Martin Barre's solo on "Aqualung"

Rock Bottom from Strangers in the Night is the greatest electric guitar composition of all time. Every turn Michael makes, makes perfect musical sense.

The solo in Thin Lizzy's Emerald is incredible.

Randy Rhoads- Mr. Crowley solo is my favorite

La Villa Strangiato is the best. I never tire of listening to it.

Glenn Tipton - Beyond the Realms of Death; Alex on La Villa Strangiato

One of my favourites is the guitar Cortez the Killer by Neil Young. Proving that a great guitar solo doesn"t have to be fast or crammed with notes.

Yours is no disgrace by Steve Howe Telegraph road by Mark knopfler

Buck Dharma's solo on Blue Oyster Cult's Astronomy ( live on Some Enchanted Evening)👍🤯

I would vote "Cowboy Song" by Thin Lizzy solo. So melodic and memorable. It is a stunner...

Iommi- lonely is the word solo is incredibly emotional with Dio singing over it at the end of the song, very unlike any other Iommi solos

With Blackmore you can't fail anywhere. Tons of great solos and riffs... Child in time, burn, highway star, you fool no one, stargazer, kill the king, mistreated, catch the rainbow, gates of Babylon......

Blackmore's Highway Star solo is one of the most epic galloping solos ever

Huge feeling from the "Beyond the Realms of Death" by Priest solos -- both of them. I'd even go as far as to say that Downing's is underrated.

Dead on about Child In Time! I heard it the first time in 1972 when I was 14 and its been the template for every solo I've heard since. Kudos!

Jimmy Page's solos on Ten Years Gone, beautiful. Ritchie Blackmore's solo on Child In Time, definitely correct on that.

Man that Child in time solo has always been my favorite Blackmore solo, that tone...... beautiful!

Steve Howe's guitar solo on 'Perpetual Change' from the 'Yessongs' album is nothing short of amazing.

...'Kid Charlemagne' should be on any list IMHO

25 or 6 to 4 has an AWESOME solo. That, Frank Zappa’s “Muffin Man”, and Highway Star are mind blowing

“Bodhisattva” from Steely Dan is a major favorite. Denny Dias and Jeff Baxter kill it.

Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2). I like solos that you can sing. When writing solos, that's a good rule to follow.

John Petrucci's solo on the title track Octavarium........simply stunning.

You are absolutely right about the greatest rock guitar solo of all time being 'Machine Gun' by Jimi Hendrix. It is cited by musicians, guitarists and musicologists as the No 1 of all time.

Yes 'Machine Gun' is the single most powerful example of rock music. Only Bach and Mozart compare! Blows my mind over and over! (honorable others; 'The End' and 'A day in the life' by the Doors and the Beatles; Pure Magic)

The Steve Rothery solo on "Easter" will always have my eyes tearing

I'll help you out with Uli. Catch Your Train. Dirty Love - Frank Zappa Spectrum- Tommy Bolin Kid Charlemagne - Larry Carlton I Know A Little- Steve Gaines Look Over Yonder- Jimi Hendrix Time Waits For No One- Mick Taylor. Still In Love With You- Brian Robertson Cause We've Ended As Lovers- Jeff Beck Achilles Last Stand- Pagey

Not much into shredders. I like sound and space in a solo like Gary Richrath's "Take It On The Run", David Gilmour's "Another Brick" or "Comfortably Numb" and Rik Emmitt's "Lay It On The Line". But man, that "Mean Streets" is a fantastic solo.

Steve Hunter intro to Sweet Jane on Lou Reed’s Rock N Roll Animal

Yes, that Rush solo from exit stage left it's definitely a killer and easily one of my all-time favorites. So is the live solo from Led Zeppelin No Quarter from The Song Remains the Same

“Brighton Rock” by Brian May

Firth of Fifth solo is amazing!

Kudos for someone finally mentioning Robin Trower and Micheal Schenker! Space Child from the album Phenomenon by UFO would fit nicely. Great feel and soul in that particular gem. Continue...

Ritchie Blackmore on "Mistreated" on Made in Europe. (or the one he did live at California Jam in 1974). Likely one of the best concerts in rock history.

Mick Taylor - "Sway" live with Carla Olson. Best of the best.

You're an amazing host Pete, and your taste in music is one of a kind. Great vid & great selection. Keep it up!

Agreed, Machine Gun is the ultimate electric guitar piece/solo of all time. Played on January 1st, 1970.

