the improvisational sound of the first few bars of the second solo. I wish this one were longer.

--Edward