1. “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” Guns N’ Roses lower
2. “Freebird,” Lynyrd Skynyrd noise after 2 minutes
3. “One,” Metallica too much distortion
4. “Comfortably Numb,” Pink Floyd boring
5. “Marquee Moon,” Televisionawsome
6. “Crossroads,” Cream great
7. “Purple Rain,” Prince funktastic
8. “Machine Gun,” Jimi Hendrix perfect
9. “Ball and Biscuit,” The White Stripes best guitarist of contemparary music
10. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” The Beatles great and but not even their solo
11. “Stairway to Heaven,” Led Zeppelin rip off
12. “Eruption,” Van Halen too much distortion
13. “November Rain,” Guns N’ Roses just like sweet child of mine
14. “Alive,” Pearl Jam best grunge solo
15. “Paranoid Android,” Radiohead Greatest solo of all time
16. “Maggot Brain,” Funkadelic perfect
17. “Fortunate Son,” Creedence Clearwater Revival awsome
18. “Time,” Pink Floyd I guess
it good
19. “Hotel California,” Eagles sure
20. “Cinnamon Girl,” Neil Young yeah this belongs
21. “Yellow Ledbetter,” Pearl Jam best B side ever
22. “Telegraph Road,” Dire Straits not a fan
23. “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” Allman Brothers best souther rock band
24. “Soma,” Smashing Pumpkins hahaha
25. “Scar Tissue,” Red Hot Chili Peppers awsome

This is a pretty good list, but “Fortunate Son” must be a mistake. John Fogerty rocks, but he is no great guitar soloist, and that song doesn’t even showcase his best work.

Just to name a few solos off the top of my head that beat “Fortunate Son” (and a few more on this list):
1. “Starla” – Smashing Pumpkins
2. “Torture Me” – Red Hot Chili Peppers
3. “Aqualung” – Jethro Tull
4. “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” – The Rolling Stones
5. “Vision of Division” – The Strokes
6. “Maze” – Phish

As a guitarist, these 6 solos are much harder to play than several of those listed. And I know it’s not always about the technical skill, but these still rock and fit with the song just as much as the original 25.

-Bitter, long-winded axe-man

hello? Aerosmith’s Nobody’s Fault kicks with attitude and swagger… Bowies moonage day dream Mick Ronson’s outstanding! Ace Frehley’s performance on “She”….The Rolling Sones, “Sympathy for the devil”, keith”s dripping evil. Cheap Trick’s “The Balllad of TV Violence”.. Rick rocks!

eh,hated the list.ay=t least U mentioned the smashing pumpkins,even tho the solo in soma aint that great and they have a betta solo in Geek USA.also i dont like the solo in paranoid androud by radiohead and they have a bettah solo in Just

no who? fuck you.

It’s nice to see that Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Neil Young and Radiohead made this top 25 RS list (they are among my personal favorites).

However…not surprisingly, in my opinion (and don’t attack me for this), #1 on this compiled RS results list could now possibly be the most overrated guitar solo of all time, and as I had predicted (and where is All Along the Watchtower on this top 25 results list?!!). You guys might be interested in checking this out instead, as voted by Guitar World magazine readers (which makes a lot more sense in my opinion):
Google:
guitar world 100 greatest guitar solos

…and the solo credit for “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” goes to Eric Clapton, specifically (the White Album version)

Golden Country – REO Speedwagon
Enough Said

in a few years, ball & biscuit will be even higher up on the list, but its too soon for it to be that high up, but it is better than a lot of those ahead of it now. the only disappointment with jack’s latest album is that there wasn’t a long song with a guitar solo like ball & biscuit again.

come on jack, we’ve seen you do it before all the time live.

lay another one like this on us.

http://www.youtube.com/wa tch?v=UF_XG6KA8ec

NO Santan or Who?

You guys suck!

boo to this list.

Nels Cline’s solo in Impossible Germany by Wilco!!!

The list is decent, a little predictable but ok. Megadeth and Santana were overlooked, among others

By contrast, Sweet Child O’ Mine ranks at #37 on “Guitar World’s” best guitar solo list.

After looking at this Rolling Stone list, something doesn’t seem right about it. Voting and preference is all subjective, but I think the #1 guitar solo should deservedly go to Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, or Eddie Van Halen.

I’m in agreement with Andrea – Santana should have also been included on this list.

Metallica -

Shortest Straw
Dyers Eve
Seek and Destroy
Fight Fire with Fire
Wherever I May Roam

and more I’m sure,

Your Song Is Mine by The Raisins,
now known as the Bears, has a fantastic solo

as far as Clapton, i would’ve opted for Badge and not Crossroads….personally

Most of you guys have a hard-on for one or two bands and it’s the same ol’ shit. “Pearl Jam should be higher”, “no, Radiohead should be higher”, blah, blah, blah. Bottom line: this list just shows that more people who visit this site have a boner for G’n'R than other bands/guitarists on the list. That’s all it means. Calm down. And the first post by “Kinda Ready”…anyone who thinks that there’s “too much distortion” on a guitar solo hasn’t followed rock music since the ’70s. Big rock guitar solos are all about the high gain. Were you deprived of Spinal Tap as a kid? And as for laughing off the solo for “Soma” by SP…you just sound like a washed-up blues guitarist who’s never played outside of his local neighborhood watering hole in front of his wife and, lately, his kids.

Killing Fields by Howlin Wolf, solo by Hubert Sumlin. His licks define rock and roll.

I agree that Freebird is noise after 2 minutes,I turn it off! Having one solo on there from John Frusciante,whom your magazine featured as a guitar god? Something is not right there!

So are you trying to say that GNR “isn’t” the same old sh&t, as opposed to some of the other bands on the list?

1) Anything by John Petrucci

Give it up Rolling Stone. No one cares about your opinion… except maybe the aging hippie crowd.

Rolling Stone is run by a bunch of sissies. Angel of Death by Slayer has to be the best and most intense guitar solos.

The Beatles’ best guitar work was on “And Your Bird Can Sing”.