Roy Buchanan: The Messiah Will Come Again

Jimmy Page Tea for One. Beautiful

Give Johnny Winter's Be Careful With A Fool solo a listen. Absolutely superb.

Steve Hackett on The Musical Box. Perfection.

1. We're Stars - Hear 'N' Aid 2. Hollow Years (Live at Budokan) - Dream Theater 3. Crossroads Guitar Duel Suite - Steve Vai 4. Ice Cream Man - Van Halen 5. The Sentinel - Judas Priest 6. Green Grass and High Tides - The Outlaws 7. Poison Was the Cure - Megadeth 8. Dogs - Pink Floyd 9. Kill the King - Rainbow 10. I Can't Quit You Baby - Led Zeppelin 11. The River - King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard 12. The Sails of Charon - Scorpions 13. Dance of Death - Iron Maiden 14. Dyer's Eve - Metallica 15. The End Complete V: On the Brink - Coheed and Cambria 16. Maggot Brain - Parliament/Funkadelic 17. Three Days - Jane's Addiction 18. Riviera Paradise - Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble 19. Sick, Sad Little World - Incubus 20. Reach Down - Temple of the Dog

Great list. I love your lists and talks. It makes me discover all kinds of new music. As far as great guitar solos: Love to Love - UFO (Strangers in the night album) Look into the future and Of A Lifetime - Journey Voyager - Gamma Wolf - Trevor Rabin

Gladv you included Gilmour and Comfortably Numb. I wish you'd consider Buck Dharma's live solo of "Then Came The Lasr Days of May" off A Long Day's Night. Also anything from Randy Rhoads off Ozzy.

My top 3: 1. Toto - Hold The Line 2. Rush - Marathon 3. U2 - The Fly

My "Best of all" list: 1. David Gilmour' s in "Time" on "Dark side of the moon", i never heared such one again...; 2 Steve Hackett (" Genesis" of the Peter Gabriel-era): Solo in 1971s " The Fountain of Salmacis"; The perhaps first time, a guitarist used the tapping-technique; 3. Yngwie Malmsteen: The whole "Icarus dream suite"...perfect Bach Adaption,. 4. Alex Lifeson: e-guitar solo and acoustic nylon intro on "The trees" ( "la Villa strangiato" is also one of the all time best!) 5. Jimi Hendrix: ...take what you want - they are all great! 6. George Kooymans (of "Golden Earring"): Solo At the end of "Ce soir" (Album "Switch") 7. Frank Marino: solo in "Juggernaut" 8. Solo-Duo in " Black Rose' by Thin Lizzy (Gary Moore & Scott Gorham. 9. Dave Hlubek & ? (forgot who played the orher guitar (shame on me!): acoustic & electric parts in ""Fall of the peacemakers" of Molly Hatchet. 10. Joe Satriani: "Flying in a blue dream". There is also a lot of great stuff from other guitar greats, but that are my all time favorites!! And that's for rock. There are also great solos to me in Jazz, Blues and folk, but that would go too far for this video comparision.

Glad to see the inclusion of Schenker - probably my first guitar hero; so melodic and tuneful mixed with driving rock - epic player

I love every solo off st anger.

The first time a guitar solo blew my mind was when I was about 10 years old and heard the solo of Razamanaz

John Sykes Still of the Night, Ritchie Blackmore Stargazer and Tony Iommi on Heavan and Hell are 3 of my favourite guitar solos. Outrageous performances on all 3 of them!

Love Ernie Isley’s solo on long version of “Summer Breeze”....never hear anyone else mention it !!

Pete when I saw this video I immediately thought of Page and his solo in “Since I’ve been loving you”. My personal favorite of all time and I am always a fan of blues rock. Blackmore’s solo in “Lazy” is my favorite of his. Made in Japan version good also.

Great selection Pete! I was kind of worried that you wouldn't include a Gilmour solo but you did, thank God! 😅 You have impeccable taste and one hell of a CD collection!

i really appreciate your Hackett shout out, his work on the entire Selling England album is just remarkable. do you know phil keaggy?

