Favourite solos

My favourite solos are

Guns N Roses - November Rain, Sweet Child O Mine (First solo I ever learnt - off tabs it was heavily wrong until I corrected it by ear and then changed it to what I thought sounded better)
Led Zeppelin- Stairway To Heaven
Eagles - Hotel California(Not the original theres a live version on Hell Freezes Over played on classical guitar anyone serious about classical guitar should learn this)
Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
Thin Lizzy - Whisky In The Jar, Emerald(Thin Lizzy have so many great solos its hard to pick. I think the fact that alot of them go totally against the main tune is why they are bettter)

Theres more so amny I cant name

any/all - ac/dc
lil devil - the cult
stairway to heaven - zeppelin
sleeping in the fire - wasp
the price - twisted sister
sweet child o mine - guns/roses
little wing, texas flood - srv
red house - hendrix

All the assorted bass/guitar solos in Tommy The Cat and the two part bass solo in As the Toys go Winding Down by Primus.

[Edited by Raskolnikov on 07-22-2001 at 10:13 AM]

since you have already mentioned some great ones, i'll expand the field a bit... first I must add the LIVE version of "Stairway to Heaven" (from Song Remains the Same). strange nobody mentioned "Freebird", Lynyrd Skynyrd. Though I don't listen to them much anymore, that solo is still pretty impressive. I really like Gary Moore's solo in "Still Got the Blues." add just about any Eric Clapton work ("Bell Bottom Blues," "Layla", "Bad Love", "Old Love", to name a few...) I also believe that is Eric playing the lead in the Beatles' "Something". I think Harrison pulls of a sweet lead in the guitar version of "Let it Be"...it's not difficult but has a lot of character! Has anyone heard Vinnie Moore's cover of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"? Save for the canned rhythm tracks and slight overproduction, Vinnie's technique is pretty amazing. I'm sure I'll think of 10 others as soon as I stop writing so I'll add Hendrix "All along the Watchtower" (you guys already mention everything SRV ever did!)... Oh, and i like the original electric version of "Hotel California" better than the live one, though, both are nice. Pearl Jam's "Yellow Ledbetter" has some nice fretwork as well. and Carlos Santana has some tasty stuff throughout his career. Check out the Milagro! CD sometime...
Play your heart's out!

I agree with eljison, but want to add a few more.... Namely: Boston - More Than A Feeling. Another great guitarist with killer solos is Elliot Easton. Who? He was the lead guitarist of the Cars in the 80's. I think he was in the wrong decade or he would have been huge! If you haven't checked out some of his solos check out his work on The Cars Greatest Hits. Don't forget all the country pickers: Danny Gatton comes to mind.

Oh yes, You are correct SIR! Fendermonkey's Boston call is a good one... but I recommend cranking the volume and checking out "Hitch A Ride"...some of my all-time favorite guitar work. (see, I knew I left out some greats!) the Cars, on the other hand, I wouldn't rank in the same category but he did have some nice catchy riffs, one of the better guitar parts is in "Dance All Night" though I prefer their earlier stuff (debut and "Candy Oh"). we've all but forgotten Frampton ("Show Me The Way", "Feel Like We Do" and my fav "Lines On My Face"), Dire Straights (Mark Knopfler) "Sultans of Swing" (check out "Private Investigations", too!), and on the softer side, Steely Dan "Reeling in the Years" (Jimmy Page is attributed with calling this the hardest solo he had heard), Chicago "25 or 624" and believe it or not, i love the solo in the Commodores (Lionel Ritchie song, sorry I don't know the guitarist) "Easy"... very sweet stuff! If you like my taste, see my comments on the "instrumental" thread...
YO!

This is like a game of tennis....fendermonkey77 with the return! What about Neal Schon (Journey) or Steve Lukather (Toto and TONS of studio work).

Originally posted by fendermonkey77
This is like a game of tennis....fendermonkey77 with the return! What about Neal Schon (Journey) or Steve Lukather (Toto and TONS of studio work).