Any list with Rage Against the Machine and Tommy Morello is void.

NO SANTANA OR JEFF BECK – What are you guys listening with earmuffs on !!!

*without*

let us not forget robert fripp’s blistering solo on eno’s “baby’s on fire”

WTF happened to Rock? There are songs that belong on this list, we all know them. But Marquee Moon? WTF is that?

Try this on for size:

Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii. Solo starts at 5:30.

http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=hy_n4pzWbvc

The Fly–U2

This is the same crappy rag of a magazine that had Eddie Van Halen as the #76th best guitarist of all time, right before Joni Mitchell. I’d be willing to bet if they asked the players in front of EVH they’d all say, “hell no, no way I’m better or more influential then Eddie.”

eruption should be at the top of the list…

Admiral Ackbar, go on LimeWire or something like that and download “Marquee Moon”. It was more of an underground song when it was first released on the album of the same name in 1977, so you may have never heard of. It’s 10 minutes long and totally brilliant. I believe that both the song and the album appeared on the “500 songs” and “500 Albums”.

Peace

POP! Tooooo……much……

My brain just popped thinking of all the worthy solos.

The list is what it is, a list. Therefore, limiting, but fun.

This list is crap. its like some ass sitting behind a desk decided to list a bunch of pop rock songs, and threw in a few worthless obscurities to make it look like he did his job. This is another list of filler crap to get you to click. Truely sad. the fact that I clicked makes me want to stab myself in the scotum with a fork.

This list is crap. its like some ass sitting behind a desk decided to list a bunch of pop rock songs, and threw in a few worthless obscurities to make it look like he did his job. This is another list of filler crap to get you to click. Truely sad. the fact that I clicked makes me want to stab myself in the scrotum with a fork.

Uhhh…. “Bleeding Munk” . Other than the last sentence , I agree with everything you say. This list was created in a vacuum.

out of these 25 songs,only 10 deserve to be there and another ten are great but theres a better solo by the same band/artist thats not on the list.for example,the solo in paranoid android is cool but they have a waay better solo in just and the solo in soma by smashing pumpkins is fantastiv but they have better solos in Geek USA and in Cherub Rock

nose… la lista la veo bn sobretodo pos que la encabeza guns and roses …pero pienso k paradise city tambien tendria k estar incluida en esa fantastica lista de solos….. por lo menos es lo k yo pienso

Smashing Pumpkins – Corgan has a lot of amazing solos…..get radiohead off the list and add geek usa by pumpkins

I want to say thanks to all the people that made it possible for Telegraph Road to make the list…however I believe Duane Allman’s work on Wilson Pickett’s Hey Jude should have made it…

Of course a list like this “best” will always be subjective. But THIS lists seems even more off-base.

Rolling Stone,your list is terrible. I can think of 25 better solo’s than the one’s on your list. There are only four on your list that are worthy to be there, and none of them are # 1.

i agree that soma is great but i also agree with most of the posters here that there are better pumpkins solos out there.. my fave is Here is No Why.

Why oh why is this magazine in love with this awful group? Who are these “readers” who’ve come up with this awful list.

So Page only makes the list once?

Satriani? Vai? Petrucci?

Useless magazine. Jack White can suck it!

Watermelon in Easter Hay – Frank Zappa

all along the watchtower-jimi hendrix
vodoo child-jimi hendrix
cliff of dover-eric johnson

this list suck!

I agree that Aqualung should be on the list, and something from Phish (Maze? Runaway Jim? Run like an Antelope?)

I’m much more upset that Lindsey Buckingham isn’t on this list. I guess he’s one of those guys who has to die to be appreciated?!

They loop the solo on Freebird at one point.

Ball & Biscuit, wow. If you’re a stubborn classic rocky who hates this innocuous band, give this track a listen.

Listen to some of Frusciante’s solo work…they destroy half of these crappy choices

Lindsay Buckingham’s solo on “So Afraid” on the Mac reunion album The Dance is awesome. His acoustic version of “Big Love” (which won him a Grammy) on same said album is awesome. And I have always had a soft spot for the simple outro guitar solo on “Shout” by Tears for Fears.

People, at least Nirvana didn’t make this list. Every other guitar list in existence includes that band. ::Shudder::

i disagree with GNR sweet Child there were lots better choices. GNR sucks.

Solid list. I think The Gap Band’s “Yearning For Your Love” and Frankie Beverly feat. Maze’s “Before I Let Go” would’ve made good canidates as well.

This is a great list, and i’m surprised Yellow Ledbetter made it since it’s really overlooked. But I really think Cream’s Crossroad should be number 1. I get goosebumps every time I hear Clapton shredding that guitar.

Oh, and in my opinion, Coheed and Cambria’s Welcome Home belongs on the list.

“Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers -Jeff Beck
“Planet Caravan” -Pantera
“Ruiner” Nine Inch Nails
“Take It” Stevie Ray Vaughan
“The Diamond Sea” Sonic Youth
“Texas Flood” SRV

I am supprised there was only one Neil Young song on this list. A rather lame guitar solo compared to songs like Down By The River, Cowgirl In The Sand, and Like a Hurricane.

Deep Purple-Burn or Highway Star

what about the solo at the end of Feel The Benefit by 10cc?
Also, Santana’s solo in Somewhere In Heaven. It ROCKS!!!

iiiio opino ke dont` cry deberiiia de star primera x ke es muii bkn pero sweet child ò`mine igual es jeban

What about the coda and solo from Layla?

Did anyone else notice that Gilmour of Pink Floyd made the list twice? Time and Comfortably Numb – I love the Time solo, but am surprised it made this list.

I love the guitar solo in the American Gigolo long version of Blondie’s Call Me, wow it’s just awesome!!!

I also like the guitar riff in their single Atomic, very cool, not too mention the lead to One way or another….classic!!!

I love the guitar solo in the American Gigolo long version of Blondie’s Call Me, wow it’s just awesome!!!

I also like the guitar riff in their single Atomic, very cool, not too mention the lead to One way or another….classic!!!

