Fastest guitar solo ever.

so, what is the fastest, best most insane solo you've ever heard?
my votes,
soldiers of the wasteland-dragonforce
pretty much all their songs have good solos...
selkies: the endless obsession-between the buried and me
any beneath the massacre song
civeta dei-the number 12 looks like you

If I had to geuss, it would be something by Paul Gilbert or Yngwie Malmsteen. A lot of Dragonforce's stuff is layered with keyboards, wahs and whammy's, with the other two, its straight forward.

Yeah most of the Dragonforce stuff is studio produced to hell - edited note by note too becuase the videos I saw of them playing on youtube were very sloppy. Good when put together but not the best solos IMO.

For insanely difficult mind bending solos check out Vinnie Moore's 'Defying Gravity' album - the good thing is that even they meet the shred classificaltion they are extrememly tasteful. Paul Gilbert's another ridicuously fast player however, the fastest most technical guy I have ever seen is Matthew Mills - ludicrously difficult swept arpeggios over the entire fretboard. Another nutter is Rusty Cooley - probably impossible to copy. Check them out and you will probably fel like throwing your guitar out the window!

Good old cat-head.... (Michael Angelo Batio). 'No Boundaries' being the most obvious example.

Not necessarily a fan myself, but he can alternate pick like a freak.... :eek:

Sweeping just feels like cheating to me for speed, but hey... Good shout on Vinnie Moore too - crazy yet tasteful, and one of my personal favourites.

ok then, by the way, ive seen dragonforce play live, they dont really edit much except for tone :eek: which does sound a bit like a keyboard.

Jeff Loomis of Nevermore is quick and still has a style with flair that I can catch his feeling expressed. Some players are just a blur of notes for me to grasp onto, making it difficult for me to connect with what they are trying to express.
Here's Loomis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5zV-IlSvP4

Originally Posted by: jamesplaysgitarok then, by the way, ive seen dragonforce play live, they dont really edit much except for tone :eek: which does sound a bit like a keyboard.

They edit a lot more than just tone, thats for sure

like what?

When people play live it the sound quality is reduced a lot (and its loud) so even though it sounds like they are playing really fast they are actually playing really fast pretty sloppy like. Its just they're mistakes are covered up my the other instruments much more.

It's no big deal the guys un dragon force are pretty decent as far as technicality goes. As far as song writing though they bore me to hell, after you get over the speed you realize they are just playing scale after scale after scale and aren't doing anything even remotely new or original.

Paul Gilbert is an example of a really cool player who is crazy fast.

The solo in Stream Of Consciousness (Dream Theater- Train of Thought) is pretty crazy, not crazy intresting. I really love petrucci but not as much for his crazy technicality as for his song writing (Dream Theater in General). Yeah they're newer stuff isn't as good as older stuff but Scene's (the whole ****ing album) and most of Awake are some world class prog rock in my opinion. Really interesting to listen to and incredibly deep and complex.

If Labrie disappeared I would probably be happy, but then again I can't really imagine what they would sound like with a different (good) styled vocalist...

Dragon Force is the horrible epitemy of shred the highest (lowest) form of mindless music, just as bad if not worse than any Justin Timberlake song. At least there they have talented people (at least a little) writing his music for him. Dragon Force is just sounds like a montage of all the bland parts of metal from the last twenty years played in fast forward.

My 2 cents.

I also like some of Frank Gambales stuff and Holdsworth <-- crazy fast as well.

I think malmsteen is great! ...Far beyond the sun is my favourite thing to play!

Like Superhuman said, that album of Vinnie is awesome melodic shred.
Matthew Mills is ****ing fast, but he has no taste, however with incredible control of the neck.

No Boundries of MAB is freaking fast as, and clean, tho i dont like him.

Dragonforce, I dont have time to listen to that ****!

P. Gilbert is extremely fast and CLEAN!

Michael Romeo is very fast for a guy with small hands.

But my favourite would have to be Mr. Vai. I've seen him do some sweeps it sounds like just a blur.......

I'd rather listen to Justin Timberlake than Dragon Force...

Originally Posted by: jamesplaysgitarlike what?

