Favorite guitar SOLO?

Since my thread yesterday about guitar riffs turned out to be one of my only 100+ reply threads, I figured I'd go ahead an beat the dead horse here.

Currently (meaning: subject to change as soon as 15 minutes from now), my favorite solo is (PLEASE DON'T LAUGH!) Vito Bratta's solo from "Wait" by White Lion. Those of you that think it's a cheesy pick probably haven't heard the tune, so I'll let it slide.:-)

Feed me!!!

Young Lust...

from The Wall...

Shocking, I know...

... I just can't decide which solo is his best:

Shine On You Crazy Diamond
Echoes
Pigs (Three Different Ones)
Money
.
.
.

"Dogs" from Animals and the duo-solo from "Comfortably Numb" is the epitome of guitar virtuosity.

Live in '87... 3rd night at the Omni in Atlanta... That solo was fucking transcendent!

I am trying to learn the studio version of this solo. I have been at it for hours and I still can only approximate it (although I now have all the cord progressions down pretty well). Gilmore IS god (at least a guitar god)!

but I think his solo on "Time" has the best reach, most expression and most nearly perfect melodic resolution. Thirty plus years listening to it, still blows me away.

GIlmour is (or was) rock's most poignant statement-maker.

Another excellent soloist was Elliot Easton, from the Cars. Say what you will about their music, he crafted damn near perfect pop/rock guitar solos.

I love that stone-faced, left-handed little genius.

I got the DVD a couple of weeks ago. Magnificent! The "Director's Cut" has a bunch of interviews and studio shots of them working on DSOTM mixed in with the original Pompeii concert footage. In the "Extras" on the DVD they have the whole original film. It'll blow your mind.

either that or Axis: Bold as Love. Goosebumps on both.

Either the original Jimmy version or the cover by SRV. Love that song. I also love the solo on SRV's "The Sky Is Crying".

Bailey is one of the most overlooked lead guitarplayers on the planet.

Their bassist (Goddard) was amazing...

Ever hear his solo from "Another Man's Woman"? The version from 'Red Tape'. Just blows me away.

Japanese fans called him "Thunderbelly", and he was a real treasure...

Many of my favorite bassists play Rick's:

Chris Squire (see the avatar)
Geddy Lee
Paul McCartney...

"Champagne Jam" rawks!!!!!!

was never consistent...but they don't get the airplay...they have something like 15 discs.

They started as session players for Roy Orbison I believe, then as the "Candymen".

I still have quite a few of the ARS albums on vinyl... will have to fire up the turntable today.

it sounds uncannily like Fleetwood Mac (this was a favorite trick of DJs back in the day)

... my absolute favorite is Gilmour's solo in "The Gunner's Dream" from Pink Floyd's "The Final Cut." Unfortunately, this generally is familiar only to die-hard Floyd fans.

:bounce:

but then, I'm biased...

Gilmour hated that album because Waters was using him and Mason as sessionmen.

It is a damn good solo, but my favorite by Gilmour is from "Dogs", off of 'Animals'.

at least not since I have become good enough on guitar to attempt Gilmore solos. I will have to give it a try. Thanks for the tip! :-) I use to have nearly every PF album on vinyl, including some pretty obscure ones like Ummagumma and Atom Heart Mother.

'Course, the best stuff was live and they were never played the same way twice.

:dem:

One note. I like that.

The lamest solo ever. I could not believe my ears the first time I heard it.

though the "Outside Now" solo from Broadway the Hard Way is also brilliant, and I LOVE the "Watermelon In Easter Hay" solo from "Guitar". And the solo from "Torture Never Stops" from the You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. I is phenomenal, and one I listen to a lot.

Gilmore's solo on "Pigs (Three Different Ones)" from a 1977 concert is BRILLIANT - all of them in that song in that particular performance are incredible.

Hendrix's live "Machine Gun", the 12-13 minute version, is brilliant.

Page's solo are all for the most part pretty extraordinary, but never long enough - it's really too bad he never recorded anything that was a nice, long jam session (though the live Dazed and Confused is excellent and fits that bill, I wish Zeppelin had been a bit more into jamming and soloing).

;-)

Where to begin with Frank? All the ones you listed are great, and I agree...

I love his solo on "Inca Roads", the 'One Size Fits All' version.