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th athe is t ist t quest thes que that t que ion

Hmmm, I’m wondering why Gun’s N’ Roses made the list twice. I mean their good, but to have 2 in the top 25 cool guitar solos? And I think Rolling Stone must have something against Van Halen, Eruption is at 12, and Eddie only made #70 on their list of greatest guitarists of all time. What a bunch of fucks.

GUNS N ROSES THE BEST BAND OF THE WORD FOREVER

slash
el mejor
( the best )
el unico k toka kn el
alma y te hace sentir
y disfrutar hasta el mas
minimo toke de la guitarra
haha
dale color XD

Great list, I was especially impressed by the inclusion of Soma, the best Smashing Pumpkins song and I would argue the best song ever written about a relationship. However, I would have really liked to see Shine on You Crazy Diamond on the list and possibly “This is a Low” by Blur

Im glag u included Smashing Pumpkins and Radiohead, but i am dissmayed that you picked “Soma” and “Paranoid Android”. Smashing Pumpkins have at least 2 better solos, Geek USA and Cherub Rock,as well as a fantastic solo in everysong from gish. and Radioheads`s paranoid is aesome but I think that The song “Just” By them has a bettersolo. I also Think Daft Punks Aerodynamic deserved to be on. O well maybe its me.

Man what the FUCK is with these magazines and their boner for jack white!! It’s insane how only one metal band made the list (metallica of course). Not ragging on Van Halen or anything, but i could play eruption like a month after starting to learn guitar.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers should’ve been higher, John Frusciante is the best guitarist now!

The Red Hot Chili Peppers should’ve been higher, John Frusciante is the best guitarist now!

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Brian May’s ending solo on We Will Rock You. You cannot deny it.

What about Larry Carlton’s solo in ‘Kid Charlemagne’ with Steely Dan? That is in the top 5!!

these are all story-like solos, not very show offy, i dont mind the list, maybe jack white can beat it, same with creedence, but wow listen to elizabeth reed, the second solo by duane allman it’s EPIC

Hey,
Johnny Fuel I completely agree with the whole Van Halen thing. Eruption should be higher and how the hell is Eddie Van Halen number 70!

Just a little thinking makes the idea of a best-solos list pointless. After all…

“Starless” – King Crimson… a one-note-at-a-time, sustainer-led masterpiece by Fripp. Stunning!

“Firth Of Fifth” – Genesis… Now that’s some emotion on a solo…

Those two are just a little example of what makes a 25-place list pointless. Too many options!

So, “too much distortion” puts the solo out of contest? Ridiculous. Indeed!

As for the Pumpkins’ solo, it’s a hard call… Soma may be their very best not because of technique but because of the way Corgan creates that powerful, chaotic crescendo that power-ups the distorted part of the song.

whoever thinks that k\john fruciante is the best guitarist is a retard

ps where the hell’s queen
Brian May?

some of my favorites:(a little more than 25 i think)

Metal Meltdown- Judas Priest
Number of the Beast- Iron Maiden
Don’t Look Back- Boston
25 or 6 to 4- Chicago
The Rocker- Thin LIzzy
Cheap Sunglasses- ZZ Top
Burn- Deep Purple
Tooth and Nail- Dokken
Eruption- Van Halen
One- Metallica
Paradise City- Guns N Roses
That Lady- Isley Brothers
All Along The Watchtower- Jimi Hendrix
Brighton Rock- Queen
Shock Me- Kiss
Cult of Personality- Living Colour
Freebird- Lynyrd Skynyrd
Hangar 18- Megadeth
Flirtin With Disaster- Molly Hatchet
You Can Still Rock In America- Night Ranger
Mama I’m Coming Home- Ozzy Osbourne
Working Man- Rush
Sails of Charon- Scorpions
Black Hole Sun- Soundgarden
Cold Shot- Stevie Ray Vaughn
Sin City- AC/DC
Play With Me- Extreme
The Lemon Song- Led Zeppelin
Paranoid- Black Sabbath

Wow…i’m pretty sure i’d much rather drag myself through a cave of broken glass naked before i agreed this is the top guitar solo list…there’s no Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Ray Vaughan, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert, Robert Johnson, John Petrucci, Randy Rhoads, Glenn Tipton, Eric Johnson, Dime Bag Darrel, Iron Maiden, Dave Mustain, Herman Li (ESPECIALLY!!!), Sam Totman, Jason Becker (I mean seriously guys come on), Jeff Beck, Zakk Wylde, Tony Iomi, Michael Angelo Batio (you should all be shot…survivors will be shot again), Leo Kotke, Brian May, Richie Blackmore, Living Colour, Bucket Head…need I continue? And if you don’t know these names just go kill yourself…you’re already dead to the guitar world…

oh em gee. Why does Guns n Roses win EVERYTHING? They suck. I mean, sure, Slash is a pretty decent guitar player but come ON. Nothing original, nothing different … and even though this has nothing to do with guitar solos, Axl Rose sounds like an old lady. And Soma should be a lot higher on there, James Iha doesn’t get enough credit, he’s amazing. Stairway to Heaven … great solo, but way over played. Led Zeppelin has some other great songs that don’t get as much credit that I personally like a lot better than Stairway to Heaven. I think Led Zeppelin should be a lot higher on the list. Uhmm … Yeah, I’m done ranting.(-:

I thoroughly agree with ’sweet child of mine’ at #1. It’s fucking perfect!
Comfortably numb perhaps joint #1. EPIC!
Stairway to heaven – cliche but definitely #3 or at least top 5.
‘alive’ by pearl jam should higher up.
Black Sabbath definitely need an entry – possibly ‘war pigs’ or ‘paranoid’??
And where’s ‘road to hell’ by Chris Rea and ‘little wing’ by Hendrix!!??

Get rid of prince, white stripes and Chili peppers. Great artists/musicians but can’t compete here in terms of solos!