BUCK DHARMA INCREDIBLE PLAYER

Hi Pete, great list again! I recently tried to make a list of my fav guitar solos, and it’s hard to do! (Well, it’s even harder to play them, for sure). Anyway, agree with many of your choices. For Comfortably Numb I would have picked the -extented- Pulse version, which for me may be the best solo ever. Other great solos: Richard Thompson’s solo on Tear Stained Letter (live) on the Watching the Dark album, where he rips his Strat to shreds; Steve Morse on The Bash (also a live rendition; unbelievable flatpicking), and Gov’t Mule’s Trane/Eternity’s Breath on Dark Side Of The Mule (again, a live track). Others on my list are Camel - Ice, Yes - Sound Chaser, Clapton - Double Trouble, Vince Gill & Albert Lee - Ain’t Living Long Like This. Hope you keep on ranting, highly enjoyable.

I love so many of Alex Lifeson's solos, but two of my favorites that are rarely mentioned are the ones from "The Pass" and "Bravado."

I absolutely love the solo on Strange Ways by Ace Fraley from Kiss Hotter Then Hell. The one in Machine Gun is a favorite also I have to put in the one from the instrumental War from Joe Satriani's The Extremist album.. so bad ass!!! There is alot but they are the couple coming to mind right now. Poem 54 Terry Kath from Chicago Transet Authority is definitely one also. There are so many but the one in We Used To Know by Martin Barrer from Jethro Tull Stand Up is one!

I enjoy your videos Pete! Some of my favorite guitar solos are Promises In The Dark - Pat Benatar (Neil Giraldo on guitar), Comfortably Numb and Another Brick In The Wall Part 2 - Pink Floyd (David Gilmour on guitar), Sad Eyes - Robert John and In The Mood - Robert Plant (Robbie Blunt on guitar).

Phoenix- Wishbone Ash is a great choice.

I don't think I could do it, but, I was digging your list and I'll need to check out a few. I'm so glad you put Free Bird on there. The ending of that song may be my all-time favorite ending. It's chilling and if you're driving at the time, you better watch your speed. I would definitely have a Criss Oliva and Michael Romeo solo on my personal list.

Excellent list, I'm going to have to check out the Robin Trower stuff. A few of my favs not mentioned; Astronomy - from Some Enchanted Evening by Buch Dharma of BOC Red Sector A - from Grace Under Pressure by Alex Lifeson of Rush Lay it on the Line - from Just a Game by Rik Emmett of Triumph 22 Acacia Avenue (the solo at the end of the song) - from Number of the Beast by Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden Empty Rooms - from We Want Moore by Gary Moore Assaholic - from Smilin' Buddha Cabaret by Phil Comparelli of 54-40 Sails of Charon (beginning solo of song) by Uli Jon Roth of Scorpions The Chain - from Rumours by Lindsay Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac Sultans of Swing - from Dire Straits by Mark Knopfler Brother in Arms - from Brothers in Arms by Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits

These are great picks. One of mine that sticks out is Vivian Campbell's solo on 'Dont talk to Strangers' on DIO album.

Pete, I really dig your "live" lists. Your rock music IQ is pretty high and I appreciate how you dissect bands and musicians to justify your rankings. There are a few respectable websites out there that provide rankings for various musical categories but watching someone rank these live is pretty cool. I watched another popular person on KZfaq that does the same thing, but he cannot hold a candle to you. Thank you for making it interesting.

Steve Vai's "Ladies Night in Buffalo and Big Trouble" is way overlooked!

In no particular order: Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven (yeah I know, very predictable choice) Joe Walsh - Rocky Mountain Way The Rolling Stones - Sympathy For The Devil Dire Straits - Sultans Of Swing The Beatles - While My Guitar Gently Weeps Chicago - 25 Or 6 To 4 Rush - Working Man Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb The Jimi Hendrix Experience - All Along The Watchtower Black Sabbath - Snowblind Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird Deep Purple - Burn David Bowie - Moonage Daydream Grand Funk Railroad - Inside Looking Out Free - Mr Big

How about Gilmore ' pedal steel guitar solo on One of These Days

The actual Machine Gun version was unrehearsed and spontaneous. The greatest music ever.

Thank you again Pete. It is so nice to find a kindred spirit who knows way more than I do. One more final suggestion before I pack it in. Wet Willie does a live version of a song called Macon Hambone Blues. Mr. Ricky Hirsch provides some brilliant blues lead guitar playing. Cheers.

Fun list with great comments. I’ll have to re-listen to some, and try others. Some I would add would be Rudolph Schenker’s solo on Lady Starlight, Manfred Mann’s Blinded By The Light (album version), Buck Dharma on Nosferatu, Leslie West on Nantucket Sleighride, Steve Rothery on Easter, and Uli Jon Roth on Fly to the Rainbow.

