The best guitar solo in history?

[microdmitry]

Hands down, Tender Surrender by Steve Vai. Unmatched intensity.

[Thomas M]

Here's another vote for poor overlooked Charlotte McCaffrey! (Actually I can hear that solo in my head right now which might be one sign that it did its job...It's got kind of a "Day Tripper" solo feel.)

But in all somber seriousness there are too many great guitar solos to pick from thin air. Apart from the Go Gos there seems to be a groundswell of support for SSVs "Big Trouble" so maybe I'll go with that. Always loved that solo very much. Then again, "Call It Sleep" is sublime, but then again it's an instrumental. How about EVH "Secrets" -- kind of a sleeper there, tucked away on perhaps-not-the-strongest-VH album. Or "Beat It" -- but then, are we talking hired gun stuff? If guest solos count, then Eric Clapton on "Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking" has always been a fave. Would an intro solo count? ("No One Like You" by the Scorpions) or an outro? ("Back in Black" or "Round n Round" or "House of Pain") Or if I picked "Comfortably Numb" would I be disqualified for picking BOTH solos? Hey, might as well "Jump!" Fun topic!

[Tezifon]

QUEEN

brian may WE WILL ROCK YOU solo


RLZ

[ScottB]

If I only had 1 solo to listen to for the rest of my life, I couldn't decide. My choice would be a toss-up between Watermelon In Easter Hay by Frank Zappa and Texas Flood by Stevie Ray Vaughn. You pick the version - they're all great IMHO.

[urkoman]

Originally Posted by yurich

LOL we're talking about GUITAR solos here

It requieres years of training!!!!!!!

[VanWyck]

It requires a firm grip and well trained fingers...

I'd cast a vote for my earliest most influential solo - J.Page live on "Stairway" Yeah, I know, but... it is a great solo.

Then again "Comfortably Numb" "21 Century Schizoid Man" are greats.

Big Trouble and Ladies Night in Buffalo definitely rank up there.

Yngwie on Black Star...
E. Johnson - Manhattan
Steve Howe on Close to the Edge.
SRV - just about any solo
Satriani - Flying in a Blue Dream
Petrucci - Fatal Tragedy, Intro to Glass Prison.

Too many to list![/i]

[hamand]

There are some solos which, by just bringing them to mind, makes me do the air guitar thing. I pretty much "know" them, even if I can't play them yet.

Eric Johnson - Desert Rose
SRV - Cold Shot on the live from Austin, Texas video
EVH - Hot for Teacher, Girl Gone Bad, House of Pain, countless others
Steve - Little Alligator (a monster!)
Slash - Sweet Child o' Mine
Jimmy Page - Stairway to Heaven
Brian May - Bohemian Rhapsody

Something I noticed a while back...there are some solos which have permeated the rock community's consciousness beyond those folks who play guitar (those last two on my list for example). I recall sitting next to some guy at work, who doesn't play the guitar, but he did the air guitar Stairway perfectly whilst listening to it on headphones, thinking nobody was watching him.

To some listeners, a solo is a time to catch a breath between singing along to the lyrics; but some songs present an utterly compelling invitation to strum along.

oooh, just had to edit this post to add in Vai's Big Trouble - that is a shocking solo. Oh and Fool for your Lovin' - bliss, even ignoring the whole ****rock madness.

Yeah, too many to list!

Okay, another edit - Gary Moore's Story of the Blues, and the absolutely jaw dropping/brain sizzling "I was warned" by Robert Cray. Such finesse.

[Reaper]

Dokken- Mr. Scary
Chris Poland- Peanut Buddah

and of course, the all-infamous 5-Knuckle Shuffle

[Sypher]

Metallica - Bleeding Me just something about the wah in there and just I dunno the first time I heard it floored me, still does.

[777skSweden]

Originally Posted by Given to Fly

Vai- The Silent Within (at least my current favorite)

I KNEW I could not be the only one who adored this great solo!

[zulumika]

I just stumble on my Extreme III album ; the last tune "who cares", nuno is just magnificent! In fact, I think the whole album is a perfect 10.

[revsharp777]

Hmmm...this is a hard one. There's just too many that floor me. A lot of you have named most of my faves, so I'll just throw some out that floor me or haven't been mentioned yet.

The Sky Is Crying - SRV (just beautiful)
Cult of Personality - Living Colour (Vernon Reid's sheer attitude and intensity is just amazing)
No More Tears - Ozzy (Zakk shows you has it's suppose to be done)
Towing The Line - Pride and Glory (Again, Zakk kicking serious ass!)
Under A Glass Moon - Dream Theater (JP couldn't have made a more perfect solo)
Mr. Crowley - Ozzy (The mighty Randy Rhoads...nuff said.)
Master of Puppets - Metallica (KH cranking out mass attitude on this one)
Angel of Death - Slayer (Kerry King & Jeff Hanneman blow through this song like a f***ing streamroller with their "Let's try to break the guitar everytime we solo" mentality)

That's enough for now.

[CrossingStar]

The one I keep coming back to is "Ten Years Gone" by Jimmy Page.

[BucketBot]

Buckethead's in his tune "I come In Peace".

[The Dark Wolf]

A great solo, memorable and melodic and grabs you EMOTIONALLY, isn't always technically brilliant, but it can be. Some of the most amazing stuff isn't the most memorable or emotional. Be that as it may, Eruption blows everyone away when they hear it, and stands the test of time. Whats out there mainstream like it today ask yourself?
However, as far as BEST solo ever, I could only narrow it down to three. take your pick.

A. The Eagles, 'Hotel California.' I can hum (lol) right along with this one, every note.
B. Guns N' Roses, 'Don't Cry.' Slash is FEELING. Too bad Axle got rid of him. GNR ain't been the same since (They haven't been much of anything, really!)
C. Led Zeppelin, 'Stairway To Heaven.' An all-time classic.

Not my favorite bands, players, or songs, but great solos all.