The guy 2 entries above me is talking shit, as are many others here

i think queen has much better guitar solos than much of the bands here, “i want it all”, “bijou”, “we will rock you”, “we are the champions”, and much more….

first off how is stairway to heaven not at least in the top 5!!!

before i say this you should know i am Guns N Roses fan but to be honest although sweet child o mine is an amazing song it should not be at #1!!

Here is my personal list.

#1-“Stairway to Heaven,” Led Zeppelin
#2-“Freebird,” Lynyrd Skynyrd
#3-“Eruption,” Van Halen
#4-“One,” Metallica
#5-“Sweet Child O’ Mine,” Guns N’ Roses
#6-“November Rain,” Guns N’ Roses

I am only doing the first 6 in my list.

the final countdown by europe has the sweetest solo ever. u ppl should check it out.

every solo on the list is great, so ill save the self righteous guitar player crap about how easy or difficult these solos are to pull off. soma has always been my favorite solo, the world-coming- down layered guitar at the end of the solo changed my perspective on what a guitar should be used to create. if this one doesnt give you goosebumps, you dont have a pulse

yea way to exclude every great metal band that play with far better technique them so of these guys could dream of. how about buckethead or the duo from dragonforce, all that remains, shadows fall, august burns red, and there could have been four of five songs from ozzy i mean come “sweet child of mine???” its could an should be on the list but not number one

hey where is martin barre and his solo for aqualung? come on people honestly

MAn there’s no respect to Santana @ all… I mean his solos were alot better than some of the ones up there… Yea November Rain is great but dag it shouldn’t be up there now dont get me wrong I love Slash he’s my fav. guitarist but Sweet Child of Mine??? NOWAY that should be #1. I mean Freebird, Eruption those should easily be # 1 and 2 on that list…And I mean like I read in a comment earlier up here Dragonforce’s Through the Fire and Flames is def 1 of the greatest solo’s I’ve ever heard…

So, uh, Blue Sky and Highway Star anyone?

Eruption and Voodoo Child definitely belong in top five. Time has a good solo, but Money or Shine On You Crazy Diamond are both better. and Stairway is epic, but you guys forgot all about Heartbreaker! one of Jimmy Page’s best solos. Ball and Biscuit should be higher up, too. Oh yeah, and Paradise City needs to be there.

Hey i am chuck norris’ cousin and i want to say that everyone below me is wrong about their picks. All solos are beautiful and rolling stone just has a stick up their but and wouldnt understand true music if it slapped them in the face with its big donkey dick. GO JOHN FRUSCIANTE! that guy understands!

EIOFJ EOSIF JEIOF JEIOF JEIOF JEIFJ EOIFJ AEFJD FJDFJ SEOFJ EFOSE FOEF

STAIR WAY TO HEAVEN!!!

EIOFJ EOSIF JEIOF JEIOF JEIOF JEIFJ EOIFJ AEFJD FJDFJ SEOFJ EFOSE FOEF

STAIR WAY TO HEAVEN!!!

EIOFJ EOSIF JEIOF JEIOF JEIOF JEIFJ EOIFJ AEFJD FJDFJ SEOFJ EFOSE FOEF

STAIR WAY TO HEAVEN!!!

not enough blues. “the sky is crying” by stevie ray vaughn is amazing.

i think john mayer needs to get his act together and get a song on this list… he’s capable.

this list is crap… jimi hendrix’s instrumental version of bold as love is probably the best guitar solo i know of…pick 24 more jimi hendrix songs to fill the rest of the list because he pwns all others

finally GNR gets a #1, they are my favorite. Even theough they’re my fav. my top 5 are
1.Eruption
2.One
3.Free Bird
4.Crazy Train
5.November Rain

Just because a guitar solo is played faster and with more technicality doesn’t make it better. A good guitar solo should evoke emotion and should be memorable after the first listen, and looking at many of the metal players people posted, the vast majority of them just can’t do that. Besides, of course, a few exceptions (Iron Maiden players, Randy Rhoads, mostly)

Kinda Ready —> WRONG on the negative comments

Ball & Biscuit? Jack white is the WORST guitarist i have ever heard, Meg White is the worst drummer ive ever heard…..but the White Stripes are awesome

Free Bird is #1

Highway Star should be on here, but Child In Time was better

toby — none make it, sorry

Neil Young? come on

Crossroads, yeah, only if its the Wheels On Fire live version

Where be All Along Thw Watchtower (Hendrix’s)?

First of all: a solo should not be based on speed alone. second of all- we have all heard sweet child, eruption, free bird, and stairway. how about some input of songs that arent as overplayed?

1) Boston- Don’t Look Back (Sholtz)

2) Ozzy Osbourne- Mama I’m Coming Home (Wylde)

3) Led Zeppelin- The Ocean (Paige)

4) Chicago- 25 or 6 to 4 (Kath)

5) Isley Brothers- That Lady (Isley)

even Steve Howe’s (Yes) solo on “I’ve Seen All Good People”

oh yea-for the record, Randy Rhoads is the best guitarist of all time.

Television! But there are TWO solos on the song…

Neil Young and his one note solo… cool, though I think that the jams of either Down by the River or Cowgirl in the Sand should have benn included.

Guns N Roses are a bit overrated though Slash’s a cool fellah.

As for the Smashing Pumpkins… I think it deserves to be mentioned that “Soma” alone has like 40 overdubs…

If there’s Eruption, then why isnt thre Led Zep’s Heartbreaker?

Machine Gun is awesome, but where’s Voodoo Child (Slight Return)???

Comfortably Numb should have been #1, perhaps (just listen to it live!!).

And Stairway’s a bit overrated, I think I adore more the solos on Dazed and Confused, and (specially) on Since I’ve Been Loving You.

And if you’re in search of a “cool” solo, my bet’s The Beatles’ “The End”, the three guitar players jamming without exceeding

Crazy Train by RAndy Rhoads should have been first

OMG! Listen to some real solos like the one on Domination by Pantera, or the second solo on Master of Puppets, or even Avenged Sevenfold’s Bat Country or even Afterlife. Trivium’s solos also kickass compared half these. As for the white striped, they should never get a mention on anything to do with being great at an instrument.

