I can’t believe we haven’t done this before… but I searched, and if there was a “best solos” thread, I missed it.
Anyway, what are your favorite solos?
Mine:
The one that lasts about three minutes in the middle of Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain. British Dopers will know it as the old (BBC) theme music for Formula 1 broadcasts.
Slash’s solo at the end of G n’ R’s November Rain - the second solo, after the actual “song” is more or less over, not the conventional one.
Iron Maiden - Afraid to Shoot Strangers. Pretty much the last 5 or 6 minutes of the song is a solo.
You must, seriously, must find the surround sound mix of Rumors. There are guitar parts in “The Chain” that you never even knew were there from the stereo mix. The DVD-Audio mix will play in surround on a regular home theater surround system.
My best guitar solo is Kazumi Watanabe on “Thousand Knives” on Ryuchi Sakamoto’s album of the same name.
I might have to do that. What’s funny is that I don’t like the rest of The Chain at all. Honestly, I don’t really like Fleetwood Mac at all. Just that one sublime segment of one song.
One that rarely gets mention is Neal Schon’s solo closing out Journey’s “Stone in Love”.
Now, for some of the usual suspects:
Eddie Van Halen on “Eruption” and “Ain’t Talkin’ 'Bout Love”
Randy Rhoads on Ozzy Osbourne’s “Mr. Crowley”
Eric Clapton on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”
Joe Walsh on the James Gang’s “Walk Away”
Much of Dick Dale’s catalog, the most prominent being “Misirlou”.
Nearly every song on The Wall has a solo that’s better than nearly every other rock bands entire collection of soloes, even the throwaway ones like the one in One of my Turns. And of course CN and ABitW2 are miles ahead of anyone else’s best tries.
I was going to mention my favorite non-Floyd soloes, but the more I think about them the more they just don’t even come close to the same level as most of the stuff on The Wall. Yes, even the Big Ones like certain songs by Zep and the Eagles. Although Coheed and Cambria did do a decent homage to Wall-y soloes on The Final Cut (doing nearly as good a job as the soloes on the album of that name by the Floyd themselves!)
That has some really great musicianship for me, too, but my favorite part of that song was when they pounded their wankishness at making a 30+minute long song into your face, when one movement ground down to a stop, the hi-hat was hit slowly several times, then you think they will proceed with a verse, but NO! It’s another musical movement (and one of the best soloes on that album, too.) Pure genius.
I’m not saying I don’t like it. I’m just saying it’s self-indulgent and slow to build up. I think the part where one thinks that the singing will start and then doesn’t is humorous.
Way back in 1979, I was taking a summer course at Berklee. I overheard a small band rehearsing. They were fargin’ HAWT. They soon became the talk of the school. Everyone knew who they were. They were a fusion band called Battle Axe. Apparently they were some teacher’s special project. He wrote the music and they played it.
We got very excited when we found out that they were going to give a free concert. Of course we went. When they were done, the teacher’s project band from the previous year played. I think they were called Winter. They blew Battle Axe out of the water. The guitarist was amazing. I’d never heard anyone play like that before or since. (With the exception of the afore mentioned Mike Stern, who I saw in a tiny club a year later.)
Who was that guitar god? Some unknown named Steve Vai.
I’m going to go with Steve Hackett’s solo in “Firth of Fifth”, from Genesis’ live “Seconds Out” album. Gives me goosebumps just about every time I hear it.
Shame on you **An Arky ** - everyone knows that’s Waddy Wachtel, famed session guitarist and sometime member of Keith Richard’s X-Pensive Winos and another band called Ronin…
