The Top 100 Rock Guitar Solos of All Time--19-10

19.) "Since I've Been Loving You" (Led Zeppelin)



Not typically ranked as Jimmy Page's finest solo, I can't help but be awed by his instinctual sense of emotion and blues grandeur in "Since I've Been Loving You."  Like his majestic solo break in "Stairway to Heaven," the solo in this fits the song surrounding it like a velvet glove.  Like another blues epic coming up later on this list, Page shows how blues guitar is able to tap the deepest depths of human sorrow with its moaning. groaning bends and scales originating from the darkest jungles of Africa, the cradle of humankind itself.  In addition to being devastatingly heartbreaking, I also think this is easily one of Page's most technically brilliant solos.  He goes to the end of the world and back in his minute-plus break, again proving that the best guitar solos provide a world all of their own, in which to lose oneself and perhaps never return.  I love that after such an intense solo, which feels like the end of the world, the song keeps chugging on for another three minutes.  God, what a heavy song.  His ringing guitar in the last verse is such a great backdrop for Robert Plant's pleading screams from the deep.

18.) "Beyond the Realms of Death" (Judas Priest)

 

What an absolutely earth-shattering solo.  Like "Since I've Been Loving You"'s solo, this one hits us unaware.  That kind of raw power cracks me over the head every single time I listen to this Priest classic.  The reason it's ranked above "Since I've Been Loving You" is because I find myself even more speechless after this absolutely brilliant cry from the darkness towards a God that looks ever away.  It is almost incomprehensible that he would do so, but where else would the angry beauty of this solo come from if he didn't?  We are left on our own eternally, and this is the ultimate existential solo I know of.  The held notes in the beginning are so irrevocably shattering.  There are very few singers who have that kind of ability to pierce the silence.  In a way, perhaps it is only through the strange, inhuman quality of musical instruments that we are able to truly to pierce the veil between heaven and earth.  But no matter how high we reach, we can never make it beyond the realms of death.  I love how resigned to this the ending notes are, and that final pick scrape into eternity and oblivion.  Gorgeous in a way I can't put into words.

As great as technical proficiency is in the second solo, it pales in comparison to the stab at the heart of the Divine that is the first solo in this metal anthem.

17.) "Sweet Child o' Mine" (Guns N' Roses)

 

My least favorite thing in the world is when radio stations fuck up the perfect structure and narrative of Slash's solo in "Sweet Child o' Mine," Guns N' Roses's biggest hit (yeah, fuck you, "Welcome to the Jungle), by shortening it.  Why would you do that to such a flawless thing?  I truly do not understand.  Does the normal person really dislike guitar solos that much?  I guess so.  That is a disturbing thought.  What makes this great is the clear division between the two halves of the solo: the melodically impeccable clarion calls of the first half; the down-and-dirty, wah-drenched rock-out of the second half.  More than anything else, this precisely depicts a band that can write both beautiful love songs and raunchy odes to drugs, hookers, and cheap alcohol.  A band with dazzling musical ability crippled by reckless self-destruction.  They have an ear for writing tremendous pop music, and yet are tarnished by a prissy narcissism that is willing to spit on the face of its fans (yep, that's Axl).

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Slash is perhaps the single most melodic guitar player out there.  He knows how to write solos that are hooks in and of themselves like no other guitarist in rock music history.  The melody of the intro part of the solo is actually stronger than the rest of the song itself, which is saying something in a song this big.  Yet somehow Slash is able to keep up this image as a kick-ass soloist, despite this ability to create lines of heartbreaking beauty.  As I said earlier, the solo in "Child" depicts this dichotomy perfectly.  (And God, the other guitar parts in this song?  Stunning.  'Nuff said.)