Great list, Pete. I respectfully suggest UFO's Love to Love. Trudge through the first 6 minutes, then revel in the final 90 seconds. Stunning.

Two from Dire Straits' " Alchemy "live album, " Tunnel of Love", or " Sultans of Swing"

'Easy' by the Commodores, The perfect solo.

20. Going mobile-the Who 19.highway star- Deep purple 18.panama-van halen 17.wheels of confusion-black Sabbath 16.white room-cream 15.the deeper the love-whitesnake 14.november rain-guns N roses 13.can t you hear me knocking-the Rolling Stones 12.born under a bad sign-albert king 11.the emerald-thin lzzy 10.time-pink Floyd 9.seasons in the abyss-slayer 8.voodo Chile -jimi Hendrix 7.all along the watchtower-jimi Hendrix 6.i m going home-alvin lee 5.devils island-megadeth 4.the philisopher-death 3.heartwork-carcass 2.starway to Heaven-led Zeppelin 1.floods-pantera

I love the solo in Neon Knights by Black Sabbath off their Heaven and Hell album

you know what, i enjoy listening to you !! respect...good stuff man

Mick Taylor- Sympathy from YaYa's, Buck Dharma- Dominance and Submission, Allman & Betts- In Memory of Elizabeth Reed- Fillmore East.

Perfect Lifeson pick, la villa, from the live, yes, he continues that build up and speed for a longer duration than the studio album, just sounds better, no pause in that speedy shredding section at the end of that solo... great pick..

Steve Howe - Starship Trooper (Wurm)

You have one of the Best music channels out here. Keep doing what you are doing. I love your channel

The Mountain (Leslie West) solo from Theme From An Imaginary Western on the live at Woodstock recording.

David Clempson's solo in Skelington from Colosseum Live. It's long, it's crazy and I love it every time I listen to it.

What you said about Alex Lifeson is right on the mark. Totally agree.

Thanks a lot for this guide! I've been checking them all out, one by one. Really nice! I have a band with one really good guitar solo: Narnia - Miles away. They really blow everthing to pieces. God bless!

Jimmy Page - Since i’ve been loving you... insane solo. And what about that crazy little thing on Peace Frog - The Doors... Al Di Meola on Paul Simon’s - Allergies Richard Thompson - Put it There Pal.

Thank you Pete. I just finished commenting on your honorable mentions. I thought I'd jump over here and see if I could cross pollinate my ideas. In neither of your videos did you mention one solo by John Petrucci of Dream Theater. I suspect he would be a case of too many to mention but I have always been flabbergasted by two of his solos on the Awake album. While I am at it nobody ever talks about this album. It was my first exposure to Dream Theater and while I was a bit put off by the sound of the synthesizers and the recording of the drums I always was attracted to the songs themselves. John Petrucci does two solos which have always made me think of what Mick Box of Uriah Heep was on the verge of creating if he had set his wah-wah pedal at the right tone and had a little more skill. There are two perfect solos by Petrucci on this album amidst his superior offerings. One is on the song called Voices and the other is on a song called Lie. In both cases he uses Wahwah sparingly to vary his tone but offers a perfect blend of melody and absolute shredding. Both guitar solos remind me of Pilgrim by Uriah Heep but the sound and performance is so vastly superior that I wonder why I'm the only one who ever thinks about these two specific solos. Am I just so naive and inexperienced that I don't know these are run-of-the-mill or are there people waiting for my recommendation as we speak?

A few of my favs are... Savatage - "Hounds", Ozzy Osbourne - "Mr. Crowley", Racer X - "Technical Difficulties", Megadeth - "Tornado of Souls", and Dokken - Mr. Scary.

Liked your choices and I particularly agree about Ritchie Blackmore's Child In Time and Michael Schenker's Rock Bottom....

