Guitar and bass solos - who/what are your favorites?

[interceptör]

I'm not really into the traditional guitar hero guitar solos; I can appreciate a good one, of course, but to give me the real fizz a solo needs to be much rawer, noisier and, well, sloppier - in short, Neil Young.

While I'm not even sure what would technically constitute a bass solo, I would like to believe it doesn't have to be a 10-minute prog rock number so my vote goes to Tool's Justin Chancellor.

[Axolotl]

Well, I think Prince did some fantastic guitar work overall. Amazing rhythm for sure, but some of his solos - which were mostly improvised and played differently each time - are for me the stuff of legend. The phrasing, vibrato and melodic construction come all together in an amazing way. Some of his best solos I heard on bootlegs of live performances. Powerful, soaring stuff.

Randy Rhoads was one of my early guitar heroes 35 years ago or so. Flashy for sure, and AFAIK not much of an improviser but a writer (he would overdub his solos on three tracks). His solos are beautifully constructed, sometimes they feel like a smaller song within a song. And he was a pioneer bringing some of his classic chops to heavy metal. The use of "exotic" scales in Ozzy's second album felt otherwordly at the time. And both solos of "Mr Crowley" give me goosebumps to this day.

Last but certainly not least, Pink Floyd's David Gilmour. His solos speak for themselves.

Bass? James Jamerson! (not much of a soloist but he defined the instrument. Such amazing basslines!). And Bootsy Collins, for similar reasons. If it comes to a piece, I always loved Cliff's Burton "Anesthesia/Pulling teeth" from Metallica's first album.

[BoringPostcards]

Terry Kath from Chicago. His solos were fantastic, especially on “25 or 6 to 4”.
The guitarist from Gentle Giant had excellent solos live. Very melodic and well played. Free Hand live version is a good example.
Frank Zappa never played the same solo twice. He was a master of theory, but didn’t play sterile sounding stuff, which can happen with those theory guys. Melodic, sometimes angular, and full of unique phrasings.

Lee Ranaldo’s work on SY’s albums is great.
Elizabeth Powell of Land of Talk doesn’t play a lot of solos, but when she does, they’re deliciously noisy and chaotic.
All my Friends is a good example of her work.

All in all I can appreciate a good solo. Not a fan of guitar hero wankery all that much though. Guys like Satriani do nothing for me.
That being said, Hanger 18 by Megadeth is epic. All 18 guitar solos are epic. Marty and Dave tore it up on that track.

[LVC]

Malkmus's solo in Fillmore Jive is pretty much my idea of a perfect solo. Simple yet extremely efficient, raw yet atmospheric, disjointed and sorta decadent yet completely epic.

Or, at the opposite end of the spectrum, Maggot Brain by Funkadelic. It's not so much the technical virtuosity I admire (although it is definitely admirable) as the incredible, mind-melting expressiveness. The story goes that George Clinton told Eddie Hazel to play as if he had just learned his mother had died, and then as if he had learned she had survived, and that's pretty much what it sounds like to me.
It's even more impressive when you realise it was improvised on the spot and recorded in a single take... And that Hazel was only 21 years old.

[Axolotl]

It's even more impressive when you realise it was improvised on the spot and recorded in a single take... And that Hazel was only 21 years old.

Oh man, Maggot Brain is an absolute masterpiece of a solo. I can jam over that progression for hours, it never gets tiring. There is this awesome Violin Cover of it. Now that you mention it, lots of my favorite solos are by people who were in their 20's / early 30s. The fire of youth I guess.

[MattK]

Well, I think Prince did some fantastic guitar work overall. Amazing rhythm for sure, but some of his solos - which were mostly improvised and played differently each time - are for me the stuff of legend.

e.g. solo on "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man".
I'll mention "Impossible Germany" since it's pretty much obligatory on an offset forum.
Leftfield pick, Peter Koppes' nylon-string solo on The Church's "Almost With You" is definitive.
I like a lot of Courtney Barnett's solos, e.g. "City Looks Pretty", "Need a Little Time".
Bass? hm, well Glen Campbell on "Galveston" of course. I'm sure something else will come to mind after I hit "Submit".

[countertext]

Hendrix’s “Machine Gun” from Band of Gypsys is always at the top of my list.

A thought that follows directly from that is a couple of records from Caspar Brötzmann Massaker: Koksofen and Home. They’re loaded with noisy and glorious bits. It’s Strat>fuzz>univibe>Plexi stuff, but that’s all right with me.

The tune “Massaker” from Home really gets to me.

[Plumerai]

Cliff Burton - Anesthesia
Randy Rhoads - any of the solos from the first two Ozzy albums

Also into Metallica guitar solos from the 2nd & 3rd albums; the first Testament album; some Pink Floyd, some Iron Maiden solos through Powerslave; Hendrix - ..Watchtower; & 80's Cure solos.

[andy_tchp]

Not a big solos guy but 'Kid' by The Pretenders is truly excellent from the opening riff to the end.

James Honeyman-Scott brilliance.
Pretenders - Kid (Official Music Video)

[MattK]

Oh yes. And sadly subsequent to that, “Back on the Chain Gang” where Billy Bremner plays that gorgeous lead line that hits me right in the feels.

[andy_tchp]

Oh yes. And sadly subsequent to that, “Back on the Chain Gang” where Billy Bremner plays that gorgeous lead line that hits me right in the feels.

Oh agreed, beautiful stuff!

[Futuron]

Was thinking about this the other day.

Have to say my favourite guitarist solo is the one in Joe Satriani's "Crushing Day".
Favourite pop song solo would probably be Bruce Hornsby & The Range song "The Long Race".


Worst solo ever is Matchbox 20's "Real World"

[s_mcsleazy]

sinking as a stone - the wipers

i never hear anyone talk about this one but fuck me is it just perfect.

[interceptör]

I tried to think of "classic" guitar solos that have had a lasting impression on me and these are the ones I could come up with:

Jimi Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower
GNR - Sweet Child O' Mine
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird
Megadeth - Hangar 18
Edited to add the obvious: Steve Vai - For the Love of God

And here are a few of my favorites from Neil Young:

Like a Hurricane
Southern Man
Cowgirl in the Sand

Apparently grunge did kill the guitar solo, or at least for me it did. Since then I've only really loved anti-solos, stuff like Sonic Youth and Nirvana - I honestly think Kurt Cobain was one of the best soloists ever.

And here's some awesome bass stuff from Tool; I guess they might be more bass-driven songs than songs with bass solos, but hey, beggars, choosers and what not:

Schism
Disposition
The Grudge

[TagoMago]

My favourite guitar solo has to be the double (or is it triple?) tracked one in "What Goes On" by The Velvet Underground, the studio version on the 3rd album. I've heard it hundreds of times but it still hits the spot every time. That was one of the songs that made me want to play guitar in the first place, that and "Roadrunner" by The Modern Lovers.

Bass? No real solos as such, and I know this is gonna be a really obvious choice, but the bass playing on the first track of "Histoire De Melody Nelson" by French uber-perv Serge Gainsbourg is pretty freeform all the way though for 7 minutes and I love that. The whole album has great bass playing on it.

Otherwise, folks can take their Jaco Pastorius records with all the noodly bass shredding and shove them right up their Weather Report. They don't like it up 'em!