16.) "One" (Metallica)



Like a few other songs on this list, "One" is a lengthy rock epic with many solos in it.  They progress from delicate to brooding to flat-out insane.  According to legend, Kirk Hammett struggled over the solos in this, and though he ultimately wasn't completely happy with what he cut on record (much like this song is itself a hugely ambitious yet failed epic, in the vein of Apocalypse Now or Moby-Dick), he came out with something that is truly special in the world of heavy metal.  I just love how unique the solos in this one are.  The tone on the early solos is so unlike anything else in Metallica's oeuvre, with an almost completely clean tone lacking in distortion, almost like a bird warbling.  The song's gimmick (if you can call it that) is its slow build-up from a soldier lying alone in his bed, wounded horribly from a war, remembering almost nostalgically the battlefield, amidst ringing guitar lines and a beautifully melodic first solo (one of Hammett's most beautiful, along with the first one in "Fade to Black").  Slowly, the pieces of a gradually building puzzle follow into place: drums, James Hetfield's relentless yet gently droning vocals, and the eventual introduction of distorted guitars in what suffices as a chorus in "One."  The haunting lyrics build on top of each other, creating a musical environment where doom lies just out of sight.  Hammett's second solo is not quite as delicate as his first, ending with a tapping lick that melds seamlessly into the shrill-drone distortion of ...And Justice for All's rhythm guitar production.  Layers of chunky, angry guitar build on each other, as Lars Ulrich's drums slowly kick into machine gun-mode.  Finally, the song breaks loose (yet remains so incredibly tightly controlled) with James Hetfield's incredible machine-gun riffs that echo Ulrich's drumming.  This is one of the most staggering moments in any metal song ever.  Hetfield's guitar kicks loose, breaking free from the bonds of the drumming, creating a kind of infernal rhythm all his own, and into this spiraling vortex Hammett delivers the solo of a lifetime, again trying to match the speed and intensity of a machine gun that crippled the song's narrator.  The combination of the hell-driven velocity of the rhythm section with Hammett's amped-up angry solo is phenomenal.  If only they hadn't used such a tinny production on ...And Justice for All, and given Hammett's guitar some real oomph, this would probably be even higher on the list.

15.) "Eruption" (Van Halen)

 

Rightfully famous as the solo that sent legions of would-be guitarists into their bedrooms to practice their youths away trying (in vain) to imitate the never-before-heard virtuosity of Eddie Van Halen.  Coming as it did on Van Halen's first album, Eddie's unadorned solo was a kick in the ass to every single guitarist who thought they had chops.  Though I'm sure many old-timers will disagree with me in favor of Jimi Hendrix's "Star-Spangled Banner," I think that "Eruption" is the single most original guitar solo that ever came out of rock music.  Nothing kicks your ass quite as hard, that's for sure.  The combination of Eddie's absurdly loud and distorted (yet still dazzling) "brown sound," the pure speed with which he ripped through previously-thought-lifeless blues licks that had slowly been sapped of their vitality in the corporate rock era of the '70s, and of course, the infamous finger-tapping technique of the last half of the solo was enough to shape a generation of guitarists.  After this, everyone wanted to be a shredder.  Though shredding has its roots in many things, from the electrical insanity of John McLaughlin's blistering runs with the Mahavishnu Orchestra to the undeniable skill of the black jazz guitarists of several generations back, shred guitar, for all intents and purposes, begins here, at ground zero.  Though he was the most imitated guitarist of all time, no one (and I do mean no one) could capture the legendary cool of Eddie Van Halen.  He made it all seem so effortless.  And I think what comes across most if you've ever seen or heard him play is that he has a hell of a lot of fun doing it.  People who locked themselves in their rooms, practicing ten hours a day to try to imitate Eddie lost sight that that is what rock and roll is all about--being cool and having fun.  Eddie never lost sight of that.  And that's why he remains one of the most influential guitarists of all time to this day.  I don't think any guitarist again will be able to replicate the pure shock value of "Eruption" again.

14.) "Tender Surrender" (Steve Vai)

 

While most of Vai's ballads are focused on the spiritual search for something bigger, for a higher power, "Tender Surrender" is concerned with the earthy sensuality of human lust.  And oh yes, what a sexy solo.  Of course, this is not the hollow, spiritually fruitless lust of Vai's '80s peers we're talking about.  This is the lust of a man who truly loves his woman, and expresses this through the act of sex/guitar solo.  I love this clip, which is from the Alien Love Secrets DVD, which has Vai playing along with the tracks from the CD as he normally would, to help those writing guitar tab books get all the notes right.  I must say, there is no sexier guitar player to me than Vai.  Just watch the video and you'll understand.