Hey, glad you agree. as for Schon and Lukather, both talented guitarists but I'm not as familiar with their stuff (save for Schon's Journey and Santana work) They're not exactly my style... I return with Al Dimeola. In my opinion he is a master technician but lacks soul. There are some exceptions but when I listen to him, it feels like I'm listening to him practice scales! I much prefer Phil Keaggy's melodic style. also, have you heard any Acoustic Alchemy? there is some great guitarwork, especially on the early stuff ("Red Dust and Spanish Lace" and "Early Alchemy"). Later stuff is also good but more effort was put into production and synthesizers. There are a bunch of great guitarists from the Windham Hill/New Age genre such as William Ackerman, Michael Hedges, Ottmar Liebert, Struntz and Farah(?) to name a few. I recommend the "Guitar Sampler" collections first to get an idea of which styles you prefer...
happy listening/playing!

eljison, its George Harrison playing lead on Something as far as I know. Clapton plays lead on While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

[Edited by Led Zeppelin on 07-27-2001 at 06:55 PM]

yes, i think you're correct. I knew Clapton played on one or both of those... they both have nice solos.
cheers.

Originally posted by Led Zeppelin
eljison, its George Harrison playing lead on Something as far as I know. Clapton plays lead on While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

[Edited by Led Zeppelin on 07-27-2001 at 06:55 PM]

I am a great lover of the solo on "Hotel California" anybody else like that? What about the riff that Mick Ronson plays on the Ziggy album

ah, but of course... I think the Hotel California lead was mentioned a while back. we have been digging deeper into the bowels of the lesser known or previously unmentioned but noteworthy (pun intended!) solos... both the electric and the acoustic versions were mentioned... sorry, i have no idea about Mick Ronson and Ziggy...
cheers

Originally posted by Starman
I am a great lover of the solo on "Hotel California" anybody else like that? What about the riff that Mick Ronson plays on the Ziggy album

What about Patience by Guns N Roses?

Vai - For the Love of God (who can deny its power?)
Vai - the Silent Within (he has an uncanny ability to fit a solo with a lyrical song)
Vai - Rescue Me or Bury Me (I dont care what anyone says about 'Sex and Religion', its a fantastic album)

Please excuse my apparent narrowmindedness, I do like most of the solos listed above and many many others, but these come to my mind first.

Let see then:-

Brian May - Killer Queen
Kirk Hammet - God That Failed
Eagles - Hotel California Outro
Mark Knofler - Sultuns Of Swing
Thin Lizzy/Metallica - Whiskey in the Jar

There's loads of others, but at the moment they escape me for some reasons...ah well...

Hammet - The final 'one' solo
The final 'Fade to black' solo
Master of puppets (+Hetfield)
Lenny Kravitz - Believe

Lets see now.....

1. Freebird - Lynard Skynard
2. Stairway to Heaven - Led Zepplin
3. Paranoid Android - Radiohead (Both Solos)
4. Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) - Hendrix
5. Sweet Child o' Mine - GnR
6. You don't fool me - Queen
7. More than a Feeling - Boston
8. Heartbreaker - Led Zepplin (First Solo)
9. Little Wing - Hendrix
10. Electionering - Radiohead

U can proberbly guess who my favourite bands are.

Nobody seems to have mentioned Ritchie Blackmore! The first album I ever bought was Made In Japan and I love all those solos. Thinking a little more deeply, how about Alvin Lee and Ten Years After? I have a live album with a stonking version of Help Me Babe which is so gutsy. Then there's Pat Metheney, OK his tracks are not so much solos as songs, but that guy has great taste. I certainly agree with the gent who suggested Vai and Love of God, a mesmerising piece, especially if you watched the Guitar Heroes concert from Seville some years ago, which I have on video. Overall I think I prefer Satriani to Vai though, he has a little more "edge" to his playing. As a final thought, a track called Five Miles Above by a band called Be S#harp. They're a three piece professional outfit who play small venues around here (Hampshire, Kent etc). Jerry Stevenson, the guitarist is pretty amazing. A band well worth checking out and you can talk to them afterwards.

Hank Marvin-Wonderful Land,The Stranger
Eric Clapton-Layla,Before You Accuse Me
Mark Knopfler-Sultans of Swing
The Eagles-Hotel California
Boston-More Than A Feeling
Led Zepplin-Stairway To Heaven

There are too many!!

Hey Willdridge? I had forgotten the Thin Lizzy stuff what about Gary Moore and Still got the blues?