David Pajo in "Good morning captain" is memorable, as he just picks one note again and again, slowly bringing it into focus.

i like players who do it in a way that you don't even realize it's a 'solo' at first (if ever). PiL's "Theme" is the best example of this i can think of.

but the standard 8-bar solo break/bridge? pretty crap.

all of eric bell's solos on early thin lizzy are amazing. especially the hero and the madman, the farmer, little girl in bloom, etc.

the guitar solo: Not Crap

i love playin em

NOT CRAP (but can be in the wrong hands)

Hosoi wrote:I played the same guitar solo in every song, so I just quit it.

yes, too many guitar players learn a handful of licks
and solo like that over whatever they encounter as
a backdrop (only changing the key to fit the song).

what you have to do is let the song tell you whether
or not it wants a solo...it will tell you.

sometimes it will let you, and sometimes the song
will beat you senseless for even trying.

my favorite solo? han solo.

Robert Quine. his solos in the Voidoids "I'm Your Man" are stellar to a tee. it's like he's violently hacking away at the guitar, but still hitting all the right notes. very brutal but still moody and affective.

i also really like the solo in Brian Eno's "Golden Hours" a lot. forget who did it.

really love Andrian Belew's solo-ish stuff going on in the live version of "Warning Sign" from that album The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads. an excellent use of effects.

mediocre, ostensibly arbitrary solos can really ruin my enjoyment of music. for this reason Can's Tago Mago is very tedious for me. same thing with David Bowie's Low. i can't listen to it for too long, without getting distracted by all the excess guitar wankery.

Here's the original poll (hard to search for b/c of the capn's verbiage, perhaps):

http://www.electrical.com/phpBB2/viewto ... 4065#54065

I'd like to add "White Night" by MX-80 Sound. Have you heard this? Fucking insane.

"Don't Make Plans This Friday" is an amazing solo, but I've always preferred the one in "Sheep Wait for Wolf." "Slow Hands" has a pretty great solo too.

I second most everything that's been listed, particularly "Marquee Moon," and "Cowboy Song." I use the solo in "Marquee Moon" as a benchmark of "cool" for pretty much anything in life. If I enjoy something (a book, a fuck, a sandwich, etc.) as much as I enjoy the solo in that song, then whatever that something is must be truly extraordinary.

Connor

steve wrote:Robert Fripp (Eno albums especially)

Some of my favorite guitar solos of all time. It's wierd that for all the guitar god that is thrown at him, King Crimson records rarely have long or even any guitar solos at all. Albums like Red and Starless and Larks are more about "group" sound and parts and not vehicles for the spotlight like Yes and ELP tunes generally were back in the day.

the Sister Ray poll got me thinking about the guitar solo on "i heard her call my name". absolutly brilliant it sounds like its about to explode into a sparking ball of shrapnell. gives me goose bumps every time.

as far as I am concerned the greatest solo ever is the one by Eddie Hazel that opens Maggot Brain, I wish I could play like that but I can't