Right off the bat, Vai starts in a different mode than normal from his other seventh songs.  His playing is effortlessly laid-back, jazzy, in the primal groove of seduction.  Even amongst these slow passages, we can see that Vai's technique--especially his attention to the subtle details of every single note he plays--is leagues beyond his contemporaries.  Who else has such a feather touch on their guitar?  No one.  He knows precisely when to add a hint of vibrato, a tiny, muted fill, or a dynamic change.  Every single note Vai plays has a purpose.  At 2:00, the lust starts spilling over the brim of Vai's cup, as he amps up the intensity with a series of stuttering bended notes.  Vai's secret in this song is that he was able to find just the right setting on his amp and with his effects to be able to gradually change the tone from almost perfectly clear to blazingly distorted by slowly raising the volume knob through the song, allowing him to create a seamless build-up, mimicking the sexual act itself.  And that is really the heart of the song.  It's all about that build-up.

People tend to make fun of Vai's faces when he plays, but I can't see playing a song like this any other way.  You really have to feel your playing to be able to express the music you hear in your head.  The floodgates are loosed at 3:20, as Vai naturally lets the song carry him onward into some stunning legato licks that build up to the orgasm and, finally, the after-sex cigarette.  The best part of the song is how, right after the climax, he brings that raw passion down seamlessly back into the jazzy vibe of the beginning.  Only Steve Vai would've thought of that, I swear.  What the hell is the ending and what does it mean?  That isn't for me to answer, my friend. but we all know of sex's dark cousin--death.

As mentioned earlier, this isn't a solo with stand-out moments.  It must be judged for the sum-total of its experience, the trip from attraction to oblivion.  There is truly nothing else like it outside of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)."

13.) "All Along the Watchtower" (The Jimi Hendrix Experience)



Along with the Stones' "Gimme Shelter," one of the most iconic songs about the confusion and chaos of the '60s (as opposed to its [false?] sense of peace and love) is Jimi Hendrix's cover of "All Along the Watchtower."  Bob Dylan's enigmatic original is transformed into a rock anthem right off the bat with Jimi's thundering chords, symbolizing napalm raining down from the sky onto his brothers and sisters.  But what is most enthralling about Hendrix's version is the otherworldliness of the guitar solo.  It exists in and of itself, far off from anything else.  It elegantly uses four distinct sections to take us on a journey of the soul: from the relatively straightforward yet passionate delivery of the first section's bluesy licks, to the psychedelic swells of the second, to the ecstatic wah-pedal pleas of the third, to the fateful and all-conclusive ringing riff of the final section.  Perhaps no sectional solo has the sense of purpose and wonder that "All Along the Watchtower"'s has, and certainly none is quite so original and breathtaking.  Truly this must have been the sound of the gods back in 1968.  To me, this is Hendrix's most beautiful solo.  While he often had more psychedelic moments, strictly speaking, he had a tendency to veer into self-indulgence because of his notoriety as a sort of musical shaman.  But in "Watchtower" he reins in his more chaotic instincts to deliver a solo so precise and so stunning that I would call it the best guitar solo up until that point in rock and roll history.

12.) "Far Beyond the Sun" (Yngwie Malmsteen) 



