# Favorite Guitar Riff/Solo **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 4, 2001, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912 "2001-08-04T17:37:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sealemon88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Sealemon88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sealemon88)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2001, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/21 "2001-08-05T05:24:11Z")
The opening sequence to 2112, all of La Villa Strangiato, the solo to The Camera Eye, The Analog Kid,…blah blah blah…Hemespheres…blah blah Jacob’s Ladder…blah, by **Rush** Eruption by Eddie Van Halen. Most of SRV’s stuff. Eric Clapton’s lick on Layla. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2001, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/22 "2001-08-05T06:25:56Z")
[Ritchie Havens](http://www.ritchiehavens.com) knows how to play guitar, as well as sing, only one way: the right way, as evident in his renditions of “Just Like a Woman” and “Here Comes the Sun”. ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2001, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/23 "2001-08-05T10:30:55Z")
I saw this thread and had one thing in mind. Goboy beat me to it. The final solo in Pink Floyd “Comfortably Numb”. Just can’t hear that without cranking some major decibels. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2001, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/24 "2001-08-05T19:39:33Z")
“Even It Up”, by Heart. Sorry, but Heart and Aerosmith are the only bands that need to be mentioned from the Seventies, and since we’re talking riffs and solos, Seventies hard rock is the only music style that needs to be mentioned (So there! 😃 ) Beyond that, there was a local punk band in Houston in the Eighties called Really Red. Kelly Green’s solo in “Balance of Terror” off of _Teaching You the Fear_ is possibly the best hard rock solo I’ve heard, perhaps because of how basic it is and how the song leads up to it (and no, I’m not just listing this to be obscure.) (Ok, maybe I am.) ---
**Author:** ![hardygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@hardygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hardygrrl)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2001, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/25 "2001-08-05T21:36:39Z")
Thought of another one… **Bring the Noise** by Anthrax,especially the version they did with Public Enemy. ---
**Author:** ![warmgun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecccb3/32.png) [@warmgun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/warmgun)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2001, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/26 "2001-08-05T22:27:24Z")
The ‘Johny B. Goode’ riff in 'Back to the future. Brian May - ‘I’m in Love with My Car’ And for blues: Jr. Brown - ‘Stupid Blues’ Ouch!!! ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2001, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/27 "2001-08-05T23:47:29Z")
[More suggestions here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=45088) and [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=44331). I would like to state that in this case, there’s no _opinion_. This has an actual answer, and **goboy** nailed it. The greatest guitar solo (OK, they’re 2 solos, actually) of all time is **David Gilmour** in **Pink Floyd** s _Comfortably Numb_. End of story. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/28 "2001-08-06T02:21:48Z")
“Magic Man” by Heart. “South City Midnight Lady” by the Doobie Brothers has three different nice little guitar solos in it. ---
**Author:** ![nerv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/85e7bf/32.png) [@nerv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nerv)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/29 "2001-08-06T02:32:13Z")
Clapton in his version of Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Allright.” It brilliantly mirrors the mixed emotions of the song and sends a shiver down my spine just thinking about it. ---
**Author:** ![socialxray](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/35a633/32.png) [@socialxray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/socialxray)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/30 "2001-08-06T04:52:04Z")
\*\*hardygrrl \*\*said: > [@](#): > > Bring the Noise by Anthrax,especially the version they did with Public Enemy. Eep. Hate to interject, but “Bring the Noise” is by Public Enemy, not vice versa. The original can be found on their stellar 1988 album, _It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back_. And all this talk about G’n’R and I can’t _believe_ no one has mentioned “Mr. Brownstone.” That song rules on a plane that has been untouched by man since. 😛 The riff is so killer. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/31 "2001-08-06T05:05:11Z")
I’ll nominate “Start Choppin’” by Dinosaur Jr. Oh, and Peter Buck creates some majesty with a few notes on R.E.M.'s “Flowers Of Guatemala.” ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Cynical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@Mr.Cynical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Cynical)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/32 "2001-08-06T06:34:59Z")
Back to Shalla-Bal by Joe Satriani. Technically, it’s cheating, but it’s so goooooooood. ---