I personally Belive david Gilmour should hold numer one for either Comftorably numb or perhapps his solo on Hav a Cigar. the most overlooked solo he soes, and one of the hardest to get the 2 to 5 fret bends and sustains at over 3 fretts over the original. And he never misses a note as far as tine or bending. the man has the fat genious fngers.
How about Fat Old Sun, or Shine onl in ecompete?? Sorrow, on the turnig away. he has to many solos that are all woth while to call the best. Sorry to alot of great guitar player. I am one, and appeciate everything you and i do, But David Gilmour wins my soul 100% And alot of more people than imagined.

I personally Belive david Gilmour should hold numer one for either Comftorably numb or perhapps his solo on Hav a Cigar. the most overlooked solo he soes, and one of the hardest to get the 2 to 5 fret bends and sustains at over 3 fretts over the original. And he never misses a note as far as tine or bending. the man has the fat genious fngers.
How about Fat Old Sun, or Shine onl in ecompete?? Sorrow, on the turnig away. he has to many solos that are all woth while to call the best. Sorry to alot of great guitar player. I am one, and appeciate everything you and i do, But David Gilmour wins my soul 100% And alot of more people than imagined.

1)Led Zeppelin – Stairway To Heaven

2)Lynyrd Skynyrd – Free Bird

3)The Allman Brothers Band – Jessica

4)Pink Floyd – Comfortably Numb

5)Guns N’ Roses – November Rain

6)Jimi Hendrix – All Along the Watchtower

7)Eagles – Hotel California

8)The Doors – Light My Fire

9)Sublime – Santeria

10)Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication

There should be some more songs by led zeppelin that are not overplayed. What ever happened to “The ocean” or “Dazed and confused”? I mean stairway is notoriously known as great, but what about “Heartbreaker” or even “I can’t quit you baby”? In addition, people need to give Carlos Santana a bit more credit…I mean the solo in “She’s not there” is absolutley face melting….Lastly all you people who think “Through the fire and flames” should be up there are completely stupid!!!!!!!! Great guitar solos are not just judged on speed.

Good list but could be better

What about Steve or Jeff Beck? Just overlooked them?

Pull out the vinyl version of Woodstock and cue up “I’m Going Home” by Ten Years After. Best guitar work in a live performance–ever.

Why Isnt Queen Up There?…

For The People Who Dont Know The Insanly Massive Guitar Solos In Some Of Their Songs, Listen To My Fairy King Or Great King Rat By Them.

Queen Is Amazing

Billy Corgan is the man…..soma is an amazing solo…..cherub rock/geek usu/here is no why are some other greats by him.

1.through the fire and flames by dragonforce.

2.eruption van halen

3.her voice ressides by bullet for my valentine.

4.powerslave by iron maiden

5. goodbye my love lovehatehero.

6.one by metallica

7. no one like you by scorpions

8.no more tears by ozzy osbourne

9. 2112 by rush

10. starway to heaven by led zepplin

thease are some of the best solos ive ever heard

they should have at least one dream theater song on their with the way john petrucci plays his solos and just his guitar in general especially on the dark eternal night that should be on thta list but of course rolling stone does not do anything about or even mention dream theater in theirs magazines like they do with the bands that are on that list, check Dream Theater out they deserve credit for there work

Nothing by RUSH?
Working man?
YYZ?

eruption is overrated, dragonforce sucks.

1. Comfortably Numb – Pink Floyd
2. Free Bird – Lynyrd Skynyrd
3. Sweet Child O Mine – Guns N Roses
4. Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) – Jimi Hendrix
5. Three Days – Jane’s Addiction
6. All Along The Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix
7. Estranged – Guns N Roses
8. Heartbreaker – Led Zeppelin
9. Little Wing – Jimi Hendrix
10. Alive – Pearl Jam
11. November Rain – Guns N Roses
12. Crazy Train – Ozzy Osbourne
13. Geek USA – Smashing Pumpkins
14. Dazed And Confused – Led Zeppelin
15. Rainbow in the Dark – Dio
16. High Hopes – Pink Floyd
17. Tornado of Souls – Megadeth
18. Whole Lotta Rosie – AC/DC
19. Shine On You Crazy Diamond – Pink Floyd
20. Stop! – Jane’s Addiction
21. N.I.B. – Black Sabbath
22. Time – Pink Floyd
23. Nothing Else Matters – Metallica
24. Mr. Crowley – Ozzy Osbourne
25. Jambi – Tool

impressed with the addition of soma. i agree with previous posts, if that solo doesnt give you goosebumps, you have no pulse! i also wouldnt have minded cherub rock or starla to be added.

coheed and cambria have a great solo in welcome home too.

Where is Megadeth, COB, Arch Enemy? They make the best solos…Rolling Stones views are dumb.

what ever happened to the amazing bass and guitar solo in for whom the bells toll by metallica. Also why isnt thereany rush at all they have amazing solos. Fade to black by metallica has a really good opening solo.

Songs that should be up there:

DragonForce- Operation Ground and Pound

Jerry C- Canon Rock

Mudvayne- Dig

Muse- Knights of Cydonia

Coheed and Cambria- Welcome Home

Avenged Sevenfold- Afterlife

RATM’s Tom Morello? The guy was really innovative.

