Underrated Guitar Solos

[cherryowen]

Prompted by this that popped up on my YT feed earlier:-



I thought it was a good list; I've read good things about Terry Kath, Mike Schenker, and Alex Lifeson and have always loved Knopfler's work on Telegraph Road.

However, I would add these:-

Gary Moore's work on this



(Scott Gorham is great as well, but Moore's solo break mid-tune is still incredible)

And Steve Lukather's outro solo on Running With The Night (not sure if this even made it onto the record)

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/b4P7ZTuxysM?feature...

Oh, and Steve Rothery on this - channeling his inner EVH (go to 2:22)

https://youtu.be/fQBQ-A8VATg

The floor is open..................

[ATG]

Telegraph Road, particularly on Alchemy, is extraordinary. I'm a little surprised it's described as underrated, though. I thought it was well recognised.

[slopes]

Said it before, say it again, Mike Campbell's solo on Running Down a Dream is my favourite

But also equally underrated but i will get flamed for this one
Jonny Buckland's solo on Paradise by Coldplay

Both towards the end of the song and not over indulgent and both guitarists only really do a solo if it adds to the overall song

[Lotobear]

Allan Holdsworth, Soft Machine Hazard Profile Pt1. Worth listening to the whole thing but his solo starts around 2:50 in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zSZBAcQ-5M&li...

[jesusbuiltmycar]

Dave Navarro's solo on Three Days by Jane's Addiction

[Ronstein]

For under-rated, Allan Holdsworth is right up there. Most people have never heard of him, but almost any great guitarist will name him as the best. The only guitarist Zappa showed any appreciation for. His work with many bands was exceptional (especially with Bill Bruford in Bruford and UK), but he never stayed long because he never wanted to just keep playing the same things.SAdly died with no money at the age of 70. He was also (according to his brother-in-law, who I used to work with) a thoroughly miserable git if he wasn't playing music.

https://youtu.be/RUmMBmRP8Oo?si=5Kj9ppxYdJQyzU_W

[Lotobear]

Ronstein said:

For under-rated, Allan Holdsworth is right up there. Most people have never heard of him, but almost any great guitarist will name him as the best. The only guitarist Zappa showed any appreciation for. His work with many bands was exceptional (especially with Bill Bruford in Bruford and UK), but he never stayed long because he never wanted to just keep playing the same things.SAdly died with no money at the age of 70. He was also (according to his brother-in-law, who I used to work with) a thoroughly miserable git if he wasn't playing music.

https://youtu.be/RUmMBmRP8Oo?si=5Kj9ppxYdJQyzU_W

A very humble Yorkshire man who naturally also loved beer (and was also a keen home brewer).

Had the pleasure of seeing him at Newcastle Cluny not long before his death - his band featured Chad Wackerman and Jimmy Johnson. Also, and showing my age here, saw him with Soft Machine and Gong many, many years ago.

He also had a brief stint with Level 42

[Robertb]

I was surprised to hear an amazing solo in a Backstreet Boys song the other day.... Larger than Life. Can't imagine many have ever noticed it.

Also always liked the solo in Ellis Bextor's Murder on the Dance Floor, which again would largely pass un-noticed.

I don't think Brian May's two solos in The Show Must Go On get anything like the recognition they should.

[cherryowen]

Lotobear said:

Allan Holdsworth, Soft Machine Hazard Profile Pt1. Worth listening to the whole thing but his solo starts around 2:50 in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zSZBAcQ-5M&li...

Listening to that ^ now as I type.

I watched a Rick Beato vid a couple of years ago where he demonstrated that AH would deliberately play impossible lines across two instead of three strings just because that's how his guitar brain worked.

An astonishing talent was Holdsworth.

[timster]

Jason Becker, a lil ain't enough by Dave Lee Roth, not so much the solo but just the guitar work over the whole song.

https://youtu.be/ktVlWuamzR8?si=nxAa-5TQjBD1QctR

[PomBstard]

I don’t have the musical knowledge to understand what makes something good or why that should be, but in the spirit of ignorance, I’d put forward the guitar work in “Angel” by Massive Attack…



…starts around the 1:50 mark but the build up gives the solo its own oomph, and the solo changes the whole feel of the track.

In my non-musical opinion…

[slopes]

timster said:

Jason Becker, a lil ain't enough by Dave Lee Roth, not so much the solo but just the guitar work over the whole song.

https://youtu.be/ktVlWuamzR8?si=nxAa-5TQjBD1QctR

Just a shame he got ALS, he would have been huge if not for that.

DLR treated him like s**t though, took the piss out of him on tour stating he had to get a different guitarist in as the original guitarist couldn't cut it and for that reason, DLR will always be a scumbag to me.

[timster]

slopes said:

Just a shame he got ALS, he would have been huge if not for that.

