All Time Favourite Guitar Solo

Quirkiness and unpredicatbility- Kid Charlemagne, Larry Carlton (Steely Dan)
Flow in the song- Sister Christian, Brad Gillis (Night Ranger), great example of getting into a solo right, and out with something that raises the bar
Scary, it's a new world, moment- Eruption, EVH, VH I
Whole song solo- Gary Moore, Still Got The Blues AND Stevie Ray Vaughn, Tin Pan Alley
Everything they play- David Gilmour And Phil Keaggy
Made me say "yep, I need to play guitar"- Carlos Santana, Samba Pa Ti
Single note of note- That middle, grunting note in Mississippi Queen, Leslie West (Mountain) and the third from last phrase in Whole Lotta Love, Jimmy Page (Led Zep)

Could go on and on...
 
Kidsfeet said:
"Money" hands down. The feel, the tone...simply amazing.
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I'm adding a hashmark for "Money". My brothers and sister used to air-guitar this on my mom's console record player.... the sax solo too! Greatest memories ever! (in fact air-guitar wasn't even a word back then haha!)
 
Fave's don't necessarily mean the best. Roger Hodgen's wah solo at the end and fadeout of Goodbye stranger from Supertramp's Breakfast in America
Mike Rutherford's solo at the end of Abacab by Genesis
Alex Lifeson's Solo from the intro to Xanadu from Rush's Farewell to Kings album
Richie Sambora's solo from Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead of Alive
Jeff Beck's solo guitar from Where Were You, the Guitar Shop album
 
The three that made me want to play guitar in the first place, and felt like I was hearing something from another planet at the time:

Queen - We Will Rock You
Van Halen - Eruption
Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall Pt 2

All-time favorite:

Pink Floyd - Time

Queens "We Will Rock You" was particularly alien sounding on a K-mart transistor radio.
 
La Villa Strangiado - Rush (Dynamics) - La Villa Strangiato (Rush in Rio) - YouTube (solo starts at 2:30)
Romeo Delight - Van Halen (Attack) - Van Halen - Women and Children First - Romeo Delight - YouTube (solo starts at 1:52)
Fuzz Universe - Paul Gilbert (Technique - Whole Song) - Paul Gilbert "Fuzz Universe" Nov.17.2010@Luxor, Cologne Köln - YouTube
All Along The Watchtower - Hendrix (Most influential for me - bluring the line between rythym and lead)
Time - Pink Floyd (Musicality, and all time favorite)
 
At this moment, off the top of my head...

Shine on You Crazy Diamond - Pink Floyd
Let it Be - The Beatles
Purple Rain - Prince

To me, it is about the emotion and context of the song... Not mathematics or showing off... IF you can play a solo with one note and get the emotion across then one note is all that is needed.

Shred and metal leaves me cold, sorry.
 
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edawterb said:
Jake E Lee from shot in the dark is in my top 5.
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Good call
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My wife and I actually named our son after Jake... and I'd say that's largely due to me being introduced to his playing via that very solo :)
 
changes all the time i guess. can appreciate all sorts; from albert king, chet atkins, john williams through to allan holdsworth, frank gambale etc.
not stuck on one style forever, but listening a lot of holdsworth now (looking glass, Ruhkukah, the things you see when you haven't got your gun, ... too may awesomes to list)
still nobody comes close to AH's unique playing to this day, imo.
 
Eruption, for sure. But one I love just for its insane brilliance is Adrian Belew in Talking Heads' "The Great Curve", on Remain in Light.
 
Just too many to pick from, but the ones that stir the emotions the most off the top of my head are:-

Solo from "Comfortably Numb"- PInk Floyd, (actually the whole song really....)

and.....

"Empty Rooms"- Gary Moore,.....(again the whole song..)

and....

"Ommadawn" - Mike Oldfield...(whole album really.....)
 
Rock you like a hurricane-scorpions-fits the song in attitude
James gang-walk away-more of a melody, but really makes the song
communication breakdown-led zeppelin-lot of fire in that one
honorable mention for fun-lionel ritchie-easy
 
Randy rhodes Solo in The middle of Suicide Solution on the ozzie osbourne live tribute to RR album.

Any gilmour solos at the top of my list too.
 
Van Halen I'm The One and Ice Cream Man. Randy Rhoads SATO. Anything from Petrucci Guthrie Govan and Richie Rotzen.
 
for me, a great solo has to have something about it that stands out.. makes it memorable..
this can be many things..
can be a lyrical / melodic line.. and an effect / trick..
something is essentially a powerful signature..

and a huge thing for me is passion and intensity..

there have been some awesome suggestions so far...
I'll try to add some others...

Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street
the was this simple little solo makes the song climax is nothing short of a moment of genius
and without any signs of shred, it has an intense quality

UFO - This Kids [live from Strangers in the Night]
with a wonderful signature intro.. it could only be Schenker..
UFO - Lights Out [live from Strangers in the Night]
ok, so the playing is not all super accurate, but if it was all that wonderful intensity would vanish..
Schenker sound like he's right on the ragged edge.. again, it's his fierce intensity as he tears into this one..
I took the spirit of this solo and placed it right at the heart of everything that is my approach to playing..
take the song by the throat and throw down..

Satriani - War [the solo from 2:14]
the spirit of Schenker on steroids
I still to this day think it was Satch's finest moment

EVH - I'm The One
up there with the greatest solos ever.. a solo that redefined soloing for a whole generation..
but it has a beautiful and quirky sense of fun... almost cheeky "catch me if ya can"
pure genius of Eddie at his best..

Night Ranger - Don't Tell Me You Love Me
a stunning example of shredding with purpose and musicality..
a beautifully executed solo that sounds like it hits a nice balance between improv and composition..
an approach which is deeply embedded within my own style..
and this solo is the first time I heard whammie warble tricks.. and was like "wtf??"

Rising Force - Disciples of Hell
Malm at his very best... superb signature intro to the solo..
and his 'in-flight' shred soaring 30,000' over the riff.. fabulously intense.. with real fire in it's belly..

Journey - Still They Ride
a stunningly beautiful solo... beginning with a fabulously lyrical and memorable melodic line..
and then it just grows and grows in intensity to a climax of blistering licks...
I personally learn a great deal from Schon about the lyrical side of solos..
and how to use note density as a means to control the solo's dynamic ebb and flow..

Judas Priest - Delivering the Goods
slick.. intense.. and with a wonderfully stylish signature ending..
a superb example of how to create a solo that has great impact..

Mountain - Nantucket Sleigh Ride [from 3:06]
nothing flashy, but just oozing cool.. highly memorable.. a great fusion of quasi-Celtic lines with Blues Rock

Yes - Yours Is No Disgrace [from Yessongs] from 5:43
superb signature intro with the wah licks..
it's a long solo this one.. a great example of compositional playing..
and how to use compositional tricks to keep the solo packed with variety and content
the way the solo grows and develops / ebbs and flows..
some beautiful soaring lines.. and.. it's much more difficult than it sounds..
and at 7:34 when it drops to just guitar and drums.. the way that Howe develops the motiff is just soooo clever..
long solos are difficult to keep interesting.. but for me Howe manages it.. it's so full of content and musicality...
he's a master when it comes to playing around with timing and phrasing [something lost on a lot of modern players that simply charge around in 1/16ths or 1/32ths relentlessly]
a hugely under-rated guitarist...
 
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