“Paranoid Android” by Radiohead, and now that the Anonymous user mentioned it, Just is also a good one. And christ. Lay off the Dragonforce, I mean, it was coolest guitar solos. Idk about you, but World of Warcraft rock doesn’t quite cut it. And half you goddamn people only know most of these artists from Guitar Hero games. Pathetic. Also, not sure if you could even really count the ending part of “The Past is a Grotesque Animal” by of Montreal, but that’s certainly a cool little…thing.

can somebody tell me where is
JOE SATRIANI !!!
STEVE VAI !!!
YNGWIE MALMSTEEN!!!
ANGELO!!!
STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN!!!
JOHN PETRUCCI!!!
SYNISTHER GATES!!!
little wing by JIMI HENDRIX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
an other brick in the wall

aand HERE COMES THE KRAKEN !!!!! hohoho

hear damn dragonforce live….. theyll make u cry
watch guns n roses today O.o
f*ck

NO TOM MORELLO!!

ok WHERE THE HELL IS THROUGH THE FIRE AND THE FLAMES!!!!! THAT IS THE COOLEST SONG

The solo from Stairway To Heaven is a good Led Zeppelin solo. But thats the only song that people tend to recognize from that band.
If anyone truly and deeply knows all of Led Zeppelin’s music, then they could agree with me, that hands down,Achilles Last Stnad has the best solo of all time.
And stop saying that all those gay songs that they put on guitar hero have “good” solos.
Firebird?
Ha Ha charade you are.

Pantera-Cemetary Gates
Michael Angelo Batio-Anything
Motorhead-Hell raiser
Tony Iommi-Laughing Man In The Devil Mask
Maggot Brain,” Funkadelic
Megadeth-Holy Wars
Black Sabbath-Fairies Wear Boots
Sublime-Bad Fish
Jimi Hendrix-All Along The Watchtower
Tom Morello-Bulls On Parade
ZZ-Top-Cheap Sunglasses

listen to live forever acoustic verison by oasis and champagne supernova

one ftw

hmmm. no clapton, no deep purple, no outlaws, no grateful dead,

what kkind of solo is rolling stone lookin for dammit

i like you slash ave a first place

yes slash is the first

sam you dumbass, clapton was the guitarist for cream

dragonforce, yngwie, angelo batio, john petrucci

=

rubbish robot plays guitar

dragonforce, yngwie, angelo batio, john petrucci

=

rubbish robot plays guitar

1. Stairway To Heaven – Led Zeppelin
2. Purple Haze – Jimi Hendrix
3. Sweet Child O’ Mine – GNR
4. Free Bird – Lynyrd Skynyrd
5. Master of Puppets – Metallica
6. Canon Rock – JerryC
7. TNT – AC/DC
8. Walk – Pantera
9. One – Metallica
10. In My Life – The Beatles
11. November Rain – GNR
12. Wanted Dead or Alive – Bon Jovi
13. Crazy Train – Ozzy Osbourne
14. Hotel California – The Eagles
15. Dani California – RHCP
16. Heartbreaker – Led Zeppelin
17. Crazy – Aerosmith
18. Slither – Velvet Revolver
19. Voodoo Child – Jimi Hendrix
20. The Ocean – Led Zeppelin
21. Gunslinger – Avenged Sevenfold
22. Enter Sandman – Metallica
23. Unforgiven II – Metallica
24. Sidewinder – Avenged Sevenfold
25. Ace of Spades – Motőrhead

anything for david gilmour!!!

1.Free Bird
2.Comportably Numb
3.Crossroads
4.All Along the watchtower
5.Stairway to heaven
6.Afterlife
7.Paranoi d Android
8.Texas Flood
9.Cliffs of Dover
10.Layla

Im only putting 10 cuz im to lazy to do the rest

Peoples who say dragonforce really don’t know what they are really like live.they should be called studioforce. my m8 went to see them and he said they were crap. IMO freebird is the best guitar solo i have ever heard

Non-english (or american) bands, songs and guitarists are underrated, as usual.

It’s coolest (best) guitar solos.
Comfortably Numb should be higher. 2 or 1 in my opinion. It’s probably the best solo I have ever heard. Who ever said all that John Petrucci/Steve Vai/Syn Gates/dragonforce shit, I know you probably arn’t very music oriented, as all of those arn’t musically complex at all. go go repetative 32th notes. /fail

1.”Stairway To Heaven”, Led Zeppelin
2.”Crossroads”, Cream
3.”While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, The Beatles
4.”Comfortably Numb”, Pink Floyd
5.”Freebird”, Lynyrd Skynyrd

I don’t know how anyone can discount Price as a great guitarist…any musician worth his salt knows Prince is one of the most gifted guitarists alive. And as for people dissing Jack White…obviously he is a sloppy guitarist and may not be Vai in terms of technical prowess, but he knows how to milk the raw soul out of his instrument. His guitar work is some of the most fun rock/blues music put out in years.

Not saying these are the best but these are my personal favorites, so no Stairway or Sweet Child o’ Mine here.

1. Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd – Obviously
2. Man in the Box by Alice in Chains – So overlooked, there aren’t many other solos as ripping or original as this one’s
3. Constant Motion by Dream Theater – the presolo is much cooler but this is the most technically skilled solo I’ve heard.
4. Little Wing by Jimi Hendrix – This song is too painfully short
5. Bleed by Meshuggah – The solo is this glowing, ethereal riff floating above mind shattering intensity, nothing else like it
6. Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd – Meh, I suppose, but I do love long solos
7. High Hopes by Pink Floyd – Best acoustic solo I’ve heard, fitting for Pink Floyd’s final song
8. Master of Puppets by Metallica – It’s Master of Puppets, no further explanation
9. (Don’t Fear) The Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult – Hauntingly awesome
10. Do the Evolution by Pearl Jam – Perfect for Pearl Jam’s darkest, most violent song. In the intro the singer sounds like his jaw is ripping in half.

Mentioning John petrucci in one sentence with Synyster Gates or Dragonforce? Shows how little you understand of music. Robotic? Technical precision doesn’t mean it lacks of feeling, guys – but I’m pretty sure you won’t (don’t want) to see that, stubborn. Petrucci/Vai/Satriani’s stuff is legendary. Screw the magazine’s “opinion”, it’s aimed towards mainstream only-care-about-the-famous fangirlies.

A list like this without mentioning the last solo in “Cowboy Song” by Thin Lizzy is just silly…

Fortunate Son doesn’t have a guitar solo. Shows how much effort Rolling Stone puts into these lists.

what’s with the obession with Guns and Roses. They were good but not the greatest thing since perforated toilet paper. Besides that, where’s GODZILLA!!!!!