Or... even his solo from my namesake. That kicks my shakin' booty.

and the live versions I have - the song itself it way cool, and back int eh day when he soloed with that SG custom, the sound of the Inca solos was WOW.

And of course, Blue Lagoon.

And leave us not forget the solos on the YCDTOSA version of "Drowning Witch". Also WOW!

And from YCDTOSA, that King Kong amalgamation is great, especially even the solo with that damnable guitar that wouldn't stay in tune after he lost the equipment in the Geneva fire.

And . . . well, hell, we could sit here and list 100 solos and still be far away from exhaustive of just the "incredible" ones. :-)

And just because I like to say it, the "Carlos Santana Secret Chord Progression".

....Of the studio tracks, I think "Achilles Last Stand" may be his best solo. Of the live stuff---I've got over 250 boots---Page did some absolutely stunning stuff during those lengthy (20, 30, 40-minute) versions of "Dazed and Confused," "No Quarter," "How Many More Times," and "Whole Lotta Love."

More than 37 years old now, but still a timeless classic.

Whole Lotta Love.

Runner up is solo in "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man", Prince.

...of your Man." on Sign O the Times. The tension in the song builds and builds and then he just goes nuts with that guitar. It's equally cathartic to watch him perform it in the concert film of the same name.

And just so he's not excluded, if you've never heard a Junior Brown Guitsteel solo, you haven't truly heard a guitar solo.

:-)

I dig it!

probably one of the best be-bop runs ever.

but hate his politics. He is actually a spokesperson for star wars these days, believe it or not.

An interesting side note on the celebrities who are interested in missile defense: most well known is Jeff “Skunk” Baxter of Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers, who thinks missile defense “rocks” and was one of President Bush’s missile defense emissaries last month. Less well known is Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak, who sits on the board of High Frontier. Strangely enough his interest in missile defense is not listed among his “pet projects” on his website beside the Rawhide Ranch and the Hospice Network.

http://www.warresisters.org/nva0901-3.htm

(fingers in ears) LALALALALALALALALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU LALALALALA!

BTW...PAT SAJAK?? :wtf: This MUST be an Onion article...

but as a long time opponent of star wars, I knew about Baxter long ago. Oh well, as you say, it does not mean that you can't enjoy his music (with the notable exception of Ted Nugent who I never liked anyway).

He just makes noise, anyway...

Sajak was the one who had Rush guest host for him on his short-lived talk show, and Rush made some infamous homophobic remarks that caused CBS to tape it without an audience the next night.

Sajak is a creep... a regular contributor to The Limbaugh Letter.

Great! :thumbsup:

but I don't know the name of the guitarist.

...(it's a dual-lead intro) and YES! That's an all-time great.

But they trade solos, a la "The End" by the Beatles, sort of, kind of. So maybe it does count. Doubly.

"Jane" starts as a solo but later, a second lead comes in. I'm sure some DU Lou fanatic knows more than I do. But "dual leads" is its own thing. Beck and Page playing live with the Yardbirds, say, or Duane and Dickie revving it up together live with the Allman Bros. To kinda get that harmony you'd only get by multi-tracking in the studio. I'm no expert. Just a music fan. Yet they're both lead solos. Just happen to mesh. When it happens, at its best, it sounds glorious.

the two also play a lot of "secret guitar" on the first two Aerosmith albums. Perry had the cheekbones, but...

There is none better.

Bono from U2 referred to it by a grand slip of the tongue as the "Star Strangled Banner."

Wonderous. There was an old rock station on base near I think Fort Eustis VA that use to play that as the closing tune to their radio programing for the night.

+

Verlain on Marquee Moon.

For the mid break or outro of a more typical song, I'd have to think a bit. Rundgren's slice on Freedom Fighters kicks my ass, but it's super short.

Graham Coxon - "This Is a Low"

Robert Fripp - Eno's "Baby's On Fire"

Jimmy Page - "The Rover"

...two of my all-time faves. Fripp's solo on "Baby" never gets old. It can't and it won't. It don't know how to. And I've had to re-record "The Rover" from the studio release so I can inch up the volume as the solo fades out. It continues to cook to the very end of the track and sounds like it could go on forever.

In concert, alas, Zep never played "The Rover," though they could make a song last for 40 minutes or more.

Up until recently. He quit the band about a year ago.

Hint: Al Franken plays it as a lead-in on the O"Franken Factor

Eddie Van Halen's finest solo, from 1981's 'Fair Warning'.

