Tim’s Top 10 Guitar Solos

As Bob inferred in his list, this was much harder than I expected, and it made me really think about what ‘guitar solos’ mean to me. It seems that my criteria are: emotional impact, melodic innovation and service to the song – i.e. I like solos that get my heart pumping, are as memorable as the vocal melody and are essential to the song’s structure. The best solos are undoubtedly performed by Jimi Hendrix or Jimmy Page, but they rarely meet my criteria. Here goes…

1. Love Of My Life (Queen) [2:18-3:04] My only dinosaur of rock solo. Love him or loathe him, Brian May’s subtlety is matched only by his grandiosity! This solo has the whole spectrum. Perhaps Freddie’s most earnest (pre-AIDS) songwriting, a love song for his wife, to whom he was properly devoted (in every way except sexually!) May’s solo morphs like a specter out of Freddie’s vocal, incredibly expressive and throaty. Unique sound, makes me cry every single time. 😦
2. Freak Scene (Dinosaur Jr.) [0:31-1:02], [1:43-2:24] I love totally discordant solos too, and after a lot of shortlisting, this one was my favourite. Love J. Mascis for not being afraid to put massive solos in punk songs.
3. Paranoid Android (Radiohead) [2:59-3:33] This one definitely checks all three boxes for me  – by the time you get to 3 minutes you’re desperate for the tension to be released and Johnny Greenwood brings it with one of the weirdest melodic solos of all time. The solo is a little later in the Jools Holland video.
4. Run Overdrive (Civil Civic) [whole song/album] Civil Civic’s debut album is instrumental, and kinda has guitar solos all the time like a surf-band. Typically I wouldn’t consider this sort of thing a ‘solo’ but the guitar work is so amazing I couldn’t omit it. The album is superb but you gotta check out some live videos.
5. Förträngda Problem (Bob Hund) [1:33-2:00] Bob Hund always have brilliant and weird solos, often discordant, sometimes emotive but always innovative. This one’s just unexpected and brilliant. (solo is 1:50 in the youtube video)
6. Neat Neat Neat (The Damned) [0:05-0:15] Brian James searing solo on this song represents classic Rock ‘n’ Roll from Chuck Berry onwards. Its one of the fastest, nastiest and sexiest solos ever.
7. Susanne (Weezer) [1:51-2:14] Rivers Cumo’s solos on the first 2 Weezer albums are all insanely good, but this one is my favourite. Its such a melodic (and harmonic!) song, it seems impossible for a guitar solo to take the melody somewhere new – but Cuomo manages it.  ♥
8. I Am The Resurrection (The Stone Roses) [3:47-4:25] I’ve ranted about it before, but it had to be on my list. Horrible song – amazing jam at the end.
9. No One Like You (Scorpions) [2:52-3:26] This one represents the best classic metal solo, and again I had to do a lot of shortlisting. Metal solos don’t really do it for me emotionally, but I had to include one, and this is the best one. Its also my ringtone for when my wife calls me.
10. Love’s Sweet Exile (Manic Street Preachers) [1:42-2:22] I’m not a huge fan of the Manics, but I loved this early single from them. It represents cock rock solos on my list, definitely a guilty pleasure of mine. Its got all the cliches, and it’s twice as long as it should be! Love it!
11. Stockholm Syndrome (Muse) [3:17-3:56] I couldn’t do a top ten solo list without including something from Matt Bellamy. Though totally insane and rather repetitive, he consistently blows my mind with his guitar-work. One of the most innovative guitarists in rock. I love his ethic of keeping overdubs to a minimum – there’s typically only one guitar on a Muse song! 

I know what you’re thinking… but this one goes up to 11.

Tim’s 1972 Top Ten

This was MUCH harder than I anticipated! Turns out that 3 of my favourite Brazilian albums came out in 1972, and it was excruciating shortlisting so many great songs. I decided to only include one song by each artist on my top ten song list, but had to include two tracks from The Harder They Come Soundtrack as they represent two very different genres of reggae in it’s most interesting era (Studio One Presents Burning Spear was a close third choice!) Also had trouble choosing which song to include from Big Star’s #1 Record. I struggled a little with the inclusion of The Bonzo Dog Band’s Rawlinson End as its technically not a song, but it is one of my favourite recordings by Vivian Stanshall, and I highly recommend his continued stories of Henry Rawlinson that appear on Sir Henry At Rawlinson End (1978). Os Mutantes’ Balada Do Louco is a pretty song from a very heavy album – again – so hard to choose! Check out #4. Mr Destroyer (Poobah), its a great rare piece of Midwestern psychedelia – sounding like Blue Cheer playing Sabbath!

TOP TEN SONGS:

1. Cravo E Canela (Milton Nascimento & Lô Borges)
2. Thirteen (Big Star)
3. Johnny Too Bad (The Slickers)
4. Mr Destroyer (Poobah)
5. Hallogallo (Neu!)
6. Balada Do Louco (Os Mutantes)
7. The Harder They Come (Jimmy Cliff)
8. Rawlinson End (The Bonzo Dog Band)
9. Zigy Zigy Za (Astrud Gilberto)
10. Lonesome Crow (Scorpions)

My Top Three albums were easy – Milton Nascimento & Lô Borges’ Clube Da Esquina is in my all time top ten – recorded at Abbey Road its a beautiful trippy easy-listening singer-songwriter masterwork. The rest were tricky – with so much Krautrock/Prog to choose from I had to cut Can’s Ege Bamyasi, Yes’ Close To The Edge  and Kalacakra’s Crawling to Lahasa in favour of Neu!, Lonesome Crow (Scorpions brilliant debut) and Focus III. Rita Lee’s awesome Hoje é o Primero Dia do Resto da Sua Vida came a close second to Os Mutantes’ psychedelic assault Mutantes E Seus Cometas No País Do Baurets. Finally I struggled with including Transformer, but in the end I couldn’t resist it!

TOP TEN ALBUMS:

1. Clube Da Esquina (Milton Nascimento & Lô Borges)
2. #1 Record (Big Star)
3. The Harder They Come Soundtrack (Various Artists)
4. Mutantes E Seus Cometas No País Do Baurets – (Os Mutantes)
5. Neu! (Neu!)
6. Lonesome Crow (Scorpions)
7. Now (Astrud Gilberto)
8. Transformer (Lou Reed)
9. Focus III (Focus)
10. Shakara – London Scene (Fela Kuti)

Great fun! Can’t wait to check out everyone else’s lists and find out what I missed!

Tim