Like all of their solos... check this out to hear them playing without the backing music (and backing recordings - midi and otherwise). You wouldn't hear any of those mistakes live becuase of the volume, accoustics and background noise. You can edit anything in a studio right down to indidiual notes and fine tuning. I do like some of the sounds they come up with but this video is bloody awful for a band that play 'shred' professionaly all day long...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1uT8MUr7_4

Check out Rusty Cooley on this vid, maybe not the most tasteful but when it comes to speed and accuracy and intense difficulty he pretty much wipes the floor with anyone else out there. Believe it or not, this is one of his more toned down tracks!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOcA2oW9DGU&mode=related&search=

Here's the track Ren mentioned by Michael Angelo Battio, an all time classic shred track, some very fast runs in there but not as speedy or difficult as Cooley, a little more tastefull though IMO (this track only!).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG74eVb6V10

Originally Posted by: maestro shaz

Michael Romeo is very fast for a guy with small hands.
.......

Romeo kicks ass, great guitarist - to really appreciate his techinique and abilities you need to check out his solo album The Dark Chapter - recorded when he was skinny, about 20 years ago :p

hmm alright then, the singer in dragonforce sucks ass anyway :eek: thanks for all the input.... be sure to check out beneath the massacre though, even if you dont like music of that type, you cant deny their skill (by the way, all their youtube videos suck (bad recordings))

Originally Posted by: SuperhumanLike all of their solos... check this out to hear them playing without the backing music (and backing recordings - midi and otherwise). You wouldn't hear any of those mistakes live becuase of the volume, accoustics and background noise. You can edit anything in a studio right down to indidiual notes and fine tuning. I do like some of the sounds they come up with but this video is bloody awful for a band that play 'shred' professionaly all day long...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1uT8MUr7_4

Sam sucks so bad in that video lol. The sped up version (normal) sounds nothing like when he slows it down. He even messes up with he plays is slow! I like Dragonforce though. Their CDs sound awesome to me, but as far as skill goes, they will never be compared to people like Vai, Cooley, or Gilbert.

Originally Posted by: SuperhumanHere's the track Ren mentioned by Michael Angelo Battio, an all time classic shred track, some very fast runs in there but not as speedy or difficult as Cooley, a little more tasteful though IMO (this track only!).

Haha.. I couldn't help but laugh at his hair and fashion choices but after I got over that, I started to concentrate on what he was doing. And a lot of what he was doing was showmanship stuff.. like that stuff he does between 1:54 and 2:09.. it's not "required" in order to play the solo.. yet it adds so much more energy to the overall performance and also puts him in a certain frame of mind, shaping everything else before and after it...

Another thing I notice is that he hardly moves his pick.. even when sweeping he makes it look so easy.. haha.. :D This is definitely something I need to start working on.. Picking Economy. Also I notice he changes the pickup a lot.. I have only just started to do this myself and though it sounds easy enough it's actually quite tricky trying to get the switch flicked without missing a beat.

buckethead
Megadeth
Avenged Sevenfold
FREEEEEEEEEEEE BIIIIIIIIIIIIRD

The only ones I can think of right now.

Hey so I found this Michael Angelo Batio youtube video today when I was doing a bit of music appreciation, which I find to be a very important part of the creative process. Anyway.. this is one of him with a double-guitar.. it's obvious that this guy is a professional level guitarist of course.. but that isn't good enough for him.. he has to do "things" with the guitar as well as play perfectly. :D

I also found this Steve Vai video that I've never come across before.. not sure why.. It's already had 2.1 million hits.. anyway.. I just really like to take a look back at where my favourites have come from.

Here's the Batio one:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=rutyA12z3Ok

Here's the Vai one:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=35ft52fOiGQ

Oh hey.. this is nice.. I can't stop myself from adding this link as well. Not sure what year this performance is from but he looks at least 20 years younger.. so possibly late 1980's. It starts off a little rough but it really gets going and then when he plays the main melody properly for the first time, he releases all the tension that he has built to that point... it's really great stuff.

Steve Vai - Tender Surrender:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1VjwciFLAg