**Author:** ![bwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@bwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bwk)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/33 "2001-08-06T06:47:40Z")
Walk this Way, Aerosmith, is just so sassy. Joe Perry also does great stuff on ‘Cheesecake’ with the slide guitar, ‘Three Mile Smile’ and more great slide on ‘Monkey on my Back’. I love the lick from ‘Blister in the Sun’ by Violent Femmes, it is just so retardedly cool. And I will agree on the solos in ‘Comfortably Numb’, but only the version from the live cd ‘Delicate Sound of Thunder’ because that version rocks like no other. ---
**Author:** ![SteveinSpain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@SteveinSpain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveinSpain)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/34 "2001-08-06T13:43:21Z")
Another one for Mick Ronson. I like his playing on the live version of Sympathy for the Devil (from the Rolling Stones -“Get you Ya Ya out” disk. Stop Choppin’ was a good vote. Another one is the guitar lick on Don’t Call me Daughter by Pearl Jam. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/35 "2001-08-06T14:04:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr. Blue Sky \* > **"My Sharona" by the Knack (the second solo in the LP version)** Yeah! People can rip on the song all they want, but that solo is one of the best in rock history. I hate that radio stations nearly always play the short version, clipping most of it out. The Beatles had some great solos in their later work, but a couple that really stand out are George’s work in “Dig A Pony,” “Old Brown Shoe” and “Savoy Truffle.” Good stuff there. The best riff ever is from Led Zeppelin’s “Livin’ Lovin’ Maid,” so there. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/36 "2001-08-06T15:53:53Z")
of course. “Boll Weevil Blues” by Charlie Patton just kills me. “Please Don’t Tell Her” (is that the name of the song?) by Poi Dog Pondering has a wonderful, loping solo. “F Hole” by Squeeze has some amazing stuff. Glenn Tilbrook has a _lot_ of amazing guitar work that doesn’t call attention to itself - I guess it’s just not mixed high, or something. “And Your Bird Can Sing” - I don’t know if it’s George Harrison or John Lennon, and I think it was double-tracked, but WOW. ---
**Author:** ![Iguana\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@Iguana\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iguana_Boy)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/37 "2001-08-06T21:36:11Z")
Eddie Van Halen’s solo from Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” Joe Satriani - “The Phone Call” Billy Gibbons - “Apologies To Pearly” Steve Vai - “Wipeout” Aerosmith - “Walk This Way” The list goes on… ---
**Author:** ![RickQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@RickQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickQ)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2001, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/38 "2001-08-07T00:28:32Z")
I totally agree with **hardygrrl** about **Sweet Child o Mine** , one of my all time favourite songs. Slash is a cool guitarist. I love the riff in **Knocking on Heaven’s Door** too. Others I like include: _Don’t Tread on me_ by **Metallica** _Sad but true_ by **Metallica** _One_ by **Metallica** _Orion_ by **Metallica** _Evenflow_ by **Pearl Jam** _Voodoo Child_ by **Jimmy Hendrix** , the opening riff just rocks. _The Memory Remains_ by **Metallica** There are prolly loads of others that I can’t think of right now, but those will do for the moment. Hmmm, seems to be an abundance of Metallica there 🙂 :heading off to put some on now: Rick ---
**Author:** ![Venkman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ec9cab/32.png) [@Venkman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Venkman)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2001, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/39 "2001-08-07T00:39:36Z")
“Funk #49”, Joe Walsh/James Gang. I’ve always dug that. “Ain’t Superstitious”, Jeff Beck. And more for sentimental reasons than musical ones, the part of “The End” where John, Paul, and George take turns doing a few bars (or more accurately, Paul-George-John). ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2001, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/40 "2001-08-07T03:51:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pldennison \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Mr. Blue Sky \* > > **"My Sharona" by the Knack (the second solo in the LP version)** > > Yeah! People can rip on the song all they want, but that solo is one of the best in rock history. I hate that radio stations nearly always play the short version, clipping most of it out. > \*\* And here I thought I was going to be Captain Cool and be the only person on the boards to sing the praises of The Knack. I was just listening to that solo on headphones cranked way the hell up and every single time I listen to it I can’t help but wonder at how much it kicks major boo-tay!! I also have throw a Hidey-ho out to KISS’s **Shock Me** on the _Love Gun_ album. As a private in the Kiss Army, that was my personal moment of nirvana when I was a kid. Ace was my god and that solo was the meaning of life. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912.md?page=3)