My personal favorites are here:

1. “Comfortably Numb”- Pink Floyd
2. “Machine Gun”- The Jimi Hendrix Experience
3. “Maggot Brain”- Funkadelic
4. “Surfing with the Alien”- Joe Satriani
5. “Layla”- Derek and the Dominoes
6. “Highway Star”- Deep Purple
7. “Bold as Love”- The Jimi Hendrix Experience
8. “Mr. Crowley”- Ozzy Osbourne
9. “Hotel California”- The Eagles
10. “One”- Metallica
11. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”- The Beatles
12. “Reeling in the Years”- Steely Dan
13. “Little Wing”- The Jimi Hendrix Experience
14. “Flying High Again”- Ozzy Osbourne
15. “25 or 6 to 4″- Chicago
16. “Time”- Pink Floyd
17. “Achilles Last Stand”- Led Zeppelin
18. “Goodbye to Love”- The Carpenters
19. “White Room”- Eric Clapton
20. “Freebird”- Lynyrd Skynyrd
21. “Europa”- Santana
22. “Cliffs of Dover”- Eric Johnson
23. “Sultans of Swing”- The Dire Straits
24. “Geek USA”- The Smashing Pumpkins
25. “Sympathy for the Devil”- The Rolling Stones

has any1 heard “the sleep” by pantera. the solo in that song is orgasmic and shouldnt be overlooked

1.)Starway to heaven – Led Zeppelin
2.)Sin City (or Back in Black)- AC/DC
3.)November rain – Guns’n'roses
4.)Surfing with the alien – Joe Satriani
5.)Sweet home alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd
6.)All the other songs in the world except “Dancing Queen”
7.)Dancing Queen – ABBA (is there a solo????????)

Excuse me for my english, i’m italian.

BYE!!!!!!

For me AC/DC are the best of the best, but also Led Zeppelin, Rolling stones and guns’n'roses are O.K.

For me the best solos are:

1.)All solos
2.)Canon rock

THE END

Exactly: i love all solos!!!!!!!!

REDHOTCHILIPEPPERS

So many good ones that fuck all of them

Buhhbye xx

I can’t believe they left out “Them Bones” by Alice in Chains

Comfortably Numb is the number one guitar solo ive never heard anything like that in my whole life and stairway to heaven is too overated

the coolest guiar solo by radiohead is “just” but “paranoid android” is cool and so is “my iron lung”.

billy corgan is awesome and is so underrated but i think that “cherub rock” is a lot better guitar solo, ‘coz it’s almost funny.

and i totally agree with dude ‘coz eddie van halen virtually invented and made double-tapping a sensation. metal guitarist (including dragonforce) should be aknowlodging the huge influence that he left. Maybe kurt and eddie should swap places in the top 100 (’coz i reckon kurts an awesome guitarist) and get rid of jack white, put david gilmour in his place and fit in slash.

otherwise good list

totally agree – SCOM rules, but Stranglehold by ted nugent kicks ass!

I don’t know if anybody mentioned this solo cuz im not reading all the comments but the solo from “Sultans of Swing” by Dire Straits is sweet and the solo from “Sleepwalk” by the shadows, and I agree with sweet child o’ mine, slash is my favorite guitarist

i respectfully disagree (although i may be reading the title wrong when it says guitar solo(s)) with some of these like “while my guitar gently weeps” ~ Beatles and “stairway to heaven” etc., if it is *guitar* solos then some of these may be good songs but definitely not fall under the category best guitar solos.

Rolling Stones you make the worst lists when it comes to anything with guitar/guitarist. To obsessed with GNR, White Stripe. David Gilmour is the BEST. Why is Mr. Crowley not in this solo 1 and 2 are amazing you suck rolling stone

How about the solo in ‘Digital Love’ by Daft Punk? Imba!

“The 25 coolest guitar solos”?
That depends entirely on the person hearing the solo, since thinking something is “cool” is a personal matter, just as taste of music in general.

Being a guitarist, I’d have to point out a few of my favorites.. keep in mind that these are in no opinion the best because that is based on an opinion..

In no specific order.

Any and every solo that Tom Morello outs out (Rage Against the Machine)
Texas Flood (Stevie Ray Vaughn)
Little Wing (Jimi Hendrix)
Maggot Brain (Funkadelic)
Bury Me (Smashing Pumpkins)
Mr. Crowley (Ozzy Osbourne)
Comfortably Numb (pink floyd)
Heartbreaker (Led Zeppelin)
Freebird (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
Any and every solo from the albums Kill em All and Ride the lightning (Metallica)
Alive (pearl jam)
Eruption (Van Halen)
Man in the Box (Alice in Chains)
Symptom of the Universe (Black Sabbath)
Crossroads (Cream)

only john Petrucci

i personally love the song
Afterlife. The solo is amazing, but I never see it on any list

This isn’t even Rolling Stone’s OWN list. This is a compilation from reader polls.
And it’s nice to see some of the lesser known solos mentioned – I personally get sick of seeing GNR, Freebird, and Eruption on these lists – The solo on the Smashing Pumpkin’s “Soma” has got to be one of the most emotional solos I’ve ever heard

Sweet child I don’t think is even a very good solo. The paradise city solo is slash’s best solo. And what about dimeola,mclaughlin, and lucia?

this is a fail list. bitterly dissappointed

I think the inclusiong of Ball & Biscuit is genius, you guys might be slamming White for his lame technical ability but I think this song is super sweet – Hendrix himself would have been proud to have written it.

