Please don't kill me

[Eric]

My instinct is telling me not to post this (seems like the type of thing that's been beaten to death -- I did search for it first), but I'm wondering what some of your favorite guitar solos are, both in terms of listening and playing. I'm always up for trying to learn new solos, though I know very very few that require any technical ability.

I guess my point is that not that many solos are truly affecting or worth noticing for me. Many may be impressive, but are not super cohesive. Some of my faves, simple as they may be, are

Live Forever (Oasis)
Hysteria (Def Leppard)
Aqualung (Jethro Tull)

With a side of:
Michelle (Beatles)

I seem to remember liking the live version of 'Like a Hurricane' by Neil Young too, though I can't recall it right now.

Yeah, I wish I had more obscure ones to reference, but I don't.

 

[aeolian]

Agree with "Michelle."

Some that are typically mentioned are many of the Steely Dan solos. "Kid" by the Pretenders. There are some more obscure ones from XTC and Tears For Fears which are very cool. Give me more time and I'm sure others will pop in my head.

 

[Zip]

If you can get past the 425lbs. of ego, give a listen to Yngwie's Black Star.
Then go practice it 'till you have it down. There'll be a test later.

 

[bigG]

Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb is one of the best leads ever! Give that one a try. It's one of my all-time favorites. :dude

 

[Kodiak3D]

I really like the solo from Pink FLoyd's "Time."

 

[Robert]

Jimi Hendrix - Machine Gun.

 

[R.B. Huckleberry]

Juds Priest's "Living After midnight" solo was the first one I ever learned. Really tasty & catchy!

 

[duhvoodooman]

SRV's solo in Couldn't Stand the Weather is a long time personal favorite. I love the outro solo of Dire Straits' Tunnel of Love and have done my best to learn it note for note. I find that the fast parts aren't as difficult for me as getting Knopfler's numerous full-step bends to sound just right. Clapton's second solo in Cream's live version of Crossroads always astounds me. Geez, I could go on & on....

 

[FrankenFretter]

Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb is one of the best leads ever! Give that one a try. It's one of my all-time favorites. :dude

Also one of my ultimate faves, Big G. The lilting sound of that Black Strat...gorgeous. Another one of mine is Brighton Rock by Queen. One of Brian May's best, IMHO.

 

[R_of_G]

Jimi Hendrix - Machine Gun.

wow, five replies before it got to this one

thanks robert for restoring my faith:applause

oh, and while we are still tangentially on the subject of pink floyd solos, male mine echoes.

 

[marnold]

George Lynch on Dokken's "In My Dreams" and "Mr. Scary"
Randy Rhoads on Ozzy's "Crazy Train"
Mark Knopfler "Sultans of Swing"
SRV "Little Wing" (yes, I like Stevie's take on it better. So sue me.)
Jimi Hendrix "All Along the Watchtower"

 

[jpfeifer]

There are a lot of great guitar solos to reference. It's funny but you don't hear that many guitar solos in popular songs anymore, it seems to have fallen away from favor.

Here are a few of my favorite solos in songs. I will leave out the ones that have already been mentioned (David Gilmour's solos, etc)

The Cars: Best Friend's Girlfriend
This is a great solo with some very cool rock-a-billy references in it. Elliott Easton always played very tasty solos in the Car's tunes, but this song is my favorite example of his playing. I read in an interview that Elliot Easton was heavily influenced by George Harrison's solos in Beatle tunes. He was referncing the Beatle tune "I Will" in the main guitar riff in Best Friend's Girlfriend.

Journey: Lights
Although I'm not a huge Journey fan, however, this song stands out as one of the best guitar solos in classic rock tune in my opinion. He is giving a tribute to Hendrix in this solo with his tone and overall style. The solo is melodic, uses some great Hendrix-style lines, and it really fits into the song in a nice way. I never get tired of hearing it.

Steely Dan : Realin in the Years
This solo is loaded with cool licks that fit the chord changes perfectly. I always liked the guitar players that Steely Dan used because they all sounded like Blues players who knew how to play over changes like a Jazz player would. I learned a ton by copying licks from guitar solos from Steely Dan records. Check out the guitar solo on the song "Peg" also. This is only one guitar but the way he uses double stops sounds like two guys. The "Peg" solo was done by studio guy named Jay Graydon - incredible player.

Dire Straights: Sultans of Swing
Mark Knopfler is just one of the most original players. He is one of a handful of guys who are identifiable after only playing a few notes. I like his solo in this song because it builds nicely, he nails the changes, and he uses really cool phrases due to his use of fingers instead of a pick.

There are many more, but I stop with these ...

--Jim

 

[Tig]

Everyone already listed most of my favorites, so I'll add a few noteable ones.

"Seize the Day", Synyster Gates, Avenged Sevenfold

"Mr. Crowley", Randy Rhoads, Ozzy Osbourne

"Right Now", Eddie Van Halen (best brown sound evar)

"Hotel California", Don Felder & Joe Walsh, Eagles

"Boys Are Back In Town (live)", Scott Gorham & Brian Robertson, Thin Lizzy

"Watermellon In Easter Hay", Frank Zappa

 

[mrmudcat]

ABB : intro solo to its not my cross to bear also the duel duane and dickey in the middle

ABB: outro solo to please call home.........:rockon


Of course any ABB solo is tops on my list!!!:what

 

[red]

Pearl Jam (Mike McCready) - "Yellow Ledbetter"
Tom Waits (Marc Ribot) - "Make It Rain"
Electric Masada (Marc Ribot) - "Karaim"
Ben Harper - "Diamonds on the Inside"
Neil Young - "Cortez the Killer" (the live version from "WELD")

 

[NWBasser]

I like acoustic work and really enjoy:

Midsummer Night's Dream - Triumph

Little Martha - Allman Bros.