DLR treated him like s**t though, took the piss out of him on tour stating he had to get a different guitarist in as the original guitarist couldn't cut it and for that reason, DLR will always be a scumbag to me.

I did'nt know that. the only issue I read about was that JB struggled to finish the album because of his condition. Agrred though he would have been huge.

[carguy45]

I rarely hear it mentioned but the long Dean De Leo solo at the end of 'Silvergun Superman' by Stone Temple Pilots (3:24 on) has always been a personal favourite of mine. It's melodic, but also plays off against the bass nicely and I like the way it decomposes (along with the rest of the song), literally falling apart structurally at the end - which is a nod to the song meaning, about a toxic relationship falling apart.



Also the solo in 'Soma' by Smashing Pumpkins (4:22). I listened to it many times as a teen and thought it was James Iha playing it, given he was the lead guitarist in the band, but was surprised to eventually find out it was Billy Corgan who played it. Apparently a pretty decent guitarist himself.



And a bit left field, but I only found out recently that Glenn Campbell - country singer, of Rhinestone Cowboy and Wichita Lineman fame - was a pretty exceptional guitarist too. I think he started out as a session guitarist.

Edited by carguy45 on Wednesday 3rd September 09:39

[MCBrowncoat]

Good question, what sticks out for me are solos that serve a song well but aren't necessarily technically brilliant. A few spring to mind. I always really liked the work here:

1) Dance by Motörhead (middle solo 1:00)

https://youtu.be/xVyW6cmR7Bg?si=HAggq1t7BIaxzJN9

2) The outro of Little Doll by The Stooges. Ron Asheton was not technically brilliant, but you get the sense he teased this out with pure feeling (about 1:45 onwards)

https://youtu.be/tJ-wIgZ63Yw?si=MUs3xRthkXEAvndT

3) Star Star (Starfker) by The Rolling Stones (2:09) short but sweet and gives the song great momentum

https://youtu.be/lP_TmSqwXps?si=fVM3Iyte63m7Rkzq

4) I always think Custard Pie / Led Zeppelin is also a really well constructed solo (and always sounds like the band comes back louder after it ends, which might be a trick - you turn up the volume because you think it's quiet and by the end of that solo the volume is louder than when the song started? Dunno, maybe someone knows) but it's probably not an underrated solo, it just doesn't get discussed much (1:40)

https://youtu.be/VVP3g1-Wq_0?si=3yFQq4vezzWWPvxV

[Animal]

Dann Huff. Country music producer now, but back in the 80s/early 90s he was in a band called Giant and his guitar work/songwriting is amazing - certainly as good as any of his contemporaries.

Not content with that, he was seriously in-demand session musician working for basically everyone from Madonna to Barry Manilow. Played guitars on Glory of Love by Peter Cetera, played on Madonna's Like a Virgin, Michael Jackson's Bad and did the solo on Man I Feel Like a Woman by Shania Twain.

[dandarez]

slopes said:

Said it before, say it again, Mike Campbell's solo on Running Down a Dream is my favourite
'snipped'

Always rated Campbell ever since seeing TP&TH live at Oxford Poly in 1980, part of the 'Damn The Torpedoes' tour and filmed live for the 'Rock Goes to College' series, and introduced by DJ Pete Drummond. I didn't even have to pay, so got a grandstand view. Can still be viewed online.
(Tom Petty was himself handy with the guitar).
Mike also made a good replacement in Fleetwood Mac for Lindsey Buckingham. Today Mike leads his own band 'The Dirty Knobs' who are doing very well in the US, but little heard of here.

The TP&TH 2012 concert on the Isle of Wight was one of their highlights over here (my top 3 below) as was Hyde Park just prior to Petty's death.

'Running Down A Dream' was obviously part of the set.(added below)

Personal fave is Refugee, simply because of the added guitar finale by Campbell and Petty that was never on the original record, nor when live in the 80s.

[M138]

I did the normal in the late 70s/80s by going to see many bands, Zeppelin at Knebworth, Genesis, Rolling Stones but my favourite guitarist and feel honoured to see him play live and now no longer with us sadly is Gary Richrath, guitarist for REO Speedwagon. Brilliant guitarist. Great solo on Keep On Loving You.

[GAjon]

Phil Manzanera of Roxy Musics solo on the track Grey Lagoons.

[cherryowen]

timster said:

Jason Becker, a lil ain't enough by Dave Lee Roth, not so much the solo but just the guitar work over the whole song.

https://youtu.be/ktVlWuamzR8?si=nxAa-5TQjBD1QctR

As others have said, if Becker had not been struck down with that awful disease he could have been massively successful. His work with Marty Friedman (ex Megadeth) on the Cacophony project is still revered in the guitar community:-

(JB is playing the blue guitar on that)

Moving on.............

Journey, most famous for the tune Don't Stop Believin', and pretty big in the late 70's / early 80's. I think Neal Schon is very underrated and his solo on this is perfectly judged for the tune:-