Telegraph Road-Dire Straits, what a great choice! Also, while I think Eddie Van Halen is incredible, there was tapping in Genesis’ Dancing With the Moonlit Knight (1973), done by Steve Hackett, but I’m just throwing that out there. Here are some worthwile solos to check out:

Genesis-Anyway, The Supernatural Anaesthetist
Yes-Siberian Khatru, (nearly any steve howe, he did blazing lead lines)
King Crimson-21st Century Schizoid Man
Foreigner-Blue Morning, Blue Day
Fleetwood Mac-Oh Well (Pts 1 & 2), Albatross
Jeff Beck-Scatterbrain
The Band-King Harvest
Beatles-Let It Be
Led Zeppelin-Since I’ve Been Loving You
Neil Young-Cowgirl In The Sand, Down By The River
Crosby Stills and Nash-Wooden Ships
Chicago-25 or 6 to 4
The Who-Heaven and Hell
War-A Day In the Life
Van Morrison-Beside You
Styx-Renegade
Blind Faith-Presence of the Lord
Queen-Brighton Rock
Pink Floyd-Dogs,Pigs,Sheep
That’ll have to do for now…

I don’t get why Achilles Last Stand seldom(if ever) makes it in Top Guitar Solos lists. Dazed and Confused, either. Am I the only one to notice a striking resemblance between Final Countdown and Mr. Crowley solos?

were is buckethead? he is one of the best guitarist ever! Oh Yah, he was also the best guitarist guns n roses ever had! So take that Slash!

there are 2 avenged sevenfold solos that should be considered.
1. Sidewinder
2. Seize the Day
also, i dont think ‘one’ by metallica is all that great. the morse code thing is creative but its just an okay solo

Lindsay Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac.

1. Sweet child ‘o mine
2. mr. crowley
3. heartbreaker
4. Back in black
5. hotel california
6. free bird
7. stairway to heaven
8. Laughing gas
9. BEAT it
10. Welcome home (sanitarian)

why doesnt this have any solos played by randy rohdes. he is the most underrated player ever. van halens eruption is based off of rhodes song laughing gas which was written 10 years before eruption. plus the solos in the original crazy train and mr crowley were outstanding. and i am one of the biggest skynyrd fans ever and i beleive that the solo to tuesdays gone is better than free bird. this list is a discrace to guitarist everywhere

nice to see a smashing pumpkins song on there, Billy Corgan is such an underated guitarist

Bulls on Parade should have been on this list

This is the most awful list of guitar solos I’ve ever seen. How could you not include any of Glenn Tipton’s solos from Judas Priest or Richie Blackmore’s solos from Deep Purple? Those are just two examples of some of the most technically challenging soloists out there that also create a wonderfully orchestrated flow into their solos and back into the song. I’ve never been more moved or impressed by any other guitarists and some of these choices are just poppy happy garbage. Why don’t you try picking up a halfway decent album and listening to that for once? Seriously, I could learn more about music by reading used toilet paper than Rolling Stone. Terrible on an unfathomable scale…

Oh, and my guitar gently weeps for the quite obvious lack of exposure the writers of this magazine have to any music but the mainstream.

I don’t think you people could even handle those solos, it would probably be too fast and complex for you to even comprehend. After a few seconds of listening, you’d just go back to your easy listening station.

Eruption By Eddie Van Halen Should Definitely Be Here!!

This list is scarily deficient. What about John Mclaughlin, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Smith’s guitar player, Arthur Adams, on “Root Down”, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Maggot Brain is interesting, but what about the guitarwork on Hardcore jollies. RS needs a reality check

Omitting Highway Star- Deep Purple
and Sultans of Swing- Dire Straits is just obscene, ugh.

i dont think there should be a list at all. it depends on each and everyone of us which to like and which to not like. maybe a well played solo list as in they handle the notes well or stuff like that. so stop saying they suck or they rule!! lets just all love Rock!!(and every other rock genre!!)

WTF? What about the Fade to Black solo?? To me, that is Kirk Hammett’s best solo by far. “One” is too over rated, he taps alot, and it’s just not a “Top 25″ material. Fade to Black, by far.

1. “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” Guns N’ Roses_maybe 70 or 80ish, slash is overrated
2. “Freebird,” Lynyrd Skynyrd_stupid cheesy minor penatonics
3. “One,” Metallica_best metal solo along with Painkiller by Judas Priest, but not number three
4. “Comfortably Numb,” Pink Floyd_awesome but not this high
5. “Marquee Moon,” Television_a bit lower
6. “Crossroads,” Cream_perfection
7. “Purple Rain,” Prince_wayy lower
8. “Machine Gun,” Jimi Hendrix_a bit lower
9. “Ball and Biscuit,” The White Stripes_best modern guitarist other than john mayer
10. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” The Beatles_clapton is awesome but this should be lower
11. “Stairway to Heaven,” Led Zeppelin_sooo overated, this should be Achilles Last Stand, or Ten Years Gone
12. “Eruption,” Van Halen_the epitome of tapping
13. “November Rain,” Guns N’ Roses_ cheesy minor penatonics
14. “Alive,” Pearl Jam_good, but shouldn’t be this high
15. “Paranoid Android,” Radiohead best radiohead solo
16. “Maggot Brain,” Funkadelic_lower
17. “Fortunate Son,” Creedence Clearwater Revival_perfect
18. “Time,” Pink Floyd_absolute perfection
19. “Hotel California,” Eagles_Perfect but don felder is better than joe walsh
20. “Cinnamon Girl,” Neil Young_perfect
21. “Yellow Ledbetter,” Pearl Jam_best pearl jam guitar part, but lower
22. “Telegraph Road,” Dire Straits_perfect
23. “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” Allman Brothers_statesboro blues is better
24. “Soma,” Smashing Pumpkins_perfect, but lower
25. “Scar Tissue,” Red Hot Chili Peppers_lower

HOTEL CALIFORNIA ROCKS n shud definately come in the top 10s

► Master of Puppets – Metallica
► Damage, Inc. – Metallica
► Battery – Metallica
► Fade to Black – Metallica
► Ride the Lightning – Metallica
► Whiplash – Metallica
► Hangar 18 – Megadeth
► As I Am – Dream Theater
► Erotomania – Dream Theater
► Metropolis – Dream Theater
► Arpeggios From Hell – Yngwie Malmsteen
…

Ohh Fucks sake why is Slash always number 1 on these things he is great but he wouldn’t even be in my top 100….