...and electric

La Villa Strangiato (Live version) - Rush

Back Where it all Began - Allman Bros.

Unfortunately, I can't actually play any of those.:thwap

 

[R_of_G]

Little Martha - Allman Bros.

that is such a beautiful piece of music :applause

 

[pes_laul]

I know while it's not my favorite band but I've really been digging the outro on Scorpions -Still loving you. WHen its singing the last chorus and the guys playing some cool lead.

 

[FrankenFretter]

I like acoustic work and really enjoy:

Midsummer Night's Dream - Triumph

Little Martha - Allman Bros.

...and electric

La Villa Strangiato (Live version) - Rush

Back Where it all Began - Allman Bros.

Unfortunately, I can't actually play any of those.:thwap

Hey, didn't you also tell me you love the bass line in Running With the Devil?

 

[NWBasser]

Hey, didn't you also tell me you love the bass line in Running With the Devil?

Oh yeah, but I can't play that one either.







No wait, I won't play that one!

 

[mrmudcat]

that is such a beautiful piece of music :applause

Amen:master

 

[MAXIFUNK]

Maggot Brain -- Funkadelic
Climbing up the Ladder -- Isley Bros
Summer Breeze -- Isley Brothers
Super Stupid -- Funkadelic
comfortably Numb -- Pink Floyd
Still of the night -- White Snake
The sun goes down -- Thin Lizzy
Cry like the skies -- Jesse johnson

just to name a few

 

[birv2]

There are so many.... but here are three of my faves:

Mississippi Queen by Mountain. Leslie West absolutely rips on this one. Gives me chills every time I hear it. Talk about a combination of dirt and super vibrato!

One of These Nights -- Joe Walsh jolts this song into overdrive with the first 2 notes and just keeps going. Amazing.

Cinammon Girl -- Neil Young. I know he's not considered the best guitarist, but this solo absolutely serves the song. And he plays ONE FREAKIN NOTE.OVER AND OVER. Great timing and feel.

I'm sure I'll think of others later.

 

[mrmudcat]

Cant you see!!! Marshall Tucker Band = Toy Caldwell :french

Black Water: The Doobie Brothers= guitar work ,patrick simmons and steely dan???:help

 

[sunvalleylaw]

I Want You (She's So Heavy), especially when I can listen all the way through to The End, and Her Majesty.


That's one anyway. Depends on the mood.

(EDIT: oh, you mean also in terms of playing. I don't play that one yet.)

I guess for playing, I really enjoy messing around with Gravity, Mayer. Really a lot of nice things you can do with it, and you are not limited to minor only, and it is very up and down the neck with a lot of areas for me to work on expression. And working on The Wall Pt. 2, Gilmour/Floyd. I say working on for a reason. My first solo I ever learned was "Secret Agent Man" and that solo, along with the intro is actually quite fun.

 

[oldguy]

Bill Nelson's solo w/ BeBopDeluxe on "Adventures in a Yorkshire Landscape" from the "Live! In the Air Age" live album.

 

[Plank_Spanker]

My instinct is telling me not to post this (seems like the type of thing that's been beaten to death -- I did search for it first), but I'm wondering what some of your favorite guitar solos are, both in terms of listening and playing. I'm always up for trying to learn new solos, though I know very very few that require any technical ability.

I guess my point is that not that many solos are truly affecting or worth noticing for me. Many may be impressive, but are not super cohesive. Some of my faves, simple as they may be, are

Live Forever (Oasis)
Hysteria (Def Leppard)
Aqualung (Jethro Tull)

With a side of:
Michelle (Beatles)

I seem to remember liking the live version of 'Like a Hurricane' by Neil Young too, though I can't recall it right now.

Yeah, I wish I had more obscure ones to reference, but I don't.

A solo doesn't have to be amazingly complex or blazing fast to make a statement. If two notes ice the cake, the deal is real. You are also not bound to learning the solos note for note, or even putting solos where they are in the original tunes. Play what you feel and have fun with it.

 

[Eric]

A solo doesn't have to be amazingly complex or blazing fast to make a statement. If two notes ice the cake, the deal is real. You are also not bound to learning the solos note for note, or even putting solos where they are in the original tunes. Play what you feel and have fun with it.

Oh no, sorry for the confusion. I was saying that the solos I can play don't require much in the way of chops (since about all I can handle are solos that are pretty technically simple).

Moreover, I don't actually know of that many solos that really stand out to me, where the notes seem to mean much. A lot of solos are technically challenging or impressive demonstrations of skill, but so many of them aren't melodic to the point where I'd call them memorable.

The solos that do stand out are a bunch of David Gilmour solos, along with the ones I mentioned originally. I was looking for input on which solos other people find to be truly affecting or worth remembering. Noel Gallagher seems to have a way of carving out memorable guitar solos without too much in the way of technical ability, and to me, that's frequently more impressive than speed demons playing as many notes as they can.

 

[Plank_Spanker]

The Gilmour solos are worthy of learning - they're not technically complex, but they do require touch.......................one of my favorite guitar players.

 

[mrmudcat]

I would take a slow simple burn over a fast complex speed lick any day of the week........................:french