He's probably my all-time favorite rock guitarist. The best thing sbout him is that he never really wanked on guitar; it wasn;t noodling for noodling's sake. His rock sensibility kept Pink Floyd from disappearing into obscurity as a psychedelic rock novelty act (not to discredit Syd Barret's work at all).
Best solo-"Money," cliche as that song may be, it's my all-time favorite guitar solo.

Gilmour appreciates your kind outpouring of praise and will bless you for it...

The same guitarist who gave the world "Incense And Peppermints", miffed that the record company perverted his Strawberry Alarm Clock instrumental with a bad title and even goofier lyrics, exacted his revenge by becoming a member of Lynyrd Skynyrd years later, and composing and playing a masterful solo on their biggest hit single.

He had to dream the solo to get it just right. Since then, no one else has ever successfully reproduced it. It has several precise changes that defy easy theft. It's a keeper.

Skynyrd guitarists...

Not to detract from Gaines, but Ed's departure changed the band...

Gaines was just starting to bloom... had he lived, he would have done great things none of the others could have surpassed.

King was with the revamped early 90's Skynyrd for 3 albums, which makes them listenable, I will grant that.

Here is some cool trivia, King said in an interview that he and Gaines were both born on September 13, 1949. King felt had he stayed in the band, he would have died in the plane crash.

Who knows? Both gifted, for sure.

But I would have to say my favorite is Carlos Santana on "Sambi Pati". There is something about the way he wrings the tone out of his ax on that piece that just gives me shivers.

by 'Go' -- I can't remember the name of the song, and I haven't heard it for over 20 years, but wow, what a solo.

Have you ever heard the album "Friday Night in San Fransisco" with Al Di Meola, Paco De Lucia and John McLaughlin? Absolutely incredible guitar playing. I could practice scales for 100 years and never even get close to the speed of the runs they whip off.

Incredible is a good word for it.

???

Great record - I'm proud to say I've actually interviewed three of the players from that terrific project (at different times).

which one has a guitar solo that could stop the revolution of the sun on it? I shouldn't have said 'single' -- I have no idea if it was ever issued as a single. It was a live recording, though.

Two of the best. :)

Jeff Beck, from Blow By Blow.

'Europa', Santana.

Bill Connors ripped a few beauties on 'Hymn Of The Seventh Galaxy'.

'Gypsy Queen', Larry Coryell, from Barefoot Boy.

Get the Funk Out. Massive, muscular, Yngwie-sized chops, but channeled into a playful melodic quirkiness, not just a data dump of gnat notes.

BTW, Vito Bratta never played a bad solo. He's one MIA player I wish would turn up again. If you like Vito though, you'll love Nuno.

He was amazing. The clarity of each note was just unreal.

That tapped passage in the middle of "Get The Funk Out" is the finest thing he ever wrote...

George wrote the song though and also plays it well (have a version of him playing it live)

It totally rocks. Funny thing is, I don't think he wrote it. I know I've heard it somewhere else.

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

Apostrophe'

Man, I just love the whole solo. Great stuff.

of course! In Firth of Fifth. Nothing else comes close...

well that may not be true. Still - Best Guitar Solo EVER!

david

Yes!

I loved Hackett's playing. Is he still playing, or is he dead? Man, some of those early Genesis tunes had some knock rockin' guitar parts.

I think he had a prowess with the guitar that isn't normally heard. He used it in new and interesting ways, and always controlled it, if that makes sense.

Anyway, Steve is alive and kicking and doing music on his own label, Timelapse, I believe. Some of his solo stuff is great, IMO, some is okay. I prefer it when he sticks to writing and playing for the guitar rather than composing lyrics, etc. Anyway, good stuff here...

http://www.stevehackett.com/

david

I'll give it a checkout some time.

Comfortably Numb

v.o.r.

yay #50!

Holy shit!

Gilmore really puts the other "rock" guitarists to shame because he's louder, has a more serious intense tone, screams and wails and is always on the edge of feedback, and DOESN'T need to roll around or make pucker faces or pretend he's masturbating the guitar. He just stands there and plays while the earth moves around him. As well as the rest of the band - they stay put and play the hell out of the stuff.

One Comfortably Numb is worth about 4 hours of Van Halen, and about 300 hours of Guns 'N Roses.