While "Black Star" is Yngwie's finer composition, its guitar lines (however impressive they might be) fail to match the sheer audacity of "Far Beyond the Sun."  Rising Force, Yngwie's debut album, must've sounded like a bat outta hell in 1984.  No one had played this fast, this precisely, and with such heedless abandon.  While the whole album is filled with great solos, "Beyond" is basically one long brain-fuck.  You might wonder how such a "shallow" solo got placed above some of the songs that I wrote metaphysical descriptions for earlier.  Well, "Far Beyond the Sun" just has that bad-ass of a solo.  Sometimes it doesn't matter how much "soul" or "emotion" you have if you can't play worth shit.  And Yngwie might be lacking in the emotional depth category, but he sure can fucking play.  There's a ton of blazing solos out there, so it's hard to define exactly what sets this greatest of shred solos above the heap of its competitors.  I love how the song just keeps getting more intense as it goes along.  You think the bad-ass solo's gonna start at one minute in.  Then you think that has to be it at 2:30, the intense rush of Yngwie breaking free from the bonds of any sort of melody and letting loose on his fretboard, dueling with the Arabian-sounding keyboard played by some moustachioed guy who grew up in a place like Libya or Algeria.  But no, Yngwie hasn't really let loose yet.  By the time he does, especially in the parts where it's just him on the guitar with no backing instrumentation--holy shit.  It gives me shivers every single time I hear it.  The high baroque drama of such technique is absolutely stunning.  My favorite part is that the single best lick in the entire song is the last--the very last--lick of the solo, right at 4:57.  I love how it's almost drowned-out by the drums and rhythm guitar, but it descends into the bowels of hell, hitting every single note between here and oblivion.  I've seen a couple covers of this song, and some of the people are fast, but the speed isn't what matters.  No one is as precise as Yngwie. 


11.) "November Rain" (Guns N' Roses)

 

Like Metallica's "One," "November Rain" is a rock epic with a hell of a lot of solos in it.  For a long time, what drew me to this song is Slash's singing guitar lines in the coda.  He tops even his impressive work in the outro of "Paradise City" with these phrases that effortlessly combine a stunning hook with jaw-dropping virtuosity.  And again, like "Paradise City," I just want Axl to shut the fuck up and let us hear Slash's playing, which as far as I'm concerned is what elevates this song into a masterpiece.  Does anyone actually care about the singing in this song?  No other guitar solos grasp for the stars quite like Slash's outro to "November Rain."  You can literally hear the hook reaching towards something higher.

But in my older years, I've come to discover that the best part of the song is actually the impossibly gorgeous slow guitar solos of the first half.  There doesn't exist on record anywhere solos as melodic as these.  These are truly perfect.  The hold notes have such a beautiful sustain on them that it makes me want to cry.  The melody of these solos is more impossibly sublime and beautifully played than anything anyone else would sing in the entire decade of the '90s.  If I had to pick the most beautiful solos on my entire list, "November Rain"'s slow ones would be at the top.  That's really all I can say here.  Just listen.

10.) "Machine Gun" (Jimi Hendrix and the Band of Gypsys)  



Jimi's positively volcanic playing on this live-only track recorded after the Jimi Hendrix Experience split up is a great fucking way to start my top 10.  Backed by his new band (the Band of Gypsys), the stage belongs solely to Jimi here in New York City.  What else can describe those first notes of the solo other than banshee wails?  They are the most powerful guitar notes in rock history.  Jimi tears into the extended solo with absolutely reckless abandon, seeming to pour his 27 brief years of joy and pain and confusion into a 3 minute break that depicts war better than anything else I've ever heard.  All the suffering, pointlessness, heroism, tragic beauty, and ultimately evil is in there.  It seems to break apart by the end (Jimi's weakness was always keeping control of the chaos that came out of his hands at any given time), but what can you say after a beginning that powerful?  Like the Vietnam War, it careens into a vicious whirlpool of sound, sweat, and destruction.  God, what a trip when it gets back to the groove of the song.  You feel like you've been through the jungle yourself, until you realize that that's not even close.

I've always had a hard time understanding why Jimi Hendrix is considered the greatest rock guitarist of all time, but this solo is probably the best explanation anyone could ever give me.  The power of it is staggering; its intensity, shocking.  No one had ever done anything like this before.  No one had ever willed their instrument to such heights of expressive power.  Here Jimi proves why, in my opinion, the electric guitar is the most expressive instrument there is.  Nothing can conjure a combination of beauty, devastating power, and otherworldly oddness like the electric guitar can.  The piano might beat it in simplicity, the violin in beauty, and perhaps the theremin in alien-ness, but no instrument has the ability to do all of these qualities (and many more) like the electric guitar.  If anyone asks for proof, send them "Machine Gun."

--Edward