THE 50 GREATEST OF ALL TIME

The thorny subject of the greatest guitar solo of all time has long been a fiercely contested debate. Probably because every solo is different. How do you compare, say,ComfortablyNumbwithCrazyTrain, orStairway ToHeavenwithSultansOfSwing? It’s impossible. Still, public opinion ebbs and flows, and we wanted to find out which solos currently rank among our readers as the greatest of them all.

So, a few short weeks ago, we ran a poll on GuitarWorld.com to find out, and here, over the course of the next thirty-something pages, we’ll take you through the results. We’ll take a look at the stories behind the songs and find out just what made those lead guitar breaks so great. We’ve spoken with Genesis legend Steve Hackett, glam rocker Justin Hawkins, Metallica’s Kirk Hammett and more.

Finally, in the name of science, we’ve commissioned a real musicologist to explain the science behind the solos. If there’s such a thing as a magic soloing formula, we’ll soon find out!

50 PARABOLA TOOL

GUITARIST: ADAM JONES (2001)

Alt–metal goes epic

As fans of the world-conquering four-piece have noted, there’s really two different Tools on record. The former concerns the band’s early days, specifically the Opiate EP and their debut album Undertow, with songs built around grinding riffs courtesy of bassist Paul D’Amour. With the addition of Justin Chancellor in 1995, the band’s second and current phase moved towards complex prog, and by 2001’s Lateralus they were a group changed irreversibly. The inclusion of Parabola’s (albeit short) solo takes guitarist Adam Jones away from the solo-shy, riff-centric styles of his contemporaries, brushing off the hallmarks of typical 90s and 00s alternative music. Though not Jones’ first solo on a Tool song, his use of melody in Parabola’s lead break indicates his growth as a composer, and the addition of polyrhythmic harmonics are a demonstration of his creativity.

49 JESSICA THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND

GUITARIST: DICKEY BETTS (1973)

Not just for Top Gear

Word is Dickey Betts wrote this as a tribute to Django Reinhardt, which is why it’s possible to play with just two fingers, Reinhardt having lost the use of his other fingers. Sonically though, this is pure southern rock. An Allman Brothers secret is adding the perfect 4th to the major pentatonic (in A major this is A-B-C#-D-E-F#), and that sound is here in abundance. Despite the regular appearance of the note G natural in the rhythm guitar part, giving a Mixolydian sound, that note never appears in the main theme and is used sparingly in the solo. The solo itself is a masterclass in using repeated motifs to build an interesting solo. Where other guitarists fear repeating themselves, Betts creates hooks and themes by returning to two or three core ideas.

48 NUTSHELL ALICE IN CHAINS

GUITARIST: JERRY CANTRELL (1994)

Sad songs say so much

This song doesn’t have a chorus as such. Instead, Jerry Cantrell’s memorable pentatonic licks serve as a hook alongside the backing vocals. Nutshell has been voted one of the saddest songs of all time, and Cantrell’s guitar takes over as Layne Staley’s lyrics reach a peak of despair, as though the guitar speaks when mere words are insufficient. The use of delay is particularly effective at 3:34, when Cantrell slides spectacularly upwards off a note, which is then repeated a beat later. His Van Halen influence is obvious in the ensuing legato licks, which are surprisingly shreddy for a grunge-era hit. And then, brilliantly, Cantrell simply stops playing as the groove continues, allowing the listener to sit in the well of emotion the band has just conjured.

47 GRAVITY JOHN MAYER

GUITARIST: JOHN MAYER (2005)

A modern blues master

Mayer is without doubt the 21st century’s most popular blues guitarist, and this remarkably compact offering shows why. A four-minute pop song with succinct and melodic guitar breaks, Gravity has exactly as much guitar as it needs. Mayer’s exceptional bending and vibrato bring to mind Peter Green and BB King, and few players have made a Strat sound so clean and so warm at the same time. Mayer knows how to develop ideas rather than merely repeat them. At 2:17 he plays a lick and then repeats it twice as fast; from 2:25 he plays a clever double bend lick and then transposes it further down the scale. But it’s his mastery of sliding that really stands out, with a spectacular glissando to finish as the vocal comes back in.

46 PARANOID ANDROID RADIOHEAD

GUITARIST: JONNY GREENWOOD (1997)

When does a guitar become a robot?

One of the most successful examples of the anti-guitar-god movement, Radiohead have built a career rallying against the cliches of rock. Ever reluctant to conform, the brilliantly imaginative Johnny Greenwood has proven that he relishes the opportunity to turn a traditional solo on its head. Paranoid Android’s first, shorter solo comes after three minutes of ominous riffing that builds slowly to a noisy guitar freak-out. Greenwood begins with intense tremolo picking – a flurry of notes that distress the listener. For the outro solo, Jonny then employs both regular and reversed guitar parts and string bends a-plenty through the envelope filter of his Mutronics Mutator rack unit. It’s no exaggeration to suggest that Greenwood’s solo genuinely sounds more like droid from Star Wars having a meltdown than a traditional guitar – which is, of course, entirely the idea.

45 MAGGOT BRAIN FUNKADELIC

GUITARIST: EDDIE HAZEL (1971)

The closest anyone got to Hendrix?

In the year following Hendrix’s death, the rock press searched for a worthy heir – and most concluded it was Funkadelic’s Eddie Hazel who most deserved the title. Maggot Brain, his definitive guitar statement, is a ten-minute improvisation laid down in one take. Like Hendrix, Hazel finds joy in fuzz, wah, whammy and feedback, and gives himself the space to explore every sound his Strat can make. At five minutes, it’s nearly clean. By eight minutes, Hazel has produced the most extreme Velcro fuzz tone. Hazel initially recorded with a full band, but Funkadelic leader George Clinton faded most of them out and created the spacey backing on the final track, adding multiple layers of Echoplex to Hazel’s guitar explorations. For great musicians, even guitar solos can be collaborative events.

44 I BELIEVE IN A THING CALLED LOVE THE DARKNESS

GUITARIST: JUSTIN HAWKINS (2003)

Justin Hawkins on the big hit with the “saucy bends”

this song I had the first