Not necessarily in order, I'm sure I forgot some but here... "Mother" David Gilmour - Such a vulnerable and fragile emotion "The Sun goes down" Scott Gorham - haunting and forlorn "Rime of the ancient mariner" Dave Murray/Adrian Smith- Epic climax of their best song "You see me crying" - Joe Perry - epic ballad solo was perfect for it "Red Barchetta" - Alex Lifeson - takes you along for the ride "7empest" - Adam Jones - Soaring and searing "Slip kid" - Pete Townsend - such an underrated song, Townsend not expecially known for solos but listen to this one "Catch your train" - Ulrich Roth - blistering solos and fills "5150" - Edward Van Halen - not a Hagar era fan, but this one was my favorite solo "Revalation (Mother Earth)" - Randy Rhoads - I prefer Diary overall as an album, but that solo is insane "Walk all over you" - Angus Young - some people laugh at me for saying it, but Angus had the best pick scrape ever "Falling off the edge of the world"- Tony Iommi - So many to pick from but this one was most epic "Who's crying now" - Neil Schon - the ultimate rainy day solo "The Sentinel" - Glenn Tipton/KK Downing - awesome duel and harmonies for epic song "Funeral for a friend/Love lies bleeding" - Davey Johnstone - underrated guitarist "Die hard the hunter" - Steve Clark - he was everything to that band, and they plummeted without him "Achilles last stand" - Page's opus, there were so many but this one takes the crown "The Vigil" - Buck Dharma - another underrated guitarist, my favorite BOC song "Long time" - Tom Scholz - So epic, so sonically perfect "Into the fire" - George Lynch - melodic and flashy, he plays fast and still stays melodic "The end" - Paul McCartney/George Harrison/John Lennon - these guys didn't do that often enough "Need your love" - Rick Nielson - a builds up brilliantly to a climax "Lines in the sand" - John Petrucci - amazing tension built up and released "The dogs of war" - Michael Schenker - not what a lot of people would choose, but listen to it!! "Promises in the dark" - Neil Geraldo - so underrated and so perfect for serving the song "Candy-O" - Elliot Easton - Every note so perfect "Snowblind" - James Young - Tommy may be better overall, but this was my favorite Styx solo, it was James

The trade-off to the solo "Revelations" by Iron Maiden from the album "Piece Of Mind" shows the tastiness of Dave Murray and Adrian Smith's unique styles!

Finally someone who gets it with Child In Time! Awesome feel in that one!

With so many memorable guitar solos by memorable guitar players, there are so much more that unfortunately get rarely mentioned. I would include: (1) Andy Latimer's solo on Camel's 'Summer Lightning', 'Five String Blues' by Roy Buchanan and perhaps my favourite guitar solo of all time - Jim McCarthy's solo on the Rockets' 'Lost Forever, Left For Dreaming".

-Eric Schemerhorn solo on TV eye live. From the Iggy Pop antology. -Frank Zappa intro solo on Pojama people from One size fits all. -Ritchie Blackmore solo on The gates of Babylon from Long live Rock and roll. -Pat Metheney solo on Third wind from Still life (talking) -Frank Zappa solo instrumental "the return of shut up 'n play your guitar" from Shut up' n play your guitar.

Two of my favorites - Boston Hitch a Ride, and the solo on Eddy Money - Two Tickets to Paradise - two tasty solos in my opinion.

Thanks for the response Peter

David Gilmour in "Confortably Numb" is remarkable.

Hi Pete thanks for the list. Here's mine. 1. Rainbow - Stargazer 2. Queen - Brighton Rock (it takes a lot to make me cry, but I cried tears of joy hearing this solo about 2.5 years ago) 2.5. A copout but Frank Marino's a tie of three that's so incredible - Sometimes Coming Our Way, Running Wild, and He's Calling from Real Live! 3. Deep Purple - Highway Stat from Made in Japan (imo the greatest live opening rock song of the 70s) 4. Alter Bridge - Blackbird 5. Foghat - Road Fever from Foghat Live. A true deep cut that never gets any mention. That slide guitar is amazing.

Some of my favorites: Telegraph road by Dire Straits Starship trooper by Yes (Yessongs) No quarter by Led Zeppelin (TSRTS) Love to love by UFO (SITN) Confortbaly numb by Pink Floyd (Pulse) Tarkus by ELP Stationary traveller by Camel Gates of Babylon by Rainbow Aqualung by Jethro Tull Black sabbath by Black Sabbath Sails of Charon by Scorpions Dreamer deciver by Judas Priest Fade to Black by Metallica I put a spell on you by CCR Ashes are burning by Renaissance Sympathy for the devil by Rolling stones (GYYO) Abre la puerta by Triana Middle solo of Phantom of the opera by Iron Maiden

Love your commentary. All your picks are solid. But I have to mention one that is glaring in its omission: The guitar intro to “I Need A Lover” by John Cougar on his eponymous 1979 album. Easily one of the epic guitar solos of all time.

The twin lead harmony Guitar actually began with Fleetwood Mac's Peter Green and Danny Kirwan on the track "Albatross" which was a hit in England in 1968.