Greatest Guitar Solos Ever!

To mark the announcement of NME’s 50 Greatest Guitar Solos today I have pulled together some of the most recent top guitar solo lists from some of the leading websites on the interwebs.

Expect some hot debate, cliches and perhaps learn a thing or two.

NME’s 50 Greatest Guitar Solos [link]

The odd thing about this list is that most of the people interviewed on their promotional video actually said they hated guitar solos!

Top 5

1. Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guns N’ Roses (Slash)
2. Stairway To Heaven – Led Zeppelin (Jimmy Page)
3. All Along The Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix
4. Killing In The Name – Rage Against The Machine (Tom Morello)
5. Knights Of Cydonia – Muse (Matt Bellamy)

#1 – Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guns N’ Roses

Omissions: Pink Floyd’s ‘Comfortably Numb’, Metallica’s ‘One’ and Pantera’s ‘Floods’.

Guitar World’s 50 Greatest Guitar Solos [link]

Top 5

1. Stairway To Heaven – Led Zeppelin (Jimmy Page)
2. Eruption – Van Halen (Eddie Van Halen)
3. Free Bird – Lynyrd Skynyrd (Allen Collins, Gary Rossington)
4. Comfortably Numb – Pink Floyd (David Gilmour)
5. All Along The Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix

#1 – Stairway To Heaven – Led Zeppelin

Omissions: Dire Straits ‘Brothers In Arms’, Angus Young (AC/DC) and Tony Iommi.

Music Radar’s 20 Greatest Guitar Solos Of All Time [link]

A topic of fierce debate is this one. Most definitely a young internet following voted!

Top 5

1. Blackbird – Alter Bridge (Mark Tremonti, Myles Kennedy)
2. Eruption – Van Halen (Eddie Van Halen)
3. Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guns N’ Roses (Slash)
4. November Rain – Guns N’ Roses (Slash)
5. Comfortably Numb – Pink Floyd (David Gilmour)

#1 – Blackbird – Alter Bridge

Omissions: Frank Zappa, Jeff Beck and Pantera.

Gibson.com’s 50 Top Guitar Solos [link]

Top 5

1. Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin (Jimmy Page)
2. Eruption – Van Halen (Eddie Van Halen)
3. All Along the Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix
4. Hotel California – Eagles (Don Felder, Joe Walsh)
5. Comfortably Numb – Pink Floyd (David Gilmour)

#2 – Eruption – Van Halen

All in all it will always come down to a matter of fierce debate and personal opinion. Some people love the widdly widdly solos, others hate them with a passion. Enjoy!