Rock fans, especially those of the male persuasion, love to obsess about the greatest guitar solos. (It’s kind of the musical equivalent of baseball fans’ endless debates over who was the greatest home run hitter.) There have been lists galore, as critics and fans try to somehow rank the best solos, and now there’s another one. The current issue of Guitar One magazine features a staff-assembled list of 101 all-time rock solos (jazz, country and blues were omitted in an attempt to make an impossible task a little more conceivable).
I’ve added YouTube links to some of my favorite solos aswell…enjoy

1. Jimi Hendrix/Machine Gun
2. Pink Floyd/Comfortably Numb (David Gilmour, axemeister)
3. Dire Straits/Sultans of Swing (Mark Knopfler)
4. Led Zeppelin/Stairway to Heaven (Jimmy Page)
5. Jimi Hendrix/All Along the Watchtower
6. Lynyrd Skynyrd/Free Bird (Allen Collins, Gary Rossington)
7. Eagles/Hotel California (Don Felder, Joe Walsh)
8. Ozzy Osbourne/Crazy Train (Randy Rhoads)
9. Stevie Ray Vaughan/Texas Flood
10. Van Halen/Hot for Teacher (Eddie Van Halen)
11. Cream/Crossroads (Eric Clapton)
12. Jeff Beck/Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
13. Steve Vai/For the Love of God
14. Guns N’ Roses/November Rain (Slash)
15. Pink Floyd/Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 (David Gilmour)
16. Deep Purple/Highway Star (Ritchie Blackmore)
17. AC/DC/You Shook Me All Night Long (Angus Young)
18. Van Halen/Jump (Eddie Van Halen)
19. Eric Johnson/Cliffs of Dover
20. Jimi Hendrix/Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
21. Led Zeppelin/Heartbreaker (Jimmy Page)
22. Allman Bros. Band/Statesboro Blues (Duane Allman)
23. Beatles/Something (George Harrison)
24. Pantera/Cemetery Gates (Dimebag Darrell)
25. Jeff Beck/’Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers
26. Allman Bros. Band/Jessica (Dickey Betts)
27. Bill Haley & The Comets/Rock Around the Clock (Danny Cedrone)
28. White Lion/Wait (Vito Bratta)
29. Metallica/Fade to Black (Kirk Hammett)
30. Joe Satriani/Satch Boogie
31. Beatles/While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Eric Clapton)
32. Yes/I’ve Seen All Good People (Steve Howe)
33. Guns N’ Roses/Sweet Child o’ Mine (Slash)
34. Steely Dan/Reelin’ in the Years (Elliot Randall)
35. Yngwie Malmsteen/Black Star
36. Michael Jackson/Beat It (Eddie Van Halen)
37. Living Colour/Cult of Personality (Vernon Reid)
38. Doors/Light My Fire (Robby Krieger)
39. Aerosmith/Walk This Way (Joe Perry)
40. Gene Vincent & the Blue Caps/Race With the Devil (Cliff Gallup)
41. Queen/Bohemian Rhapsody (Brian May)
42. Stevie Ray Vaughan/Crossfire
43. Free/All Right Now (Paul Kossoff)
44. Heart/Magic Man (Roger Fisher)
45. Led Zeppelin/Since I’ve Been Loving You (Jimmy Page)
46. Boston/Hitch a Ride (Tom Scholz)
47. Gary Moore/Shapes of Things
48. Ozzy Osbourne/Mr. Crowley (Randy Rhoads)
49. Ozzy Osbourne/No More Tears (Zakk Wylde)
50. Chuck Berry/Too Much Monkey Business
By Ken Barnes